Two Tips for Deleting Email Messages Quicker

When I sit down to deal with messages in my Inbox, I make decisions right then on what to do with each one. I keep my Inbox to one screen and don’t worry about promises, commitments, or deadlines falling through the cracks. Most messages are deleted. Here are two tips for deleting messages in Outlook (I use 2007. Works the same in 2003).
  • Turn off the warning, Are you sure? If this pesky box bothers you, it’s easy to turn it off. When I hit Delete, I want it gone and don’t want to give permission. From the Inbox, click Tools, Options, Other tab, Advanced Options, and untick the box, Warn before permanently deleting items.
  • Bypass the Deleted Items folder. If you’re sure you never want to see the message again (as in spam), permanently delete it so you don’t have to delete it again. Select the message (if it’s closed), hold down the Shift key then hit Delete. If you’re on an Exchange server, the message can be recovered. Otherwise, it’s gone!
Peggy Duncan, personal productivity expert
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  • jacquee
    Great tip as always, Peggy. I look forward to receiving them because I know your tips are always useful.

    Here's something that's been plaguing me lately and I bet others have had this problem as well. Why do messages in Outlook sometimes appear in an invisible yellow font? The message in the preview window appears fine, but when I open it up, it's illegible! Like the message disappeared. What's up with that?
  • peggyduncan
    Thanks Jacquee.

    I have no idea what you're seeing. Have not heard of this happening. Best thing to do is go to the Microsoft Forum and ask the programmers. I do this all the time. http://www.microsoft.com/office/community/en-us/FlyoutOverview.mspx#8

    Tell them which version you're using.
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