What if you only have Microsoft Office Outlook, and not Microsoft Office Word? Or what if your version of Word is older than Outlook? Or, maybe you just prefer not to use Word to create e-mail messages. How do you create an e-mail then?

 

You can use Outlook’s own e-mail editor! It doesn’t have as many features as Microsoft Office Word 2003, but it still lets you create and customize e-mail messages. Features that are missing include spelling and grammar check, AutoText, clipart (although you can still insert and attach photos), and tables. You will still have the toolbar where you can cut, copy, paste, choose font type and size, use bullets and numbering, and change text alignment.

 

You’ll also notice that although the Options button () is still on the toolbar, it’s missing the options arrow. That’s because there are no options for themes, stationery, or signatures in the basic e-mail editor. You can insert signatures you’ve already created by clicking the Insert menu, choosing Signatures, and clicking your signature. You can also set the background colour by clicking Format, choosing Background, and clicking Picture or Colour.

 

You also cannot change your mail format from within the mail message when using the Outlook e-mail editor; you must use the Mail Format box (accessible by clicking the Tools menu, clicking Options, and clicking the Mail Format tab).

 

Speaking of mail formats, it’s time to take a look at what formats we can use with either editor!