Navigating the Calendar
To open the calendar and display a specific date using the Date Navigator, open the Calendar folder. Then use the “Previous Month” and “Next Month” arrows in the “Date Navigator” to move through the months until the date that you want to select appears. You could also click on the month heading itself that appears in the Date Navigator to select from either the three previous months or three next months which appear in a pop-up menu.
After selecting the month, just click on the specific day within the Date Navigator that you want to display in the Calendar window. In the Date Navigator, the current day will always appear with a red box around it.
You can also select a specific date using the “Go To Date” dialog box. If using Outlook 2010, click the “Go To Date” dialog box launcher in the lower right corner of the “Go To” group on the “Home” tab in the Ribbon. If using Outlook 2007, select “Go| Go to Date…” from the Menu Bar to display this dialog box. This will launch the “Go To Date” dialog box from which you can select a date from the drop-down date navigator at the right end of the “Date:” text box. You can also select a display view for that date from the drop-down arrow list at the right end of the “Show in:” text box. Then just click “OK” to jump to that date with the display that you selected.
After having moved to a different day, if you want to return to the current day in the Calendar folder, you can click the “Today” button in the “Go To” group on the “Home” tab in the Ribbon in Outlook 2010, or in the Standard toolbar in Outlook 2007 when the Calendar folder is displayed.
Appointments, Meetings, and Events
You can set three types of items in your calendar. The items you can create are: “Appointments,” “Events,” and “Meetings.” The only difference between an “appointment” and an “event” is that an event lasts for a full day, while an appointment usually does not.
A really quick way to create an event is to double-click in the area above the listing of hours for the day in which you want to set an event. You can also easily set an appointment by double-clicking in the actual hour lines within the day for which you want to create an appointment. Also note that you can change an appointment into a meeting by simply inviting others through the “Invite Attendees” button in the Ribbon of the “Appointment” window. Doing that will turn it into a meeting.
Setting an Appointment
If you want to schedule yourself an appointment in Outlook, just open the Calendar folder and click either the “New Appointment” button in the “New” group on the “Home” tab in the Ribbon if using Outlook 2010, or click the “New” button in the Standard toolbar if using Outlook 2007. The “Appointment” window will appear. You can set the appointment in this window. Start by typing a description of the appointment into the “Subject:” text box. Then enter the location of the appointment into the “Location:” text box.
To set a start time and an end time for the appointment, click the drop-down arrow to the right of the “Start time:” text box and select a date from the displayed calendar. Click the drop-down arrow to the right of the date and select a time for the appointment to begin. Repeat this same process to set the “End time” for the appointment, as well.
Next, you can click the “Appointment” tab in the Ribbon, if needed, to view the buttons in the “Options” group on this tab. Click the drop-down arrow to the right of the “Reminder:” label to select the number of minutes prior to the appointment that you want Outlook to send a reminder to you. If you don’t want a reminder, select the “None” choice.
To specify how you would like the appointment time to appear to others who may want to invite you to a meeting when using the scheduling feature of Outlook, click the drop-down arrow to the right of the “Show As:” text box and select the appropriate option from the list.
If using Outlook 2010, the next buttons appear in the “Tags” group, in Outlook 2007 they were listed in the “Options” group. You can click the “Categorize” button to select a category for the appointment. If you have someone who acts as a delegate for your e-mail account and you have given them access to your calendar, but do not wish for them to view this appointment, then click the “Private” button to hide it from your delegates.
Next, enter any additional notes to yourself in the large text box at the bottom of this dialog box. Then click the “Save and Close” button in the “Appointment” window’s Ribbon to save the appointment and place it into your calendar when you are finished creating the appointment item.
