The Outlook 2007 Interface

The Outlook 2007 interface is composed of various panes, or sections. The basic layout of the panes remains constant throughout Outlook, though the contents of each pane change from feature to feature.

The Navigation pane, the leftmost vertical column of the interface, serves as the main hub of Outlook. The stack of features buttons in the bottom left corner is present in every Outlook screen—you can jump from one feature to another by using these buttons. The portion of the Navigation pane above the stack of features buttons will change depending on which feature you’re using. For instance, in the Mail feature, you’ll see a tree of email folders, such as Inbox and Deleted Items, in that space. Similarly, in the Calendar feature, you’ll see a snapshot view of the next few months’ worth of calendar dates.

The four most frequently used Outlook features—Mail, Calendar, Contacts, and Tasks—appear in the Navigation Pane by default. To select which other buttons appear (or to remove any of the default buttons), click on the tiny down-arrow at the bottom right corner of the stack and click Add or Remove Buttons in the menu that pops up. A list of all the available buttons will appear. Buttons already in your stack will be outlined in orange, while buttons you can add won’t have an outline.

The Information pane is the area of the Outlook interface in which you view and create the information for the particular feature you’re using. For instance, in the Mail feature, the Information pane will automatically show a list of the emails in your Inbox, while in Contacts, it will display all of your contacts sorted alphabetically.

The Reading pane displays the contents of your emails alongside (or under) the Information pane. Though the Reading pane is sometimes referred to as a “preview” pane, it’s fully functional—you can scroll within a message, click links, accept meeting requests, and download pictures all within the Reading pane. The Reading pane appears only in the Mail feature, and in Outlook 2007 it’s shown by default.

If you don’t see the Reading pane right away when you open Outlook (or switch to the Mail feature), it might be closed. To open the Reading pane, click on View in the top Outlook toolbar and choose Reading pane. A menu will pop out that allows you to choose Right, Bottom, or Off. Select where you want the Reading pane to be positioned in the interface, and it will appear. It’s generally faster and easier to manage your email with the Reading pane on. When it’s off, you have to double-click on each of your messages to pop up a window in which you can read them.

The To-Do Bar replaces the TaskPad and Outlook Today features from previous versions of Outlook. Its purpose is to bring together all of your tasks, appointments, and other items requiring your attention, such as flagged emails, in one place. The To-Do Bar appears in every Outlook 2007 feature by default (except Calendar), though you can close it any time by clicking on the in the top right corner of the To-Do Bar’s pane.

The Help Search box appears at the top right corner of every Outlook feature. To use it, type your search terms directly into the box and press Enter. The Outlook Help window will pop up and display your search results. You can also access the Help window by clicking the Help button (or on the word Help) in the Outlook toolbars or by pressing F1 on your keyboard.

The main Outlook interface has two rows of toolbars. The top row consists of the seven main categories of commands that you use in Outlook (File, Edit, View, Go, Tools, Actions, Help), each of which opens up a drop-down menu when clicked. The second row contains shortcut buttons that you can use to execute specific commands with one click, such as Reply or Print. If you’re unsure of what a particular button does, mouse over it, and a brief description will appear.

The second toolbar’s shortcut buttons will change depending on which feature you’re using. The top toolbar’s command categories never change, but the specific commands that each category’s drop-down menus contain do change depending on the Outlook feature you’re using.

You can modify which shortcut buttons appear in the toolbar by clicking on the tiny down-arrow button at the right end of the toolbar.

You can choose whether to hide or show certain parts of the Outlook interface. You can also adjust the width of each of the interface’s main panes based on your preferences.

The double-arrow signs that appear in the Navigation pane (and in other parts of the Outlook interface) are used to expand and contract content within panes, and to hide or reveal parts of the interface. Single-click on these icons to customize the interface to your liking.

To widen or narrow any pane in the main Outlook interface, click and drag the vertical bars separating the panes to your desired dimensions.