Here’s how you can open separate windows in Outlook and save the positions for later use. Also why you’re not going crazy when it doesn’t work.
You’re not limited to a single Outlook window, you can have many views open at the same time.
For example, your Inbox, Calendar and Task list can all be open in different windows to switch between using Alt + Tab (or Windows key + Tab to see the fancy Vista display).
Sadly the Ctrl + Tab key combo does NOT work to cycle between Outlook windows just like it works in Excel to switch around open worksheets.
You can also open the same Outlook folder in different views. For example your Calendar in both day and week views showing in separate windows. Just change the view in each window to whatever you like.
To do that simply right-click on an Outlook folder and choose ‘Open in new window’. The current window will remain and the new one will be created showing the folder you want.
This feature has been in Outlook for a long time and Office Watch has been writing about it for almost as long. It’s still a revelation to many people, probably because it’s not the default option to open a folder.
Saving Outlook Window Positions
Once you have your Outlook windows open and positioned on the screen it would be nice to have them appear that way whenever you start Outlook.
You can do that by positioning the Outlook windows then choose ‘File | Exit ‘ ( File | Exit and Logoff in some versions of Outlook) this will close Outlook and save the multiple window positions.
When you next open Outlook it should display all the same windows as those used when you exited the program.
In practice this doesn’t work too well. This entire feature has always been shrouded in mystery and lack of documentation.
If you close Outlook by any other method (eg closing all the windows individually or when Outlook crashes) then the window positions aren’t saved and may be lost entirely.
When you choose File | Exit from the menu, Outlook doesn’t always shut down, despite appearances. Many programs including Microsoft ActiveSync and even Apple iTunes can keep Outlook open in the background. That’s why it appears that Outlook is inconsistent in displaying the opening windows when you start it again without shutting down Windows. You’re not really ‘re-starting’ Outlook, just making it appear again from the background state. When that happens Outlook restores the windows you were using when you closed it, not the startup positions saved when you did a File | Exit command.
Outlook’s windows position and saving behaviour seems to have improved over the years but there’s still nothing explicit. There is no ‘save window position’ option, the ability to save and open from a series of window position options (eg different Outlook displays for different purposes) let alone an open explanation of where the position info is stored.
Nor is there a way to ‘re-set’ the Outlook windows ie leave Outlook open but move the windows back to the opening settings.
As happens too often, this Microsoft feature works in narrow and limited circumstances. As soon as you use Outlook in a real situation (ie with other programs and as part of your regular life) those limitations quickly become apparent.
Since Outlook lacks transparency (no pun intended) the alternative is to ‘force’ Outlook windows to display a particular way when the program opens.
It’s little wonder that some Outlook users prefer to use command-line switches to explicitly open the windows they want and not rely on some obscure and ill-considered effort from Microsoft.
