Outlook Notification while Outlook is closed

April 28, 2005 9:28 AM

Is there a way I can still get my new mail notification even though I have Outlook closed?

I am being forced to use MS Outlook 2003 at work. I don't want to leave Outlook open all the time but I do want to know when I get new mail.

Is there a setting I can change in Outlook?
Is there any Shareware that I can use?
I have access to the Exchange Server if there is something that I would have to change there.

posted by thefinned1 to Computers & Internet (11 answers total)

After being forcefully switched over to Outlook/Exchange recently, I discovered that the Exchange server also provides a POP3 server. If you can connect to that, you should be able to use any of the POP based notifiers.
I'm now happily using Thunderbird, at least until someone in IT finds out
posted by Capn at 9:38 AM on April 28, 2005

(erm, what I mean is, use the POP based notifier to notify you when you have new mail, then if you so choose, go look at it with Outlook, sorry if that wasn't clear).
posted by Capn at 9:39 AM on April 28, 2005

Ok, how about minimizing to the system tray instead of the taskbar? Technically you're still consuming memory like a bad case of Alzheimers, but at least it has the impression of being closed, and will pop right open when you need it. You'll need to use REGEDIT.

User Key: [HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\**whatever version you're using**\Outlook\Preferences]
Value Name: MinToTray
Data Type: REG_DWORD (DWORD Value)
Value Data: (1 = System Tray, 0 = Taskbar)
posted by Civil_Disobedient at 9:42 AM on April 28, 2005

You don't need to hack the registry to do that.


Lookee here.
posted by internal at 10:15 AM on April 28, 2005

If you can connect via IMAP, try IMAP Notify from Van Dyke.
posted by blag at 10:33 AM on April 28, 2005

eprompter is perfect for this, supports pretty much any mail type, (including gmail), and is free.
posted by punilux at 10:41 AM on April 28, 2005

Assuming a POP3 mailbox is available. Sorry, too hasty on the Post button there.
posted by punilux at 10:47 AM on April 28, 2005

How about Mailwasher?

Scan your email for spam and lighten the load on your memory at the same time.

Its not free (apart from the trial), but there are *ahem* other methods of obtaining it.

I highly recommend giving the trial a try, and purchasing the full program.
posted by lemonfridge at 12:50 PM on April 28, 2005

You could just open Outlook Web Access in a browser and minimise the window. It will pop up the toast for new messages.

Personally, I can't imagine being at work without Outlook window open and taking up one of the monitors, but hey that's just my workflow.
posted by blindcarboncopy at 2:29 PM on April 28, 2005

I've used Poptray for years. It's free, open source, lightweight, fully-featured, and has plugins for IMAP, Hotmail and Gmail (via secure POP3). Better than any other of the dozens I've tried.
posted by stavrosthewonderchicken at 6:15 PM on April 28, 2005

I can second the built-in feature that allows you to minimise to the system tray, as described by internal. If you are stuck with Outlook, short on task bar space and don't want to (or can't) increase your task bar size, it is most handy, providing a translucent pop-up box when messages arrive, allowing you to open, delete or ignore them as you wish without going to the Outlook window.
posted by dg at 10:33 PM on April 28, 2005