Nav. Pane - Selecting Folders

[Anthony Smith]

Good Morning,

I hope everyone is doing well out there! We have an Outlook 2003
workstation that has some type of glitch. Our server is running Exchange
2003.

I was reading on slipstick about the normal behavior when selecting folders
in Outlook, and this is not the normal behavior for this workstation.
Selecting a folder does not automatically set focus to the items. I have to
click on the items or press F6 to set focus on the items. I hope Slipstick
doesn't mind me posting this portion of the article, so that you can better
understand the problem.

See below from http://www.slipstick.com/emo/2005/up050331.htm :User problems: Selecting Items in Outlook 2003
A reader asks: "Outlook 2000 had the functionality of allowing users with a
wheel mouse to scroll on the folder list. We upgraded to Outlook 2003 and it
does not allow that. For example if I open the Folder List and I click on my
Inbox Folder, if I try scrolling up/down within the folders in my folder
list, the Emails on the right side get scrolled instead, is this a bug?"
No, it's not a bug but a change in behavior in how Outlook works-when
selecting a folder (so it highlighted in blue) the focus moves to the item
list. With older versions, focus stayed on the folder list but the folder
opened to show you it's contents. Now, when the folder list is active, you
need to click on it or press Enter to view the contents of the folder the
cursor is on (identified by a dotted box around the name) as you move
through the folder list. Once you press Enter, focus is moved to the item
list and you'll need to Tab back to the folder list to continue scrolling
the list.

When the folder name is highlighted in dark blue, you'll be able to scroll
the folder list with a mouse wheel. If not, you'll need to select it, then
scrolling should work as before. You can either select it by clicking on it
with the mouse or by pressing the Tab or F6 key twice. You can also press
Shift+Tab or Shift+F6 once to move back to the folder list (or the last
section that had focus).

Keep in mind you aren't restricted to using the mouse to scroll through the
folder list. When any folder name is highlighted and if you know the name of
the folder you want, you can press the first character in it's name to jump
to the next visible folder beginning with that letter or pressing the up or
down arrow key to select the next folder. Expand subfolders by pressing the
right arrow key.

A similar, but unrelated, issue some users experience is the inability to
scroll in Outlook's preview pane. This is a feature enabled by your mouse
drivers and most often experienced by Logitech mouse owners. To enable (or
disable) scrolling in Outlook you need to look in the Control panel for the
Mouse applet and change the Office scroll settings. Although it may be
labeled "Office 97", it controls scrolling in all versions of Office and
changing this setting will change the scrolling behavior in other
When I select a folder, this 'normal' behavior as it is listed above does
not happen. I HAVE to press F6 or select the items to get this to happen.
This is on my boss' computer and he doesn't like that he has to make an
extra step that others don't. Any fixes? I believe this computer was
upgraded from Office XP to Office 2003. I don't think there was a new
install, but an upgrade. I do think he had this problem in Outlook 2002
also, and I was thinking the upgrade would take care of that, but it didn't.

Thanks!

Anthony....
In God We Trust!

 

[Diane Poremsky [MVP]]

When I select a folder, this 'normal' behavior as it is listed above does

not happen. I HAVE to press F6 or select the items to get this to happen.
This is on my boss' computer and he doesn't like that he has to make an
extra step that others don't. Any fixes? I believe this computer was
upgraded from Office XP to Office 2003. I don't think there was a new
install, but an upgrade. I do think he had this problem in Outlook 2002
also, and I was thinking the upgrade would take care of that, but it
didn't.

The behavior was a common annoyance in Outlook 2002 - sometimes it worked
correctly, sometimes you needed to F6. Outlook 2002 lost focus after
following specific steps and anyone could easily repro it but most people
didn't normally do things in that order, so it appeared to affect just some
users. This may be happening in Ol2003 too.

Does it work as expected for the other users? If so, does the boss have
addins the others don't? Does he start in a different folder?

I would try a new profile and see if that helps. I suspect it won't matter -
watching your boss work might. Also, create a profile to his mailbox on
another computer to eliminate another program causing it.

 

[Anthony Smith]

Thanks for the reply. The other workstations are fine. He does have spam
bayes installed and also he is the only user that opens up with Outlook
Today Welcome Screen. Everyone else opens in the mail folders (Inbox).
Other users have spam bayes and don't have the problem with selecting items
after clicking on the folder. They don't have to press F6 or click on an
item but my boss does.

 

[Diane Poremsky [MVP]]

It happened in the older version after going to Outlook Today - it sounds
like there is still a problem with it.

--
Diane Poremsky [MVP - Outlook]
Author, Teach Yourself Outlook 2003 in 24 Hours
Coauthor, OneNote 2003 for Windows (Visual QuickStart Guide)
Author, Google and Other Search Engines (Visual QuickStart Guide)

 

[Anthony Smith]

THAT'S IT...THAT'S IT!!! THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU! YOU'RE
WONDERFUL!!!

I had to give you a shout out!!! I took the outlook today off, closed
outlook restarted it and it opened in the inbox with the item/email
selected. I hit the contacts button, and it had the contacts selected
instead of the folder.

So I'll give my boss a choice, he can start with it in the inbox and have
the feature he wants, or he can continue to open with Outlook Today and have
the problem he's been complaining about. I'll create a link to Outlook
today so he can just click it anytime he wants to look at it. He likes
looking at that page for appointments/tasks etc.

Thank you so much Diane. I had a feeling it was a glitch but not sure how
to fix it. It's working now, so we'll see what he decides. Have a blessed
weekend!

Anthony....
In God We Trust!

It happened in the older version after going to Outlook Today - it sounds
like there is still a problem with it.

--
Diane Poremsky [MVP - Outlook]
Author, Teach Yourself Outlook 2003 in 24 Hours
Coauthor, OneNote 2003 for Windows (Visual QuickStart Guide)
Author, Google and Other Search Engines (Visual QuickStart Guide)

Thanks for the reply. The other workstations are fine. He does have spam
bayes installed and also he is the only user that opens up with Outlook
Today Welcome Screen. Everyone else opens in the mail folders (Inbox).
Other users have spam bayes and don't have the problem with selecting
items after clicking on the folder. They don't have to press F6 or click
on an item but my boss does.

 

[Diane Poremsky [MVP]]

In my quick tests, it happens when you go to outlook today - so as soon as
he uses it, the problem returns.


--
Diane Poremsky [MVP - Outlook]
Author, Teach Yourself Outlook 2003 in 24 Hours
Coauthor, OneNote 2003 for Windows (Visual QuickStart Guide)
Author, Google and Other Search Engines (Visual QuickStart Guide)



Join OneNote Tips mailing list: http://www.onenote-tips.net/

THAT'S IT...THAT'S IT!!! THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU! YOU'RE
WONDERFUL!!!

I had to give you a shout out!!! I took the outlook today off, closed
outlook restarted it and it opened in the inbox with the item/email
selected. I hit the contacts button, and it had the contacts selected
instead of the folder.

So I'll give my boss a choice, he can start with it in the inbox and have
the feature he wants, or he can continue to open with Outlook Today and
have the problem he's been complaining about. I'll create a link to
Outlook today so he can just click it anytime he wants to look at it. He
likes looking at that page for appointments/tasks etc.

Thank you so much Diane. I had a feeling it was a glitch but not sure how
to fix it. It's working now, so we'll see what he decides. Have a blessed
weekend!

Anthony....
In God We Trust!

It happened in the older version after going to Outlook Today - it sounds
like there is still a problem with it.

--
Diane Poremsky [MVP - Outlook]
Author, Teach Yourself Outlook 2003 in 24 Hours
Coauthor, OneNote 2003 for Windows (Visual QuickStart Guide)
Author, Google and Other Search Engines (Visual QuickStart Guide)

Thanks for the reply. The other workstations are fine. He does have
spam bayes installed and also he is the only user that opens up with
Outlook Today Welcome Screen. Everyone else opens in the mail folders
(Inbox). Other users have spam bayes and don't have the problem with
selecting items after clicking on the folder. They don't have to press
F6 or click on an item but my boss does.

message When I select a folder, this 'normal' behavior as it is listed above
does not happen. I HAVE to press F6 or select the items to get this to
happen. This is on my boss' computer and he doesn't like that he has
to make an extra step that others don't. Any fixes? I believe this
computer was upgraded from Office XP to Office 2003. I don't think
there was a new install, but an upgrade. I do think he had this
problem in Outlook 2002 also, and I was thinking the upgrade would
take care of that, but it didn't.

The behavior was a common annoyance in Outlook 2002 - sometimes it
worked correctly, sometimes you needed to F6. Outlook 2002 lost focus
after following specific steps and anyone could easily repro it but
most people didn't normally do things in that order, so it appeared to
affect just some users. This may be happening in Ol2003 too.

Does it work as expected for the other users? If so, does the boss have
addins the others don't? Does he start in a different folder?

I would try a new profile and see if that helps. I suspect it won't
matter - watching your boss work might. Also, create a profile to his
mailbox on another computer to eliminate another program causing it.

 

[Anthony Smith]

Yeah I assumed that would happen, so he just has to close/open outlook to
fix it...He should be ok with this.

In my quick tests, it happens when you go to outlook today - so as soon as
he uses it, the problem returns.


--
Diane Poremsky [MVP - Outlook]
Author, Teach Yourself Outlook 2003 in 24 Hours
Coauthor, OneNote 2003 for Windows (Visual QuickStart Guide)
Author, Google and Other Search Engines (Visual QuickStart Guide)



Join OneNote Tips mailing list: http://www.onenote-tips.net/

THAT'S IT...THAT'S IT!!! THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU! YOU'RE
WONDERFUL!!!

I had to give you a shout out!!! I took the outlook today off, closed
outlook restarted it and it opened in the inbox with the item/email
selected. I hit the contacts button, and it had the contacts selected
instead of the folder.

So I'll give my boss a choice, he can start with it in the inbox and have
the feature he wants, or he can continue to open with Outlook Today and
have the problem he's been complaining about. I'll create a link to
Outlook today so he can just click it anytime he wants to look at it. He
likes looking at that page for appointments/tasks etc.

Thank you so much Diane. I had a feeling it was a glitch but not sure
how to fix it. It's working now, so we'll see what he decides. Have a
blessed weekend!

Anthony....
In God We Trust!

It happened in the older version after going to Outlook Today - it
sounds like there is still a problem with it.

--
Diane Poremsky [MVP - Outlook]
Author, Teach Yourself Outlook 2003 in 24 Hours
Coauthor, OneNote 2003 for Windows (Visual QuickStart Guide)
Author, Google and Other Search Engines (Visual QuickStart Guide)




Thanks for the reply. The other workstations are fine. He does have
spam bayes installed and also he is the only user that opens up with
Outlook Today Welcome Screen. Everyone else opens in the mail folders
(Inbox). Other users have spam bayes and don't have the problem with
selecting items after clicking on the folder. They don't have to press
F6 or click on an item but my boss does.

message When I select a folder, this 'normal' behavior as it is listed above
does not happen. I HAVE to press F6 or select the items to get this
to happen. This is on my boss' computer and he doesn't like that he
has to make an extra step that others don't. Any fixes? I believe
this computer was upgraded from Office XP to Office 2003. I don't
think there was a new install, but an upgrade. I do think he had
this problem in Outlook 2002 also, and I was thinking the upgrade
would take care of that, but it didn't.

The behavior was a common annoyance in Outlook 2002 - sometimes it
worked correctly, sometimes you needed to F6. Outlook 2002 lost focus
after following specific steps and anyone could easily repro it but
most people didn't normally do things in that order, so it appeared to
affect just some users. This may be happening in Ol2003 too.

Does it work as expected for the other users? If so, does the boss
have addins the others don't? Does he start in a different folder?

I would try a new profile and see if that helps. I suspect it won't
matter - watching your boss work might. Also, create a profile to his
mailbox on another computer to eliminate another program causing it.