Although Outlook comes with so many options to manage multiple email accounts, it could be a hassle to manage all of them with ease. It could happen due to some default settings that you may not like. That is why we have enlisted some default Outlook settings that you can change to boost your productivity.
There are many ways to increase your productivity in Outlook. However, some default settings could be a roadblock for you. Whether you use one or multiple email accounts, you must tweak some of the default settings in order to make things smoother for you. In case you don’t know the names of those settings, you can go through the following list.
Change these default Outlook settings to boost productivity
Some of the default Outlook settings you should change are:
- Switch to Preview mode
- Change search settings to All mailboxes
- Remove unnecessary items from Ribbon
- Change Privacy settings
- Disable LinkedIn features
- Change default font
- Disable animations
To learn more about these settings, continue reading.
1] Switch to Preview mode
No matter which email account you include in the Outlook app, it uses the Compact view mode that shows almost all the important things. At times, you might need bigger fonts so that you can opt for the desired email quickly. That is why you can switch to the Preview mode that previews the selected email. That said, you do not need to double-click on the email to view it. To enable this mode, follow these steps:
- Open the Outlook app.
- Go to the View tab.
- Find the Change View option.
- Select the Preview option.
2] Change search settings to All mailboxes
By default, Outlook searches for the keyword in the current folder only. In some situations, you might need to search for an email, and you don’t know where it is currently. That is when you can enable this setting:
- Open the Outlook Options panel.
- Switch to the Search tab.
- Find the Include results only from option.
- Choose the All mailboxes option.
3] Remove unnecessary items from Ribbon
Although Outlook doesn’t always display unnecessary items in the Ribbon, you might find some of them useless. Fortunately, you can remove the ones that you do not need. Follow these steps to remove unnecessary items from Ribbon:
- Open the Outlook app.
- Click on the Options menu.
- Go to the Customize Ribbon tab.
- Find the item you want to remove.
- Remove the tick from the corresponding checkbox.
- Click the OK button.
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4] Change Privacy settings
In order to improve the application and user experience, Outlook often collects data and sends them to Microsoft. If you do not want to do that, you can disable these settings:
- Open the Outlook Options panel.
- Go to the Trust Center tab.
- Click on the Trust Center Settings button.
- Switch to the Privacy Options.
- Click on the Privacy Settings button.
- Uncheck all unnecessary options.
- Click the OK button.
Read: How to customize Outlook on Windows PC
5] Disable LinkedIn features
Outlook and LinkedIn are internally integrated into the latest version of the Microsoft 365. However, if you want to use this functionality, you can turn it off using these steps:
- Open the Outlook Options wizard.
- Make sure that you are in the General tab.
- Head to the LinkedIn Features section.
- Uncheck the respective checkbox.
- Click the OK button.
Read: How to enable or disable LinkedIn Resume Assistant in Word
6] Change default font
If you do not like the default font, you can always switch to your favorite font for new emails, replies, etc. For that, do the following:
- Open the Outlook Options panel.
- Go to the Mail tab.
- Click on the Stationery and Fonts option.
- Click on the Font button.
- Choose a font that you like.
- Click the OK button.
Read: Change these default settings in Excel for a better experience
7] Disable animations
When you expand groups or conversations, Outlook displays an animation. However, if you do not want to show such animations that may slow down the app, you can disable them using these steps:
- Open the Outlook Options.
- Switch to the Advanced tab.
- Find the Use animations when expanding conversations and groups option.
- Uncheck the checkbox.
- Click the OK button.
Read: Default Microsoft Word settings you need to change
How do I change Outlook to default settings?
In order to change Outlook to default settings, you need to use the Windows Settings panel. It allows users to reset Microsoft Outlook to the factory defaults so that they can start using the apps freshly. Apart from that, you can also delete the profile from Outlook and add it again to opt for the default settings. However, this method works only for specific email accounts.
That’s all! Hope these tips and tricks helped you.
