Sams Teach Yourself Microsoft Office Outlook 2003 in 24 Hours

Can I back up my views or share them with other people?

It's not easy, but it's possible to share views that were created for all folders. You can make a copy of your PST and delete all the Outlook items. This leaves only the views (and published forms) in the PST. Any views that are for this folder only or visible to you only must be copied as an All Folders, Visible to Everyone view.

To copy the views to another folder, select the folder where you want the view copied to. Select the view, and then choose C opy. Remove copy from the name (or rename the view) and then save the view. The copy is now stored in your folder.

Repeat for each view and folder type you want to copy.

Exchange Server users can also use Copy Folder Design, which is discussed in Hour 9, "Keeping Email Organized."

How do I change the view used when I create new folders?

The default view used on new folders can't be changed, but you can customize the view. Open the Custom View Organizer and select the view by name, and then modify it.

Because a view can get messed up easily, always make a copy. You should also consider using a new custom view on a folder instead of customizing the default view. Views are easy to apply using the Custom Views toolbar button and there is less risk of resetting your customized view.

I used Tools, Organize to color some messages and when I moved them to a new folder, the colors were gone. What happened ?

The item properties aren't changed when you use Organize; a rule is created in the current view that displays the items using your selected colors. If you apply the view in the new folder, the items will be colored again.