Category: Outlook 2010

Outlook 2010/2013 – Some items cannot be deleted

Sunil PadmanabhanLeave a comment

Applies to Exchange 2013

Some items cannot be deleted. They were either moved or already deleted, or access was denied

You get above error when trying to delete mailbox Items from Outlook in Non-Cached Mode

Run the below exchange shell script to check if the concerning Mailbox Recoverable Items Quota is reached

Get-MailboxFolderStatistics -Identity MailboxUser -FolderScope RecoverableItems | fl name,*size*

If yes, either increase the quota or delete the contents in the RecoverableItems folder based on criticality of the user

To delete the content; use the below Exchange Shell Script

Search-Mailbox -Identity MailboxUser -SearchDumpsterOnly -DeleteContent

Once done; you will be able to delete individual folder mail items

Outlook Personal Folders show loading continuously

Sunil PadmanabhanLeave a comment

Applies to Outlook 2010

When clicking on Inbox, Sent Items or any subfolder the outlook window shows loading continuously without any result.

Remove Unnecessary Outlook Add-Ins

  • Close and restart Outlook in safe mode
  • Type the below command in run outlook.exe /safe
  • From the Outlook Menu – File – Options – Add-Ins
  • From the bottom of the Add-In Window; click Go on Manage COM Add-Ins

manage_outlook_addins

  • Uncheck any Add-In that is not relevant to your work
  • In my case; I disabled the following Add-Ins
    • Microsoft SharePoint Server Colleague Import Add-In
    • Send to Bluetooth
    • Third Party Addins
      • PDFMOutlook
      • iTunes Outlook Addin
      • Teamviewer Meeting Add-In

 

Opening winmail.dat file in email attachment

Sunil PadmanabhanLeave a comment

Is winmail.dat file a virus? Why does this happen?

Below is a link to a post from Microsoft as to why this happens and what you can do to stop this from happening in future

http://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/278061

Does the winmail.dat file have any content?

Not all winmail.dat files have content. Right-Click the winmail.dat and open in notepad. The first 2 lines of text will give you an idea if it contains any relevant data (eg: IPM.Microsoft Mail.Note)

How to open a winmail.dat file?

Found a simple and easy to use website that helps you extract the contents online

http://www.winmaildat.com/

winmail_extract

Auto downloading attachments on Outlook to a different folder other than the default one

praveenhLeave a comment

This morning I had a very interesting query from a user. The request was if he could auto-download all the attachments that he received on his Outlook to another folder other than the temporary one (default folder). I sat down for a while looking for rules or any option on Outlook itself. But nothing to be found. When I did a bit of my own research, I figured out that with a bit of coding and then using the Outlook Rules itself, this was possible.

The link found to be very helpful for this purpose. Please note that in the section where one can specify the file type that needs to be stored to the custom folder, one needs to add a double quote before the file type.

For example, here is the code that I had used for my trial runs

Public Sub saveAttachtoDisk(itm As Outlook.MailItem)

Dim objAtt As Outlook.Attachment

Dim saveFolder As String

saveFolder = “D:\Attachments”

For Each objAtt In itm.Attachments

If InStr(objAtt.DisplayName, “.pdf”) Then

objAtt.SaveAsFile saveFolder & “\” & objAtt.DisplayName

End If

Next

End Sub

In the scenario above, the user only wanted PDF files to be saved to a folder in his D drive. The part of the code where I have highlighted as red should have the file extension (file type) within double quotes. In the link provided above this has been given within single quotes.

Although it is mentioned that this works for Outlook 2007 and Outlook 2010, I had tried on Outlook 2013 and it works beautifully without any hiccups. Give it a try! It’s awesome to see it working!

AutoArchive not working

Sunil PadmanabhanLeave a comment

Applies to Outlook 2007 and Outlook 2010

You notice that you have set your Archival Settings properly but the Auto Archive Feature still does not function properly

Outlook_AutoArchive

Before you dig deep into this problem; do a quick check on the Individual Folders of your PST File for which you require archival to function

Right-Click on the Inbox/Sent Items and select Properties – AutoArchive

Is the tickbox still showing ‘Do not archive items in this folder’?

Folder_ArchiveSettings

 

If yes; the solution is simple. In the first screenshot showing Auto Archive Settings, please ensure you click the Apply these Settings to all folders now and click ok

Now check the Properties of the Individual Folders again; the AutoArchive settings should now show as below

Folder_AutoArchive_02

Copying Outlook Folder Structure to another Outlook PST File

Sunil PadmanabhanLeave a comment

Applies to Outlook 2003/ Outlook 2007 / Outlook 2010 / Outlook 2013

You may have been using an Outlook PST with several folder structures in both Inbox and Sent Items. You may want to start with a new PST since the old one is getting bulky; but want all the previous PST folder structures duplicated in the new one. If you have built up a comprehensive list; creating one from scratch is tedious.

You may find a solution to your problem through different methods; but below is the easiest and most quickest way to achieve your requirement

Below Illustration is from Outlook 2010

  • File – Cleanup Tools – Archive
  • As illustrated; select the PST folder containing the folder structure you want duplicated
  • Under Archive Items Older than; select a date value which is before the time any email was stored in the selected PST.
    • For example: If you Current PST has email stored from Year 2008 to Year 2013; set the Archive Items Older than date field as 01/01/2008
  • Under Archive File; select directory location and filename for your new pst file.
  • Click Ok and your New PST file with only the folder structure will be created within the shortest possible time than any other solution can promise

 

  • outlook_archive

Reading Pane in Outlook – do not mark as read when mail selection changes

Sunil PadmanabhanLeave a comment

Applies to Outlook 2007 and above

Some people prefer to keep the reading pane turned on; but find it annoying when the messages get marked as read when they merely scroll through their mails

You can overcome this; with the below option in Outlook

Outlook 2010

File – Options – Advanced – Reading Pane

Outlook_Options

 

Reading_Pane

Ensure the you Uncheck  the second checkbox; Mark item as read when selection changes

Outlook 2007

Tools – Options – Other – Reading Pane