Outlook 2000 contains many features that allow you to customize the program to meet your needs.  Often times fonts are too small, screens may look confusing to some, and in particular for those with special needs - customization is necessary.  Some may want to simply have an extra alert when receiving an email from someone important by having it arrive in the Inbox with a different color font.  This tutorial explores some of the most useful ways to customize your Outlook Inbox.

Customizing the Fonts and Table View

Changing the font size of the Inbox is one of the most common user issues I deal with when helping a business migrate to Outlook.  For many, the default font in Outlook (8 pt.) is too small. To change the font attributes and table settings, be sure you are viewing your Inbox and follow these steps:

1. From the View menu, choose Current View and Customize Current View.  The View Summary dialog box displays.  In this tutorial, we are concerned with the last two buttons, Other Settings and Automatic Formatting.

2. Choose the Other Settings button.  The Other Settings dialog box appears and offers a number of ways to customize the fonts and table view.  Note that you can change the font for the column headings (From, Subject, etc.), rows (email), and the AutoPreview.  AutoPreview allows you to see part of the email before you open it and is on by default.  You would be customizing the preview text that is displayed in your Inbox.  To toggle the AutoPreview on and off, from the View menu, choose AutoPreview.

3. In this tutorial, we are going to customize the row font for email we receive.  Choose the Font button from the Rows field.  The Font dialog box looks similar to others you have seen and allows you to change the face and size attributes.  A small preview box shows the settings as selected.  In this example, 12 pt. Arial is chosen.  

4. Choose OK.  The Other Settings dialog box reflects the font changes.  Note that there are check boxes in the Rows field for Allow in-cell editing and Show "new item" row.  The first check box allows you to alter the subject of email you receive by simply clicking on the subject in the Inbox and retyping.  This is useful if you want to use a subject that is more meaningful so that you can find that particular email in your Inbox at a glance.  When you click on an email subject, a flashing cursor is given for editing, as in this example:

Once Allow in-cell editing is chosen, the Show "new item" row check box is available.  This adds an extra row to the top of your Inbox for posting notes.  It is helpful if you would like to add notes to your Inbox for either yourself or someone who has permission to access your Inbox.  A discussion thread can be carried on with people who can access your Inbox as they have the ability to reply to your posts.  This is most often used in a boss/secretary type situation.  Notes are indicated with a different icon, as below:

5. In the Other Settings dialog box, there are also options for customizing the table view in the Grid Lines field.  Some prefer to have lines separating the different emails in their Inbox.  Several line styles and colors are available.  In this example, we are using a solid, dark gray line.

6. Once you have adjusted the settings you desire, choose OK on the Other Settings dialog box and OK on the View Summary dialog box.  The Inbox changes to reflect your settings.  The graphics below show the "before" with the default Outlook settings and the "after" with our new row font and grid line settings.

Before

After

Read on to find out how to have Outlook mark that important email for you in a different font color in your Inbox...

Keep going!