Open a new or blank Outlook email window without first activating Outlook itself
Hello,
Is there a way to open a new or blank Outlook (2013) email window without having to first activate Outlook itself?
I use MS Office 2013 a great deal and usually have 4-5 Office apps (along with several other non-Office apps) running all the time. I also generally have more than one Outlook window open (inbox, contacts, calendar, & emails, etc.) As a result, my main Outlook application window (from whence I typically open new emails) is commonly obscured by Windows of more recently-active apps. Consequently, opening a window to compose a new email can require up to four steps:
1) click the Outlook icon on the taskbar
2) click the main Outlook thumbnail to activate it
3) click the Home menu in the ribbon
4) click the New E-mail button
Does Outlook come with some type of hotkey or other means to directly trigger the opening of a new email screen from without?
If not, is there another method which could be utilized to do the same thing?
Thanks
Is there a way to open a new or blank Outlook (2013) email window without having to first activate Outlook itself?
I use MS Office 2013 a great deal and usually have 4-5 Office apps (along with several other non-Office apps) running all the time. I also generally have more than one Outlook window open (inbox, contacts, calendar, & emails, etc.) As a result, my main Outlook application window (from whence I typically open new emails) is commonly obscured by Windows of more recently-active apps. Consequently, opening a window to compose a new email can require up to four steps:
1) click the Outlook icon on the taskbar
2) click the main Outlook thumbnail to activate it
3) click the Home menu in the ribbon
4) click the New E-mail button
Does Outlook come with some type of hotkey or other means to directly trigger the opening of a new email screen from without?
If not, is there another method which could be utilized to do the same thing?
Thanks
SOLUTION
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ASKER CERTIFIED SOLUTION
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ASKER
Great and appreciated responses!
@Steve_Brady, Thanks, and I was happy to help.
.... Thinkpads_User
.... Thinkpads_User
ASKER
Here is the link for the follow-up thread:
https://www.experts-exchange.com/questions/28234921/Open-a-new-or-blank-Outlook-email-window-without-first-activating-Outlook-itself-Part-2.html
https://www.experts-exchange.com/questions/28234921/Open-a-new-or-blank-Outlook-email-window-without-first-activating-Outlook-itself-Part-2.html
ASKER
My apologies. I just noticed an error in the four steps in my initial post. They should be:
--------------------------
1) hover over the Outlook icon on the taskbar
2) click the main Outlook thumbnail to activate it
3) click the Home menu in the ribbon
4) click the New E-mail button
Alternatively, if one has the "New Email" shortcut icon on their Quick Access Toolbar (QAT), then the steps would be as follows:
1) hover over the Outlook icon on the taskbar
2) click the main Outlook thumbnail to activate it
3) click the New E-mail button on the QAT
--------------------------
Regarding the responses:
>>>thinkpads_user
One click opens Outlook as you note. New Mail is on the Ribbon so that one click opens a new mail.
I have exactly the same configuration, however:
a) the question specifically asks for a solution to "directly trigger the opening of a new email screen from without?" (ie from outside Outlook)
b) if several Outlook items are open, hovering and ID'ing the correct item takes time, albeit only a second or two.
c) this whole question may seem nitpicky or trivial. However, FYI, I am a quadriplegic (from a spinal cord injury) and as result, have paralysis in most of the muscles in my hands & arms. With several adaptive hardware items and software applications, I am able to do most things I want on the computer. However, for various reasons, clicking has always been and continues to be more problematic than use of the keyboard—hence my interest in finding keyboard shortcuts when possible, rather than mouse clicks.
d) it seems evident that the act of opening a brand new Outlook email window is independent of (ie has absolutely nothing to do with) any other Outlook window or content and therefore should be able to be a direct operation from any other application, window, or function on the screen.
>>>joinaunion
You can try CTRL+N or CTRL+Shift+M
Those operations only work if Outlook is active.
>>>jcimarron
…when I hover over the Taskbar icon for Outlook, the title of each of the open Outlook windows shows in the popup.
See comments in my reply to thinkpads_user please.
>>>ve3ofa
Pin outlook to your taskbar (windows 7/8)
This response is the closest to the solution I am seeking. While I frequently right-click on the Excel and Word taskbar icons, it has never occurred to me to right-click on the Outlook taskbar icon. As a result, I was startled to see a pop-up window which offers various Outlook tasks including New Email Message. This is the method I intend to utilize from this point forward—at least until I learn of a shortcut or can find a way to write one myself.
Thanks again for the great assistance.
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Note: Because of the omissions and differences in my initial question above (see above), I will close this thread and create a new one with a revised question, thus making this essentially worth 1000 points. I will shortly post the link below to the new thread.