Yet another way to access Outlook’s many options is toolbars. A toolbar is a row of icons; each icon can be clicked on to do something specific.

Outlook’s toolbars change depending on which folder you’re in. For example, the toolbar shown below appears when you’re in a mail folder like the inbox. When we click on calendar, we get a different toolbar. (It changes again when you do an action in that window, like creating or editing an item.) One good thing is that they’re mostly laid out the same; for example, the icon to create a new item stays in the same spot. You’ll also see familiar icons, like the help icon, over and over again.

Another good thing is that most of the icons on the toolbar are pretty self-explanatory. If you’re not sure what an icon means, place your mouse over it and a little box (called a ScreenTip) will appear. In the figure above, you can see the words “Address Book” below the  image. That’s a ScreenTip and they’ll make your life a whole lot easier!

Some of Outlook’s toolbar icons are options, like in the main menu. This means that they look pressed down when they’re selected. Here’s an example:

In the standard toolbar above, we’re in the notes folder. You can see how the button “Large icons” looks different because it’s selected. Also like the main menu, some items can be expanded. These will have an options arrow (▼) next to them (like the first button, “New,” does in the above example). When you click on the ▼, more options will appear.

Now that you know the basics, let’s get going! In this lesson we’re going to learn how to move, hide, show, customize, and use all of Outlook’s toolbars, so we’ve got a lot of ground to cover!