applied tips : may 2008
microsoft outlook : start outlook automatically
Automatically start the programs you use every day (like Outlook) with the Windows startup folder.
Everyone has a daily routine when they arrive at work. Whether you punch in the time clock, grab a cup of coffee, or catch up on the news, your morning routine probably includes starting your computer and launching Microsoft Outlook, a program that you usually need to use on a daily basis.
Since you probably use Outlook to receive e-mail messages and remind you about appointments, it’s a good idea to keep it up and running all day. And to avoid ever forgetting to open it and missing a reminder for an important appointment, you might want to configure Microsoft Windows so that it automatically launches Outlook whenever you turn on your computer.
If you’re part of a network and use Windows 2000, XP, or Vista as the operating system for your computer, this article shows you how to launch Outlook automatically. We’ll also cover how to stop it from automatically launching if it becomes annoying.
To launch Outlook automatically
As with so many other things, let’s begin at the beginning: with the Windows Start button.
- Right-click the Start button. A shortcut menu appears. Depending on how your computer is set up, select Open or Open All Users from the shortcut menu. The Start Menu window appears. This window displays how the Start menu is organized.
- Double-click the Programs folder to open it. One folder in the Programs folder is special, it’s called the Startup folder. Windows will automatically open any program shortcut that’s in the Startup folder every time you turn your computer on. To copy a shortcut of Outlook into the Startup folder, use the Folders pane.
- Click the Folders button on the toolbar. The window splits into two panes, displaying a hierarchical view of the Start menu’s contents in the left pane.
- In the left pane of the window, click the Start Menu folder expand button to view the subfolders.
-
Select
the folder that contains the shortcut to Outlook. In this example
shown in the screen capture, Outlook is stored in the Microsoft
Office folder. The actual Outlook icon might be somewhere else
on your computer. The contents of the Microsoft Office
folder—shortcuts to Microsoft Office programs—appear in the right
pane of the window. - Now copy the Outlook shortcut from the Microsoft Office folder
to the Startup folder in the left pane of the window. Press and
hold the Control
key as you drag the Outlook shortcut from the Microsoft Office folder in the right pane to the Startup folder in the left pane. Close the window.
That’s it! You’ve copied the Outlook program shortcut from the Programs folder to the Startup folder. Now Outlook will automatically start with Windows every time you turn on your computer.
If you got an error when dragging the Outlook icon into your Startup folder, it's probably because you don't have sufficient permission on the computer to make this change. You should contact your network administrator for assistance.
If you don’t want a program to start automatically with Windows any longer, just delete the program shortcut from the Startup folder.
You can use this same procedure to add other programs to start automatically with Windows. But try not to place programs in the Startup menu unless you really do use them every time you start Windows. Having too many programs open at the same time takes up memory and can greatly increase the amount of time it takes for Windows to start.
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