If you’re like me, your desk, monitor, and the rest of your office are covered in sticky notes. They remind me of things I need to do, processes, phone calls I need to respond to, and who does what in which office. They’re generally too short to warrant their own Word document, and anyway, they’d clutter up my Documents library.
Short notes like this are a great opportunity for the Notes feature in Outlook. It is often overlooked, but very useful. It allows you to easily access bits of information you don’t want to write on a sticky note or save to a Word doc.
Access Notes in Outlook
In the Navigation pane on the left, click on Notes or use the keyboard shortcut Ctrl + 5. (Learn more keyboard shortcuts to change views in Outlook.)
Don’t see Notes in the Navigation pane? Look for the yellow notepad icon in the bar across the bottom of the Navigation pane.
Create a New Note
Here are three ways to start a new note:
- Go to the Notes view and click the New button.
- In any view, click the drop down arrow beside the New button and select Note.
- Use the keyboard shortcut Ctrl + Shift + N.
Once your new note has opened, click in the body. The first line you type will be the name displayed below your note. Below that, type or paste information. When you’ve finished, no need to save. Just click the X in the top right corner to close it. It will appear in the Notes section of Outlook.
Organize Notes
To organize your notes, just click and drag them around the white space in the Notes view. Use the buttons on the toolbar/ribbon to view them with large icons, small icons, or as a list.
Delete a Note
When a note is no longer useful, you can always delete it.
- Go to the Notes view.
- Click on a note.
- Click on the Home tab of the ribbon.
- Click the Delete button (a black X).
