Using Instant Search

To display the Search tab, click the Instant Search box.
Click an item in the Refine group, as shown in Figure 32-4, to add that field to the Instant Search box. Then type the criteria required by the added field, such as a name, word, etc.
To add other fields, click More to display the list shown in Figure 32-4.

Figure 32-4. Each folder shows a different list of fields in the Refine group.

Tip

Adding fields from the Refine group is a good way to learn about the search syntax that Windows Search uses. After you’re familiar with the syntax, you can just type the search keywords yourself, rather than pick them from the list. What’s more, you can use the keywords outside Outlook to search for Outlook items. Just click Start and start typing your search criteria. Windows Search will return results in the Start menu based on those criteria.

Making Fields from Custom Forms Available

To add a custom form to the Query Builder list, follow these steps:

Click in the Instant Search box.
Click More in the Refine group on the Search tab and choose Add Form Field.
In the Select Enterprise Forms For This Folder dialog box, choose the type of forms you want to select from.
In the list in the left pane, select the form you want to add, and then click Add. Repeat this for each form you want to add. (To display form groups by category, select Show Categories.)
Click Close.

Note

If Windows Search is still building the search index, your search results will be incomplete. To check the status of indexing, click the Instant Search field to open the Search tab, and then click Search Tools and choose Indexing Status.

Configuring Indexing Options

While indexing is generally self-maintaining, you can control some settings using the Indexing Options item in the Control Panel. You can also display Indexing Options from Outlook. Click File, Options, and Search, and then click Indexing Options.

To verify that your Outlook 2010 files are being indexed, follow these steps:

Click File, Options, and Search.
Click Indexing Options. In the Indexing Options dialog box, shown in Figure 32-5, verify that your Outlook 2010 files are listed in the Included Locations list.
If your Outlook 2010 files are not listed, click Modify to display the Indexed Locations dialog box. Under Change Selected Locations, select the Microsoft Outlook check box to include the files in the locations that should be indexed. (Outlook 2010 files belonging to other users are also shown, but Outlook will return to you only results from your own data files.) Click OK.
Note
Be patient when you click Modify. It can take quite a while for Windows to display the Indexed Locations dialog box.

Figure 32-5. You can see the status of indexing across the entire system in the Indexing Options dialog box.

TROUBLESHOOTING

Troubleshooting indexing problems

You might need to rebuild the index due to problems such as empty search results when you know that there are items that match your search. Rebuilding an index takes a while, perhaps even several hours, and is significantly slower if you are also using the computer at the same time. Because of this, you will want to rebuild the index only when you are experiencing ongoing problems with Instant Search, and preferably when you will be away from the computer for a while.

You can rebuild the search index by opening the Indexing Options item in Control Panel and then clicking Advanced. Under Troubleshooting, click Rebuild. Once the index is rebuilt, restart Outlook 2010 to have it use the new index.

Searching for Contacts

If you’re like most Outlook 2010 users, your Contacts folder will grow to contain a lot of contact entries—typically, too many to allow you to browse through the folder when you need to find a particular contact quickly. You’re also likely to encounter situations in which, for example, you need to locate contact information but can’t remember the person’s last name. Fortunately, Outlook 2010 makes it easy to locate contact data, providing two convenient ways to search contacts: Instant Search and the Find a Contact box in the Find group on the Home tab on the ribbon.

Instant Search works the same way across all the Outlook 2010 folders, so to locate a contact, begin typing the contact’s name in the Search Contacts box. You can use the buttons in the Refine group on the Search tab to add search criteria. If you want to add more fields, you can click More and then select the fields in the list.

You can also use the Find A Contact box on the Home tab on the ribbon, shown in Figure 32-6, to search for contacts. Type the search criterion (such as a first name, last name, or company), and then press Enter.

Figure 32-6. The Find a Contact box allows you to find a contact entry quickly.

If Outlook 2010 finds only one contact that matches the search criteria, it opens the contact entry for that person. Otherwise, Outlook 2010 displays the Choose Contact dialog box, shown in Figure 32-7, in which you can select the contact entry to open.

Figure 32-7. Select a contact when Outlook 2010 finds more than one that fits your search criteria.

Note

The Find A Contact box can be useful when you need to perform a quick search for a contact based on a limited amount of data. To locate contacts and other Outlook 2010 items based on multiple search conditions, use Instant Search or Advanced Find, as discussed in the next section.

Using Advanced Find

In addition to Instant Search, Outlook 2010 still provides the Advanced Find feature for performing advanced searches that require specifying multiple search conditions.

To open the Advanced Find dialog box, shown in Figure 32-8, click in the Instant Search box, and then click Search Tools, Advanced Find or simply press Ctrl+Shift+F. You can use this dialog box to search for any type of Outlook 2010 item using multiple search conditions.

Figure 32-8. Use the Advanced Find dialog box when you need to search using multiple conditions.

The options provided in the Advanced Find dialog box change depending on the type of item that you select in the Look For drop-down list. If you select Contacts, for example, the options change to provide specialized search criteria for contacts, such as restricting the search to a name, a company, or an address. Selecting Messages in the drop-down list changes the options so that you can search the subject field of messages, search the subject and message body, or specify other search criteria specific to messages.

Note

When you select a different item type in the Look For drop-down list, Outlook 2010 clears the current search and starts a new one. Outlook 2010 does, however, prompt you to confirm that you want to clear the current search.

On the first tab in the Advanced Find dialog box (the title of which changes based on the type of items being searched, for example, Messages in Figure 32-8), you specify the primary search criteria. The following list summarizes all the available options (although not all options appear at all times):

Search For The Word(s) Specify the word, words, or phrase for which you want to search. You can type words individually, or include quotation marks around a phrase to search for the entire phrase. You also can select from a previous set of search words using the drop-down list.
In Specify the location in the Outlook 2010 item where you want to search, such as only the subject of a message. The options available in this list vary according to the type of item that you select in the Look For drop-down list.
From Specify the name of the person who sent you the message. Type the name, or click From to browse the address book for the name.
Sent To For messages, specify the recipients to whom the message was sent.
Attendees Specify the people scheduled to attend a meeting.
Organized By Specify the person who generated the meeting request.
E-Mail Browse the address book to search for contacts by their email addresses.
Named Specify the file name of the item for which you’re searching. You can specify a single file name or use wildcard characters to match multiple items. The Named box appears if you select Files or Files (Outlook/Exchange) in the Look For drop-down list.
Of Type Choose the type of file for which to search when using the Files or Files (Outlook/Exchange) options.
Journal Entry Types Specify the journal entry type when searching the journal for items.
Contact Browse for a contact associated with an item for which you’re searching.
Where I Am When searching for messages, specify that you are the only person on the To line, on the To line with others, or on the Cc line with others.
Status Search for tasks based on their status. You can select Doesn’t Matter, Not Started, In Progress, or Completed.
Time Specify the creation or modification time, the start or end time, or other time properties specific to the type of item for which you are searching.

Specifying Advanced Search Criteria

You use the More Choices tab in the Advanced Find dialog box, shown in Figure 32-9, to specify additional search conditions to refine the search.

Figure 32-9. Use the More Choices tab to refine the search.

The following options are available on the More Choices tab:

Categories Specify the category or categories associated with the items for which you are searching. You can type the categories separated by commas, or you can click Categories to open the Categories dialog box and then select categories.
Only Items That Are Search for items by their read status (read or unread).
Only Items With Search for items by their attachment status (one or more attachments, or no attachments).
Whose Importance Is Specify the importance (High, Normal, or Low) of the items for which you are searching.
Only Items Which Specify the flag status of the items for which you are searching.
Match Case Direct Outlook 2010 to match the case of the text you entered as the search criterion. Clear this check box to make the search case-insensitive.
Size Specify the size criterion for the items in your search. You can select one of several options to define the size range in which the item must fall to match the search.

The More Choices tab is the same for all Outlook 2010 items except the Files search item. With Files selected in the Look For drop-down list, the Only Items With option is not available.

You can use the Advanced tab in the Advanced Find dialog box, shown in Figure 32-10, to create more complex searches. On this tab, select the fields to include in the search, as well as the search conditions for each field. You can build a list of multiple fields.

Figure 32-10. On the Advanced tab, select the fields to search and their search criteria.

Organizing Data

Searching for data and organizing data usually go hand in hand. One of the main motivations for organizing your data is that you want to be able to find it easily. Even with perfect organization, however, you’ll still need to perform searches now and then because of the sheer amount of data that might be involved. Outlook 2010 provides several ways to organize your data. Whereas other chapters in this book focus on specific ways to organize your Outlook 2010 items, this section provides an overview of ways that you can organize certain types of items and points you to the appropriate chapters for additional information.

Organizing Your Email

Email messages probably make up the bulk of your Outlook 2010 data. For that reason, organizing your messages can be a challenge. Outlook 2010 offers several features that will help you organize your messages so that you can find and work with them effectively and efficiently.

Search Folders

Search folders are the best means in Outlook 2010 to organize messages quickly without moving them around to different folders. A search folder looks and acts like a folder, but it’s really a special type of view that displays in a virtual folder view all messages that fit the search condition for the search folder. Search folders offer two main benefits: They can search multiple folders, and they organize messages without requiring that the messages be moved from their current folder.

Note

See the section Chapter 32, on page 288, to learn more about search folders.

Using Folders

Another great way to organize your email messages is to separate them in different folders. For example, if you deal with several projects, consider willcreating a folder for each project and moving each message to its respective folder. You can create the folders as subfolders of your Inbox or place them elsewhere, depending on your preferences. You might even create a folder outside the Inbox named Projects and then create subfolders for each project under that folder.

Note

For more information about creating and managing folders, see Chapter 29.

Using Rules

Rules are one of the best tools you have in Outlook 2010 for organizing messages. You can apply rules to process messages selectively—moving, deleting, copying, and performing other actions on the messages based on the sender, the recipient, the account, and a host of other message properties. You can use rules in combination with folders to organize your email messages. For example, you might use rules to move messages for specific projects to their respective folders automatically. You can apply rules to messages when they arrive in the Inbox or any time you need to rearrange or organize.

Note

For a detailed discussion of rules, see Chapter 11.

Using Color Categories

Outlook 2010 uses color categories to help organize your email messages. If you create rules to apply certain color categories to specified email messages, the color can provide a visual indicator of the sender, the subject, the priority, or other properties of the message. In this way, you can see at a glance whether a particular message meets certain criteria. You can also use automatic formatting in a view to apply color categories.

Note

For more information about color categories, see Chapter 5.

Using Views

Views give you another important way to organize your Outlook 2010 data. The default views organize specific folders using the most common criteria. You can customize Outlook Today view using Hypertext Markup Language (HTML) to provide different or additional levels of organization. You can also create custom views of any Outlook 2010 folder to organize your data to suit your preferences.

Note

For more information about customizing views, see the sections Customizing the Outlook Today View, on page 648, and Creating and Using Custom Views, on page 653.

Organizing Your Calendar, Contacts, Tasks, and Notes

As with mail folders, you can use categories to organize items in your other folders. For example, you might use categories to identify meetings for specific projects quickly. You can also use conditional formatting to display items in a certain color when those items match your conditional formatting condition. For contacts, you can use multiple folders to separate contacts, such as separating your business contacts from personal contacts.

Organizing Your Outlook Items Effectively

It’s far too easy to get swamped in email, but you can make it less of a problem if you learn to use the options that Outlook 2010 offers to help you stay organized. Here are a few tips to get you started:

Clean out your Inbox every day There is a very real psychological boost when you can leave your office at the end of the day with your Inbox empty—and it’s a pretty nice way to start your morning, too. A habitually empty Inbox also means that any mail that is in the Inbox is still unread, so it’s easy to tell what you still need to read.
Handle each email message only once Many time management systems share a similar mantra: Open a message, read it, decide what you have to do about it, and then do it. Right now. For most people, a lot of their mail requires no action beyond reading it. If that’s the case, delete (or file) mail items immediately. Move any items that require action to a folder other than the Inbox, assigning a color category to make it easier to locate, or set a follow-up flag to remind you of a deadline if needed.
Turn off the Reading pane if you have a hard time emptying your Inbox While the Reading pane makes it easy to read a piece of mail quickly, the Reading pane also makes it easy to read mail without dealing with it.
Use rules to sort mail that you don’t need to read immediately into folders as it arrives You can also assign categories using rules as messages arrive, providing additional information that you can use to locate those messages later.
Use a combination of folders and categories to manage your mail Create folders to contain large groups of mail, and then categorize the messages to display a manageable subset of messages.
Use search folders to create customized views of your Outlook 2010 items Search folders automatically filter the contents of a list of folders that you specify based on the set of criteria found in the Advanced Find dialog box. This lets you see specific sets of messages by simply selecting a folder.
Create custom views of messages Custom views that filter Outlook 2010 items are another powerful tool, letting you quickly switch between various subsets of messages. Because views can be used in multiple folders, you can create a view once and reuse it in many places.
If you have lots of email, consider using multiple .pst files to separate disparate information into discrete data stores In addition to segregating data storage, this makes it easy to select specific data sets for Instant Search.