Email: Setup a 'By Person' View
by Paul Wagner, The Software Magician

There is a nifty feature of Outlook 2003 that lets you click on any view with just one click instead of two (from the Advanced toolbar you can click on the Current View drop-down and then click on the view you want). Now you can choose with ONE click by turning on the Show Views in Navigation Pane (more on this).

But I like two views of my email: one sorted by Recieved (date), but the other is By From Person (which doesn't exist). I don't like constantly having to group and sort, ungroup and resort.

So I just created an email View that let's me choose which view I like...with ONE click. Mmmm.

First, ensure you have the Advanced Toolbar turned on. Right click in the toolbar area and turn on the Advanced toolbar by clicking it..

Create the By Person View

• Click on the Email Navigation Pane
• In the Advanced toolbar in the Current view drop-down, click on the drop-down arrow and select Define Views (at the bottom of the list
• Click on Messages. Then click Copy
• In the Copy View window, name this view "By Person"
• Click OK
• Since we are going to use the same format layout, we don't need to change any Fields
• Click on Group by
  • On the drop-down box for Group item by, click on the drop-down box and select From.
  • Click on Ascending (the default)
  • Click OK
• Since there are no other fields in question, click OK
• Click Apply View

Now, one more touch. Let's turn on the Show Views in Navigation Pane. From the menu bar, click on View, Arrange by and choose the Show Views in Navigation Pane. What this does is show all the views, including the By Person view. Now you just need one click rather than two. Neat huh.

And now you can use one click to sort into groups.

One last thought--while the view is sorted and grouped By Person, click on any person, then type the first three letters of their last name to find them instantly!

2006 Paul Wagner.

About the Author

Paul Wagner is President of The Software Magician, a Training/Consulting firm specializing in assisting Entrepreneurs and small businesses in the contact management needs, especially Outlook.

To learn more about Outlook and Outlook Classes and Teleseminars, visit The Software Magician at www.softwaremagician.com

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