Outlook must bend to my will.

January 5, 2007 7:51 AM

I am annoyed with switching back between my Outlook Calendar window and Inbox window. Is there a way to view my Inbox, a message pane, (abbreviated) Calendar and Tasks all on one screen?

I use Outlook 2003 as part of the Office Standard Edition. I use it for work stuff mostly, but it also inevitably includes personal bits too.

posted by lucyleaf to technology (10 comments total)

There is Outlook Today, which shows tasks, calendar appointments, and inbox tallys- but not a message pane. You access that by clicking on the Personal Folders icon in your inbox view.

Not exactly what you want, but maybe a close second?
posted by Futurehouse at 8:02 AM on January 5, 2007

You can open multiple windows and arrange or tile them.
posted by pmbuko at 8:14 AM on January 5, 2007

Outlook 2007
posted by matty at 8:43 AM on January 5, 2007

ok, I should have said more... I use Outlook 2007 (the beta version aka TR1) for this very reason. It should be on sale at the end of January? It does all you ask on one screen, as well as (on the 'actual' calendar view) shows you multiple MERGED calendars from several shared calendars - which is very useful to me.
posted by matty at 8:46 AM on January 5, 2007

Are you totally wedded to Outlook? I never understood why it mashed all those different functions into one program. It makes it hard to pick and choose.
posted by yesno at 9:33 AM on January 5, 2007

Yep, I'm enslaved, I mean committed, to Outlook because of work. (And actually, I kind of like it.) So, it's up to them whether I get upgraded to 2007 (which looks pretty slick). It's a possibility.

I would try tiling windows, but I have so many others open all day that that solution won't work for me.

For now, I'll take Futurehouse's advice and use the Outlook Today page.
posted by lucyleaf at 10:26 AM on January 5, 2007

Franklin Covey's PlanPlus for Outlook does this, but doesn't work with 2007.

You can also open multiple copies of outlook and minimize them so that several fit on one screen
posted by Mick at 2:34 PM on January 5, 2007

No need to pick and choose. I use Outlook 2003, and have 4 windows open at all times. With your Inbox in view, at the bottom of the Navigation Pane there are icons for the Calendar, Contacts, Memos, etc. Just right-click the Calendar and choose "Open in New Window". Once that window is open, turn off its Navigation Pane (quickest way: hold down Alt and hit V on keyboard twice).

Then you can drag the Calendar window to wherever you want, size it how you want, etc. My Mail occupies 3/4 of my screen, the Calendar is top right taking up half of the remaining space (with a view that shows Tasks also), and Memos and Contacts are in small windows in the bottom right corner of the screen.

And as long as you use the File | Exit menu option when closing Outlook, it will re-open in the exact same configuration next time with the 4 distinct windows.
posted by Bradley at 3:53 PM on January 5, 2007

What about this?
posted by Davis McBain at 11:09 AM on January 6, 2007

Thanks for the suggestion, Bradley. I'm going to give that a try. I toggle btwn Outlook and other apps pretty often, and after experimenting tonight, it breaks up the Outlook windows. I can live with that, though - if you have ideas on a work around that, please pass them on.
posted by lucyleaf at 9:03 PM on January 6, 2007