When you open an e-mail, it automatically is marked as read. However, if you are using the Reading Pane to view messages instead of opening them, you have a number of possible options for marking e-mails as being read.

If you like visually appealing message templates called stationaries, you may want to set up Outlook to always use a particular stationery for all new messages.

Outlook, like other Office applications, supports AutoCorrect - a feature that allows Outlook to correct common spelling and typing errors and to replace characters with symbols. You also can use AutoCorrect as a shortcut, which means you can type a small string of characters and have those characters replaced by a longer string.

This option controls which address book you see when you open the Address Book (via clicking Ctrl+Shift+B) and when you click the To, Cc, or Bcc buttons when composing e-mails.

In order to increase the speed of opening e-mail messages and reduce risks involved with opening of unsolicited messages, you can switch Outlook to the plain text reading mode.

Outlook uses two features to resolve and complete names entered into email messages: AutoComplete and Autoresolution.

Outlook can display either the number of unread e-mails or the total number of e-mails in a folder alongside the folder name.

Any of Outlook's default views can be modified to suit your needs. You can customize the fields displayed, sorting, grouping, filtering, fonts, and other formatting options.

Usually Outlook users are using folders to organize messages, but you can also use colors. For example, you might apply a special color to all messages from a particular person. You can then see at a glance which messages are from that person.

Usually Outlook users are using folders to organize messages, but you can also use colors. For example, you might apply a special color to all messages from a particular person. You can then see at a glance which messages are from that person.