Outlook: The Power of Drag and Drop

Most people are somewhat familiar with the concept of “drag and drop” when it comes to software… that is to say, when you click on an item, hold down your mouse, and drag it to another location. Sometimes it is as simple as moving a file from one folder to another; the action of clicking on the file and dragging it to the new folder. But there are other tools you can access with this action. Outlook takes this feature to another level, and contains a remarkable number of possible uses for drag and drop. Here are just a few…

Attachments

In Outlook Essentials, we talk about the Attach File button in the ribbon…

… but another popular way to attach files is by dragging the file from its location into the body of an email. Particularly handy if your document is located on the desktop.

This will also work to drag the attachment from the body of a received email into a new email.

Reorder Calendar View

Here is a secret, little-known drag and drop feature: reordering calendars. Many of us work with multiple calendars open at once, like my two coworkers’ calendars below.

Sometimes calendar order gets altered for some mysterious reason, or maybe you just want them to be in a different order than the default. Drag and drop to the rescue!

Click on the calendar name on the left pane and change the order with drag and drop.

In this case, I chose to flip the order, but I could easily flip it back with another drag and drop.

By the way, if you are working with calendar groups (come to Outlook Advanced to learn more), you can reorder an entire group with drag and drop. Pretty nifty!

Create Appointments from Other Modules

When I wrote about the Journal (secret feature!) I showed you this little trick, dragging and dropping a Journal entry into the calendar to make a note of the time you spent on the phone call or conversation.

The same goes for the other modules. What if you would like to set aside some time to look at the content of an email, or make a meeting in response to it?

Drag and drop the email from your inbox into the calendar module in the navigation.

This will create an event with the details of the message plugged in. Don’t forget to set the time and invite attendees, of course!

Create Emails from Other Modules

What about the inverse? Perhaps you have an event, the details of which you would like to share in an email without an actual invitation.

Try dragging and dropping a calendar event into your mail module in the navigation.

This will create an email, with all the contents of your calendar event, ready to share with interested parties.

Create Tasks from Other Modules

There are tons of ways to create tasks from an email, but one of them is drag and drop! Same story here, click on the email and drag it down to the tasks module to get started.

In this case, sometimes the flag button we talk about in Outlook Essentials is a little quicker, but this may come in handy too!

Congratulations, Power Users!

Congratulations to our newest Power Users! For the full gallery, and more information about the WSU Microsoft Office Power User Program, please visit: wichita.edu/poweruser

Kelley Smetak

Microsoft PowerUp! Videos Posted: Check Out What’s New in Office 365

Almost 150 people attended the special Microsoft PowerUp! Sessions… If you missed them, or even if you attended and wanted to revisit some of the special content, videos are available now!

The purpose of these sessions was to give everyone a quick update on some of the highlights now available (or coming soon, depending on your update schedule) in Microsoft Office 365. Keep an eye out for future sessions as more updates are released…

PowerPoint Updates

Word Updates

Excel Updates

Bonus Content: Sandy

This is Sandy (Power User!), with a very kind testimonial. 😊😊

Congratulations, Power Users!

Congratulations to our newest Power Users! For the full gallery, and more information about the WSU Microsoft Office Power User Program, please visit: wichita.edu/poweruser

Erin LeBegue (not pictured)

Chris Leonard

Tyra Miles

Marsha Compton

Microsoft Accessibility Tools for Low Vision

Creating accessible documents is a vital practice; if you haven’t checked out my entry about the Microsoft Office Accessibility Checker, or Responsible use of Color in Documents please do! To continue on this subject, I thought we could talk about some Microsoft Windows and Office tools for people with low vision. If you are somebody with low vision, or know somebody with low vision, check out some of your options below. By the way, even if you do not have low vision, you might find some of these tools handy, for a variety of reasons.

Microsoft Zoom Tool

Microsoft’s Zoom tool is an excellent resource and comes with the default installation of Windows 10. This tool will instantly magnify your entire screen.

Within the Zoom tool, you can adjust the zoom level with the + or – buttons, the settings of which will be saved the next time you access the feature.

To quickly access the Zoom tool, press the Windows key + plus sign (+).

Take a look at more key commands below for the Zoom tool.

Key Command	Action
Windows key + plus sign (+)	Zoom in (activate zoom tool)
Windows key + esc	Turn off zoom
Ctrl + Alt + Space bar	In zoom mode, show whole screen (context)
Windows key + U	Ease of Access Center: Make default text bigger, apps bigger, change size of cursor and mouse pointer (more on this below)
Windows key + minus sign (-)	Zoom out by one increment

When the zoom tool is activated, select the gear to view more settings.

The settings offer the ability to collapse the magnifier window and create me screen space. To change this setting, select Collapse Magnifier Window.

Display Settings

There are several ways to access display settings. You can always press the windows key and search for display:

…or the keyboard shortcut is Windows Key + U.Within this screen is the ability to:

Make all text bigger
Make the entire screen larger by default
Change the size of Apps and text on other displays
Change the size of the cursor and mouse pointer

Narrator

Windows 10 has a built in screen reader called Narrator. To access Narrator either:

Press the windows key and type Narrator,or
Use the command Windows Key + Ctrl + Enter

To access more settings for narrator:

Press the Windows Key and go to Settings
Select Ease of Access
Select Narrator

High Contrast Settings

There are several ways to access high contrast settings in Windows. One way is to select the Windows Key and type “High Contrast”. Within the High Contrast options is the ability to turn on high contrast and adjust the settings.

High Contrast mode can also be activated with the command:
Alt + left shift + Print Screen

Microsoft Office

You know this Byte wouldn’t be compete without some discussion about the Microsoft Office suite.

Quick Access Toolbar (QAT)

Don’t forget that in all of your Microsoft Office Programs is the ability to add your favorite tools to the Quick Access toolbar. This is the tiny toolbar that appears above the ribbon in Microsoft Office Programs.

You can customize your QAT with any command in the program, eliminating the need to hunt for frequently used features.

To add something to the QAT, either right click on the item and select Add to Quick Access Toolbar…

… Or press the dropdown arrow on the right of the QAT, and select More Commands to access a full list.

More about the advantages of the QAT below…

Dictation

Heads up, you will need a working microphone on your computer for this one; some have this by default, but if not they are affordable to purchase.

In the Home tab of Word and PowerPoint, and in the Message tab of Outlook, there is a Dictate button, which will allow you to dictate the content of your document or email.

In addition to taking dictation of your words, you can also verbally input punctuation and spacing, like:

Comma
Semi colon
Period
Question Mark
New paragraph (for a new line)

In general, you can also access Dictation in Windows 10 with the command: Windows Key + H

Read Aloud

Just like you needed a microphone for Dictation above , make sure you have working speakers for Read Aloud. This feature lives in the Review tab of Word…

… and the Home and Message tabs in Outlook.

Excel is a little bit trickier, but there is an ability to have cells spoken to you. Remember your QAT (above)? This is where we will go to turn this feature on in Excel

Follow the instructions above to access More Commands in the QAT. Then this feature is found under All Commands. It is called Speak Cells.

While you are in the QAT settings, you can also add Stop Speaking Cells to your QAT. Once this is in your QAT, you will see how easy it is to access when you read the next section.

The Power of Alt

When you are in any Microsoft Office program, press Alt on your keyboard. Notice that some labels appear in your ribbon.

These labels contain letters and numbers that are shortcut keys to access the tabs and QAT in the ribbon.

In the example above (in Word), you can press Alt to access the commands, then P for the Layout tab. Now you have a new set of options. Maybe you choose to press M to access Margins.

In other words, you could learn a series of commands with these keys. In the future, maybe you would remember you could just press Alt, P, M to get to your margins.

Even if you are not someone with low vision, you might find that learning some of these shortcuts can really speed up productivity. These key commands almost always end up being a lot faster than hunting for icons.

Keyboard Commands

Most of us are familiar with a few keyboard commands. Ctrl C to copy, Ctrl V to paste, and so on. The fact is, there are tons of keyboard commands for Office applications, in addition to the handy Alt trick you learned above. And much like the Alt example, even if you are not someone with low vision, you might find that learning some of these shortcuts can speed up productivity.

Take a look at an example below, with a handful of commands that you can use in Outlook. Would you be interested in lists like this for all your Microsoft Office programs? If so, let me know!

Outlook Navigation

Key Command	Action
Ctrl + 1	Mail
Ctrl + 2	Calendar
Ctrl + 3	Contacts
Ctrl + 4	Tasks
Ctrl + 6	Folder List
Ctrl + 8	Journal
Ctrl + E (or F3)	Search
Ctrl + Y	Go to a Different Folder
Alt	Access the ribbon

Create Item

Key Command	Action
Ctrl + shift + M	Create New Email
Ctrl + shift + A	Create Appointment
Ctrl + shift + C	Create Contact
Ctrl + shift + L	Create contact group
Ctrl + shift + Q	Create Meeting Request
Ctrl + shift + K	Create Task
Ctrl + shift + E	Create Folder
Ctrl + shift + J	Create Journal Entry

Email

Key Command	Action
Ctrl + R	Reply
Ctrl + Shift + R	Reply All
Ctrl + Shift + M	New Message
Alt + S	Send a message
Ctrl + F	Forward
Arrow Keys	Next message, Previous Message
Ctrl + Period	Next message (with msg open)
Ctrl + Comma	Previous message (with msg open)
F9	Check for New Messages
Ctrl + shift + B	Open Address Book
Insert	Add Quick Flag to unopened message
Ctrl + U	Mark as Unread
Ctrl + shift + I	Switch to Inbox
Ctrl + shift + O	Switch to Outbox

Format Text

Key Command	Action
Ctrl + B	Bold Text
Ctrl + Shift + L	Add bullets
Ctrl + I	Italic Text
Ctrl + U	Underline Text
Ctrl + ]	Increase Font Size
Ctrl + [	Decrease Font Size
Ctrl + X	Cut
Ctrl + C	Copy
Ctrl + V	Paste
Ctrl + K	Insert Hyperlink

All Items

Key Command	Action
Ctrl + S	Save
F12	Save As
Ctrl + Z	Undo
Ctrl + D	Delete
Ctrl + P	Print
F7	Check Spelling
Ctrl + L	Left Align
Ctrl + E	Center Text
Ctrl + R	Right Align
Alt + S	Save and Close

Thoughts?

What do you think? What did I forget? If you are someone with low vision, are there features that you use in Microsoft Windows or Office that help you better use the applications? I would love to hear from you!

Congratulations, Power Users!

Congratulations to our newest Power Users! For the full gallery, and more information about the WSU Microsoft Office Power User Program, please visit: wichita.edu/poweruser

Amanda Duffy

Outlook: Delete Old Calendar Events in Batch (Plus Bonus Tip)

Most of us employ archiving to some degree in our Outlook experience. Even with archiving, sometimes you may find that you don’t feel the need to keep old calendar events from many years ago… and believe it or not, they are taking up space in your Exchange account. If you are in this boat, you may decide to delete old calendar events in batch. Here is a handy way to accomplish this in Outlook.

By the way, shout out to Aaron for having this quandary and inspiring this Byte!

Using Advanced Search

There are probably several ways to accomplish this task, and some of it depends on your version of Outlook. We are going to use Advanced Search for this Byte. And you can follow along up until the last three steps if you are uncertain if you want to delete but just want to explore the feature.

1. Navigate to the calendar in the navigation (lower left). In the upper right click into the search field.

2. This activates your search tab. In this tab, select Search Tools and Advanced Find.

3. Go to the Advanced Tab in the popup.

4. In the Field dropdown, select Date/Time fields and End.

5. For Condition, select On or Before.

6. For Value, list the date that you want to cut off.

7. Select Add to List and Find Now.

8. Click into the body of results. Press Ctrl + A to select all

9. Right click, and Delete.

10. Don’t forget to empty your deleted items folder to free up space!

The same process could theoretically apply to mail, though I have found that people tend to archive mail and/or want to be more cautious about deleting them in batch (understandably)… whereas fewer people care about what meetings and lunches they attended in 2014.

Bonus Tip: Emojis

How about a bonus Outlook tip at no extra charge? I have to thank Emily for this one, because I had no idea about this shortcut.

If you want to insert an emoji into an email, you can access a full list with the command: Windows Key + ;

If you don’t see this appear, be sure you have clicked into the body of the email message.

By the way, you can access these emojis in other screens as well… try it out in your browsers!

Thoughts?

What do you think? Do you need to clear out any old events in your calendar to free up some space? Let me know how it goes!

Congratulations, Power Users!

Congratulations to our newest Power Users! For the full gallery, and more information about the WSU Microsoft Office Power User Program, please visit: wichita.edu/poweruser