Tip #7: Outlook: Using the To-Do Bar

In Office 2007, Outlook has improved organization by adding the To-Do Bar. This gives an overview of tasks, appointments, and flagged emails to make follow up more convenient.
The To-Do Bar can be customized to personal preference. The To-Do Bar can be minimized so that it is still available when needed, but increase the screen view for email.

Adding items to the To-Do Bar
Any items on your calendar are automatically listed for the day on the To-Do Bar.
There are two ways to add an e-mail item to the To-Do Bar:
Method 1: Drag the e-mail from your Inbox to the To-Do Bar
Method 2: “Flag” the item for followup by clicking the grey flag on the e-mail. Any flagged items will be listed on your to-do bar.


Marking an item as complete on the To-Do Bar
Calendar items are removed once the scheduled end time is reached.
There are two ways to add an e-mail item to the To-Do Bar:
Method 1: Drag the e-mail from your Inbox to the To-Do Bar
Method 2: “Flag” the item for followup by clicking the grey flag on the e-mail. Any flagged items will be listed on your to-do bar.


Customizing the To-Do Bar View
To change the To-Do Bar view, navigate to the view menu at the top of your Outlook screen and select To-Do Bar. From here you can select if you want to view the To-Do Bar as Normal, Minimized or Off.