Clever Clogs tip # 739
1 March 2024


Stop asking me to restore items from my last session - and other ways to customise Outlook *

I recently bought a new laptop and had to go through the pain of changing all sorts of settings. One that bugged me and never wrote a tip about was the message in Outlook that prompts me to reopen stuff from my last session.

Out of curiosity I once clicked Yes, but - as expected - it wasn't helpful. So No it was, until such a time that I had enough and checked what setting to change.

Here's how:

  1. Click on the File tab and select Options. For those of you who like to keep your hands on your keyboard, press and release the ALT key (to the left of your spacebar), type the letter F (for File), followed by T (for Options).
  2. On the General tab, under Start-up options, click Ask me if I want to restore previous items.
  3. Select your preferred option from the drop-down menu. Mine is never reopen previous items.
  4. Click OK.

Check out the two articles I wrote for Executive Support Magazine listing eleven settings I recommend you change in Outlook, saving you time and frustration and increasing your productivity:

  1. 8 Ways to Customize Outlook (I know "we" spell Customize-with-an-s and that "they" recommend using sentence case in a heading, but Executive Support made an executive decision ;)
  2. Three More Microsoft Settings You Should Change Right Now

The first article even made it in the top 10 most-read articles of 2022. Whoop whoop!

Last month's CleverClogsTipTime on LinkedIn (newest posts first)

  1. See my working day and upcoming tasks on the right-hand side at the same time as responding to my emails
  2. Am I the only one who doesn't like the right-click context menu in Windows 11?
  3. How do you thank a customer who has given you work for the past twenty years?
  4. Go-to productivity tips in Excel when you open someone else's spreadsheet
  5. "I've made some changes"

K.

PS If you and I are not connected on LinkedIn, please do reach out and put that right. I'm always keen to connect directly but if you'd prefer to follow me instead, then please do. You can find me at https://www.linkedin.com/in/karenroem/

PPS Following popular demand https://www.eahowto.com/ has asked me to rerun https://www.eahowto.com/the-new-outlook webinar, catering for two different time zones: Wednesday 27 March 4pm to 5pm GMT and Wednesday 29 May 9am to 10am BST. Hope to see you then!


* Unless stated otherwise this tip is written for Microsoft 365 desktop apps and Windows 10 users, but might also be useful in Office 2010, 2013, 2016 and 2019.