Let’s talk about some of those options we saw in the new calendar item window. The one that people use most is reminders. When you check the box for a reminder, you also have the option to tell Outlook how long before the appointment you want to be reminded.

 

When that time arrives, this window will appear:

 

 

You’ll see your appointment title appear in the very first line of this box, as well as the start time you specified. Then in the white box, you’ll see the title of your appointment as well as what time it’s due. The three buttons below give you the option to dismiss all the reminders that are in this window, to open the item that’s selected, or to dismiss just this reminder.

 

Next are the snooze options. Just like an alarm clock, you can tell Outlook to close the reminder for now, but to remind you again in a time you choose from the drop-down menu (from 5 minutes before the appointment starts to two weeks from now).

 

Another neat option is the Recurrence button on the standard toolbar. When you click that button, the window pictured to the right will appear. The first set of options is similar to those in the new appointment screen: you can specify the start time and end time (or just choose the start time and pick the duration; this will save you from doing the math).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

You can also specify options in the Recurrence Pattern box. You can tell Outlook to make the appointment recur (happen again) every day, week, month, or  year. For each option, different sub-options will appear to the right of the list. Above, “Weekly” is selected for the recurrence pattern. The picture to the right shows what the box would look like if Monthly were selected.

 

The last set of options will tell Outlook when to start and end the recurring appointment. You can choose no end date, to end after a certain number of appointments (10 is typed in, in this example), or to end on a certain date.

 

When you click OK, and then Save and Close your calendar appointment, Outlook will copy that appointment to the dates and times specified by the recurring schedule!

 

If you ever want to turn the appointment back into a regular one, you can go into the appointment by double-clicking on it, then clicking on the Recurrence button, then clicking the “Remove Recurrence” button next to Cancel. Once you click this button, then click OK, and then click save and close in the appointment screen, it will remove the recurrence from the appointment that you specified.

 

Another neat option is labels.  You can right-click on an appointment to select a label for it or click the calendar colouring option () on the standard toolbar. Here’s a list of the label options:

 

 

All you have to do is select your appointment and click on the  icon from the toolbar, or right-click on the appointment and choose Labels. Either action will bring up the menu you see above. Then, just click on the label you want. You’ll see your appointment change colour; that means the label has been applied! To remove a label, follow the same steps to bring up the label list. Then, choose none (the first option in the list).

 

You can also make your own labels. Follow the steps above to bring up the labels menu. Then, click the Edit Labels option at the bottom of the menu. You can’t edit the colours of the labels, but you can edit the text next to each colour. Just click in the white text box and type! Once you click OK, your changes will be saved. Then, you can pick your custom labels from the labels menu the same way that we talked about before.