Introduction

Outlook 2010 includes powerful scheduling features in Calendar view . From there, you can create appointments and manage your time .

In this lesson, you'll learn how to schedule appointments and create multiple calendars . We'll also talk about how to organize your schedule , including how to apply categories and reminders .

Calendar view

Calendar view makes it easy to schedule appointments and keep track of important dates , just like a desk calendar. But unlike a physical calendar, Calendar view allows you to quickly edit and rearrange your schedule whenever you want. While most frequently used in the workplace , Calendar view can also be helpful for managing a busy personal schedule on your home computer.

The Calendar view interface

• To access Calendar view , locate and select the Calendar View tab in the lower-left corner of the screen. Calendar view will appear.

  
  

  Accessing Calendar view

Click the buttons in the interactive below to become more familiar with Calendar view

To create an appointment:

Whenever you schedule a new appointment , it's easy to add it to your calendar.

1. Locate and select the New Appointment command on the Ribbon .

   
   

   Create an appointment
2. The New Appointment dialog box will appear. Enter the desired information for the appointment. At the very least, you should include a subject, time, and location , but you can also include lots of other information, such as reminder preferences and detailed notes .
3. When you're done entering the appointment information, click Save & Close .

   
   

   Entering and saving appointment information
4. The appointment will be saved and added to your calendar .

   
   

   The appointment added to the calendar

You can also schedule a new appointment by selecting the desired time on your calendar. The New Appointment dialog box will appear with the selected time.

If you have a standing appointment —for example, a weekly staff meeting or lunch date every Wednesday—you can create a recurring appointment that will appear on your calendar automatically . Simply click the Recurrence command when scheduling an appointment, then choose how frequently the appointment should be scheduled.

Using multiple calendars

If you keep a lot of different appointments , you can use multiple calendars to help organize your schedules. For example, you might use one calendar to keep track of your personal tasks and another to manage upcoming meetings with clients.

To create a new calendar:

1. Click the Folder tab on the Ribbon , then click the New Calendar command.
   Clicking the New Calendar command
2. The Create New Folder dialog box will appear. Enter a name for the new calendar, make sure Calendar is selected, then click OK .

   
   

   Creating a new calendar
3. The new calendar will appear in the View pane . Click the check box in the Navigation pane to toggle the calendar on and off .

   
   

   The newly created calendar

Doing more with calendars

Once you're familiar with the basics of Calendar view, you can start taking advantage of its most helpful features with these additional tips.

To apply categories to appointments:

If you schedule a lot of different appointments, you can keep them organized by applying categories , just like email messages. If you've already customized categories to manage email messages (see Lesson 3 ), you'll be able to apply those same categories to your appointments.

• To apply a category, select the desired appointment , then click the Categorize command on the Ribbon .

  
  

  Applying categories to appointments and meetings

To create multiple-day appointments:

If you have an appointment that will span multiple days , such as a vacation or conference, you can schedule the appointment to extend across multiple days on your calendar.

1. When creating the appointment, set the Start and End time for the full length of the appointment.

   
   

   Creating a multiday appointment
2. The appointment will appear on your calendar across multiple days .

To create appointment reminders:

You can create reminders for your most important appointments, which can be especially helpful if you keep a busy schedule. For example, you might schedule a reminder for an important lunch date that would appear 30 minutes before the appointment.

1. To create a reminder, simply set a reminder time on the Ribbon when creating a new appointment.

   
   

   Setting an appointment reminder
2. The reminder will appear in a pop-up dialog box at the scheduled time.

   
   

   The scheduled reminder

To print calendars:

If you need to reference your schedule on the go, it's easy to print your calendars .

1. Click the File tab on the Ribbon .

   
   

   Clicking the File tab
2. Backstage view will appear. Locate and select Print .

   
   

   Clicking Print in Backstage view
3. The Print pane will appear. Choose your desired layout , including daily, weekly, and monthly summaries of your appointments and meetings, then click Print .

   
   

   Printing calendars

Challenge!

1. Navigate to Calendar view .
2. Create a new appointment and set a reminder for 30 minutes before the appointment.
3. Create a new calendar .
4. Apply a category to an appointment.