Opening Outlook in the folder you want

By default, Microsoft Outlook opens to the folder view you specify in the top setting in the Tools > Options > Other tab > Advanced Options... window.

But you can also open Outlook to whichever folder you like by adding shortcuts to places like your desktop or web browser links. If you've ever tried to drag an Outlook folder to your desktop to create a shortcut you may have discovered that this doesn't work. The secret? Hold down Control before releasing the mouse button. Your shortcut will be created and you can now easily open Outlook directly into that folder.

Another (more complicated) technique is to use command line switches. To do this press the Start menu in Windows, select Run... and type outlook.exe /select Outlook:folder name (substituting folder name for the name of the folder you want). For a comprehensive list of command line switches see my previous blog entry.