Launched in 1996, Hotmail was one of the most used free online mail services. Formerly known as MSN Hotmail, this online mail service provider has millions of users around the globe. In 2013, Hotmail was rebranded again to what we know now as Outlook. Aside from sending emails, Hotmail also has a lot of features you can enjoy especially if you are a multitasker.
In this article, we will feature some facts and tips on how you can fully utilize your Hotmail account and practice better email management. Once you’re done reading this article, you’re going to have a few tricks up your sleeves.
Get reminded daily with Agenda Mail
This is going to be your favorite feature if you are a busy person. Agenda mail will automatically send you reminders, tasks, to-dos, and schedules for the day. You may enable this feature by going to Outlook’s settings. Go to Calendar, then you can start customizing reminders according to your preferences.
Organize your inbox by setting rules
This is one of the coolest and useful Hotmail facts. When you take the time to personalize and set rules for your email, you won’t have to deal with the clutters of your inbox anymore. For example, you may set a rule whenever a specific person is sending you an email. You can automatically add them to certain folders so you can prioritize well. You may also add more conditions, exceptions, and actions. You can also easily edit or delete these rules.
You can undo an email you just sent
Isn’t it frustrating when you accidentally send an email to the wrong person? More importantly, you can get in big trouble if the contents of the email are confidential. Don’t worry though! Outlook has an undo send for this very reason. However, you can only do this in 10 seconds after sending it. You can undo your email by going to the compose and reply section.
Move your mails to the task list
Task list is another feature of Outlook that will help you see an overview of all the things that you need to do for the day. You can simply transfer your emails by using the drag and drop function. You’ll see a task list tab on Outlook where you can drop your chosen emails. You can set a time and date to remind you when to work on them.
Clean up your inbox with only one click
It gets tiring deleting emails manually. Most especially if most emails you are getting are duplicated emails. To help you with this, you can delete emails with just one click. All you need to do is go to click the Clean Up option. You’ll see this on top of your email. The cleanup tool will sift through all your emails and delete emails with duplicates. No worries though! This feature will not delete those emails with attachments.
Use email templates
If you’re someone who gets the same emails from time to time, you might want to consider making a template. Outlook will let you do this with ease. All you need to do is look for the Outlook template option under the File tab. You may also create a shortcut so you can easily access your templates.
Categorize your folders by color
If you’re more of a visual person, you may want to color-code your folders. There are 6 available colors where you may edit the name of the folder as well. Just go to general settings and click Categories so you can personalize.
Switch to dark mode
Switching to dark mode minimizes your eye strain. This is recommended especially if you’re reading through hundreds of emails in a day. Some people just prefer dark mode over the brighter screen. If you’re one of these people, all you need to do is go to general settings. Click appearance then adjust the slider.
Email schedules
Knowing how to send an email on a specific time and date can be handy on some days. For example, if you’re exchanging emails with someone overseas or different timezones. You may also use this if you know what time of the day the receiver of your email usually checks his inbox. To send scheduled emails, all you need to do is compose the email. Next, go to options then click ‘delay delivery,’ You can now set the time and date of when you’d like your email to be sent out. Not so hard at all, right?
Is switching to Outlook still worth it?
Now that you’ve learned a few tips and tricks on how to use Outlook, you may be wondering if this is the right choice for you. Compared to other webmail services, Outlook is still an excellent choice if you want to have a lot of customization control. Outlook, or Hotmail, also has some other features that you won’t find anywhere else. Some of them are offline access to mail, mail tips, easier access to Skype conversations, and more. If you think these are some things that you find useful, then you can create your Outlook account for free!