Standard Settings to configure before you start using Outlook.com

On signing up for an Outlook.com email account, there are a few personalization settings you may want to take a look at. To get your account functioning efficiently, it is crucial to set up and change a few settings to meet your requirements.

Customize & personalize your Outlook.com experience

After you sign in for the first time, you will be able to customize your experience. There are six steps or settings to complete under the “Get Started” heading. These tabs are highlighted in yellow so you can easily follow along.

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The customizations options you will see are:

  • Choose your look
  • Confirm time zone
  • Import contacts
  • Send a message
  • Get Outlook mobile
  • Upgrade to Office 365

Now let us take a look at them in detail.

Choose your look

  • Select a theme for your choice.
  • Enable or disable the dark mode.
  • Choose the layout preference – Three columns or a single line.
  • Choose the display density – Full, medium or compact.

Once you have selected your option, click Done.

Confirm time zone

General:

  • Language and time – Select the appropriate language, date format and time format under the dropdown list.
  • Appearance – You can choose a theme of your liking for your account. You can also enable or disable the dark mode.
  • Notifications – Choose the In-app notifications and Desktop notifications accordingly.
  • Categorizing your email and calendar can help you organize and track messages and events related to a project, task, or person. You can create new categories and assign them names and colors.
  • The accessibility feature in Outlook allows you to choose which version of shortcuts you want to use, or turn them off. You can also check or uncheck the box under ‘Adjust timing’.
  • You can add a new mobile device and set it up to synchronize with your account. You can also remove a mobile device, access your device recovery password, initiate a remote device wipe, or block your phone if you lose it.
  • Storage – This tab shows the storage details.
  • Privacy and data protection You can use the Outlook service to export your mailbox, delete or download your search history, and protect your data by loading external images.

Mail:

Here, you will find settings related to layout, compose and reply, attachments, message handling and forwarding, automatic replies, subscriptions, etc.

Calendar:

You can customize your calendar’s appearance, choose which temperature scale to use for displaying weather, share your calendar with other people, publish your calendar and share a link with other people, and customize actions as well.

People:

You can decide the way you want to view your contacts. You can choose to display your contacts by first name or last name.

Import contacts

You can import contacts from other email apps using a CSV file. To know more about this setting, click below on ‘Learn more.

Send a message

You can send an email message to your contacts in order to update them with your new email address.

Get Outlook mobile

You can download the Outlook app for free on your mobile device by simply entering your mobile number and choosing your country/region. At last, click on Send Link.

Upgrade to Office 365

With Outlook, you can get premium features by upgrading to Office 365. With different packages available, you can choose the one that best suits your needs.

When you sign up for Office 365, you’ll get a suite of productivity benefits to help you work faster and more efficiently. With OneDrive cloud storage, you can access your most recent files from anywhere and quickly attach them to emails. And with the latest versions of Word, Excel, and PowerPoint, you’ll always have the professional-grade tools you need to get the job done right.

These 6 steps will get your Microsoft Outlook account set up perfectly. You can now start using it with all ease and convenience.

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