Outlook - Email and Calendar
What is it?
Outlook is the Microsoft cloud service for accessing your emails and calendar. Outlook links into Microsoft 365 (M365), helping you to book meetings in Teams and send emails from the other applications in Microsoft 365.
Outlook works well for:
- All aspects of sending and receiving email.
- Booking and managing appointments and meetings.
- Managing your time with tasks and ‘to do’ items.
Outlook is accessible as a desktop application and as an online version via Office.com. Functionality differs slightly between the two so it’s worth trying both options.
Note that you can also access your Outlook Calendar via Teams (third icon down on the left-hand menu). From here you can set up webinars as well as meetings (See Teams bitesize video ‘Live Events’ for more information).
Support
The help available within each application should be the first place to visit for ‘how to’ questions. The help function can be accessed by pressing the F1 key or going to the ‘Help’ menu on the top ribbon in most M365 applications.
For further help with Outlook, please visit the M365 Help and Support site. Here you will find:
- Bitesize videos and webinars explaining how to use the key features of Outlook.
- Pages to help you find your local Digital Champion to support you with any other questions that you may have.
- Our University frequently asked questions for Outlook and Calendars.
Outlook is supported by IT Services. If you are unable to resolve your query using the above resources or if you appear to have a technical issue, you can contact the IT Support Centre.
Instructions for staff and postgraduate research students on how to install and access Outlook and Microsoft 365 are available here:
- Microsoft 365: Staff personal computer install
- Microsoft 365: Students personal computer install
- Email: Access your Microsoft 365 email using Mac Mail (Staff)
- Email: Access your Microsoft 365 email using Mac Mail (Students)
- Microsoft 365: Setting an automatic reply / out-of-office message (Staff)
- Microsoft 365: Setting an automatic reply / out-of-office message (Students)
Learning about Outlook
Microsoft provide a number of written resources, with supporting videos which tell you more about Outlook:
- To explore the basics and familiarise yourself with outlook, try Microsoft’s Get started with Outlook resource. You can also access the Outlook help centre for information on the most common elements of Outlook.
Information handling
Information classified as Very Sensitive must not be processed or stored on M365 and advice must be sought from the Information Governance Office if you handle this type of information.
If you’re processing/storing information or data classified as Highly Restricted in M365, follow the information handling minimum controls set out in the Information security classification examples and handling guidance for confidential information.
Continue to adhere to the Information Governance Office Best practice guidance on sharing and storing information and Records Retention Schedule whenever you’re working with data.
Need help on information handling? Contact your Information Governance Guardian.
Limitations
Global limitations:
Most aspects of your Outlook experience are available through the web and mobile versions, but not all of them. Microsoft are working on developing better functionality all the time, so if you’re missing a function in web or mobile versions that you use regularly on your PC or laptop, it may arrive sometime soon.
Using ‘PST files’ to store emails on PC’s or laptops is no longer possible. Staff and Postgraduate students have a large allocation of space in the cloud which will be enough for many years' worth of email storage.
University of Manchester limitations:
The self-service addition of apps and add-ins for Microsoft 365 Office and associated products is still under review by the IT Service Security Working Group as to how they can be risk assessed and supported. This process should be completed in the near future at which time information will be updated and communications will be sent out to staff.
Top tips
The new version of Outlook is very much like the previous versions, but your emails are now stored securely in the cloud and not on the University’s IT network.
Sending files by attachments is not a secure way of sharing information and saving files to OneDrive, Teams or SharePoint and sharing a link to it is the University’s preferred method of sharing. Sending a link uses much less space in your mailbox, and importantly allows colleagues to work collaboratively on one copy of a document rather than many.
The new version of Outlook offers a feature to automatically shorten meeting slots when you book them, so 30 minutes is reduced to 25 or an hour to 50 minutes. This helps the attendees of your meeting have some time between calls and reduces the pressure caused by non-stop meetings.
