As functional as Outlook is, I do get tired of Alt-Tabbing through my open programs just so I can fire off an email about something in another program or project. …create a few duplicates of the Outlook shortcut in the Quick Launch bar and add the Outlook command-line switches shown below and it’s just one click to a new email message, contact, appointment, and even a pre-addressed email in Outlook. Even better, if you have a mouse with extra buttons that are currently (and annoyingly) programmed as an IE back-button or “close current program” - then add these commands instead to create new Outlook emails and pre-addressed emails.

For a new e-mail message: outlook /c ipm.note
For a pre-addressed e-mail message: outlook /c ipm.note /m “address1@email.com, address2@email.com”
For a new note: outlook /c ipm.stickynote
For a new contact: outlook /c ipm.contact
For a new appointment: outlook /c ipm.appointment
For a new post: outlook /c ipm.post

NOTE: The typical Microsoft Office installation creates shortcuts to the various Office programs. So, typing “excel” into the Run dialog will start Excel and so on for Outlook . If your PC does not respond this way, the typical path to the Outlook 2003 executable file is “C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office11\Outlook.exe”.

Also worth noting is how to recreate the Outlook 2003 desktop icon. This needs to be done from the registry so the icon will allow you to edit Outlook accounts and email profiles by right-clicking and selecting Properties.

A full list of Outlook’s command-line switches is below, referenced from the official Office website. If you do run into commands that fail to work, take a look at this article on Outlook 2003 command-line security from the Microsoft KB.
—————–

/a
Creates an item with the specified file as an attachment.

Example:
“C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office11\Outlook.exe” /a “C:\My Documents\labels.doc”

If no item type is specified, IPM.Note is assumed. Cannot be used with message classes that aren’t based on Outlook.

/altvba otmfilename
Opens the VBA program specified in otmfilename, rather than %appdata%\Microsoft\Outlook\VbaProject.OTM.

/autorun macroname
Opens Outlook and immediately runs the macro specified in macroname.

/c messageclass
Creates a new item of the specified message class (Outlook forms or any other valid MAPI form).

Examples:
/c ipm.activity creates a Journal entry
/c ipm.appointment creates an appointment
/c ipm.contact creates a contact
/c ipm.note creates an e-mail message
/c ipm.stickynote creates a note
/c ipm.task creates a task

/checkclient
Prompts for the default manager of e-mail, news, and contacts.

/cleanclientrules
Starts Outlook and deletes client-based rules.

/cleandmrecords
Deletes the logging records saved when a manager or a delegate declines a meeting.

/cleanfinders
Removes Search Folders from the Microsoft Exchange server store.

/cleanfreebusy
Clears and regenerates free/busy information. This switch can only be used when you are able to connect to your Microsoft Exchange server.

/cleanprofile
Removes invalid profile keys and recreates default registry keys where applicable.

/cleanpst
Launches Outlook with a clean Personal Folders file (.pst) (Personal Folders file (.pst): Data file that stores your messages and other items on your computer. You can assign a .pst file to be the default delivery location for e-mail messages. You can use a .pst to organize and back up items for safekeeping.).

/cleanreminders
Clears and regenerates reminders.

/cleanrules
Starts Outlook and deletes client- and server-based rules.

/cleanschedplus
Deletes all Schedule+ data (free/busy, permissions, and .cal file) from the server and enables the free/busy information from the Outlook Calendar to be used and viewed by all Schedule+ 1.0 users.

/cleanserverrules
Starts Outlook and deletes server-based rules.

/cleansniff
Deletes duplicate reminder messages.

/cleansubscriptions
Deletes the subscription messages and properties for subscription features.

/cleanviews
Restores default views. All custom views you created are lost.

/designer
Starts Outlook without figuring out if Outlook should be the default client in the first run.

/embedding
Opens the specified message file (.msg) as an OLE embedding. Also used without command-line parameters for standard OLE co-create.

/explorer
Opens the new window in “explorer” mode (link bar on).

/f msgfilename
Opens the specified message file (.msg) or Microsoft Office saved search (.oss).

/firstrun
Starts Outlook as if it were run for the first time.

/folder
Opens a new window in “folder” mode (Navigation Pane off).

/hol holfilename
Opens the specified .hol file.

/ical icsfilename
Opens the specified .ics file.

/importprf prffilename
Launches Outlook and opens/imports the defined MAPI profile (*.prf). If Outlook is already open, queues the profile to be imported on the next clean launch.

/l olkfilename
Opens the specified .olk file.

/launchtraininghelp assetid
Opens a Help window with the Help topic specified in assetid.

/m emailname
Provides a way for the user to add an e-mail name to the item. Only works in conjunction with the /c command-line parameter.

Example:
Outlook.exe /c ipm.note /m emailname

/nocustomize
Starts Outlook without loading outcmd.dat (customized toolbars) and *.fav file.

/noextensions
Starts Outlook with extensions turned off, but listed in the Add-In Manager.

/nopollmail
Starts Outlook without checking mail at startup.

/nopreview
Starts Outlook with the Reading Pane off.

/p msgfilename
Prints the specified message (.msg). Does not work with HTML.

/profile profilename
Loads the specified profile. If your profile name contains a space, enclose the profile name in quotation marks (”).

/profiles
Opens the Choose Profile dialog box regardless of the Options setting on the Tools menu.

/recycle
Starts Outlook using an existing Outlook window, if one exists. Used in combination with /explorer or /folder.

/resetfoldernames
Resets default folder names (such as Inbox or Sent Items) to default names in the current Office user interface language.

For example, if you first connect to your mailbox Outlook using a Russian user interface, the Russian default folder names cannot be renamed. To change the default folder names to another language such as Japanese or English, you can use this switch to reset the default folder names after changing the user interface language or installing a different language version of Outlook.

/resetfolders
Restores missing folders for the default delivery location.

/resetnavpane
Clears and regenerates the Navigation Pane for the current profile.

/rpcdiag
Opens Outlook and displays the remote procedure call (RPC) connection status dialog.

/s filename
Loads the specified shortcuts file (.fav).

/safe
Starts Outlook without extensions, Reading Pane, or toolbar customization.

/safe:1
Starts Outlook with the Reading Pane off.

/safe:2
Starts Outlook without checking mail at startup.

/safe:3
Starts Outlook with extensions turned off, but listed in the Add-In Manager.

/safe:4
Starts Outlook without loading Outcmd.dat (customized toolbars) and *.fav file.

/select foldername
Starts Outlook and opens the specified folder in a new window. For example, to open Outlook and display the default calendar use: “c:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office11\Outlook.exe” /select outlook:calendar

/sniff
Starts Outlook and forces a detection of new meeting requests in the Inbox, and then adds them to the calendar.

/t oftfilename
Opens the specified .oft file.

/v vcffilename
Opens the specified .vcf file.

/vcal vcsfilename
Opens the specified .vcs file.

/x xnkfilename
Opens the specified .xnk file.

17 Responses to “Create Outlook Task Shortcuts & Simplify with Command-Line Switches”

1. dirkhaim, on October 1st, 2007 at 7:06 am, said:
   

   Thanks!
   I have been looking for something like this for ages. Now, take it to the next step and integrate it into Launchy with Runny.

   Almost as good as GCal integration.

   ——-
   tinyways | photos gallery | photo.tinyways

2. Outlook command-line switches « MogBlog, on October 1st, 2007 at 12:54 pm, said:
   

   […] Outlook command-line switches link […]

3. Drainedge Link Tank | Links From Around the Web, on October 1st, 2007 at 1:59 pm, said:
   

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4. Outlook Tip: Create Outlook Task, Note, Contact and Appointment Shortcuts | Tolagomi News, on October 2nd, 2007 at 6:21 am, said:
   

   […] Hit the link below to get a full list of Outlook’s command line switches. Thanks, Daniel! Create Outlook Task Shortcuts [Mr. […]

5. Kate O', on October 2nd, 2007 at 6:53 am, said:
   

   Awesome! Thanks! I use Remember The Milk for my tasks, and this tip let me set up a shortcut in my Quick Start Menu to a pre-addressed email so I can easily add new tasks. Most excellent.

6. SolSie.com / The Lighter Side of Mobile Technology » Blog Archive » Create Shortcuts for Outlook Entries, on October 2nd, 2007 at 5:30 pm, said:
   

   […] it tries to download my emails, etc..All that take to much time. I ran in to this great tip from MrTweak.com [Via LifeHacker] that I will put them to use. Basically you use the command line interface to […]

7. egsy » links for 2007-10-02, on October 2nd, 2007 at 8:54 pm, said:
   

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8. links for 2007-10-03 « D e j a m e S e r, on October 3rd, 2007 at 8:20 am, said:
   

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9. Outlook Tip: Create Outlook Task, Note, Contact and Appointment Shortcuts - Lifehacker, on October 3rd, 2007 at 4:30 pm, said:
   

   […] Outlook Shortcuts - via Lifehacker […]

10. Mike Bijon, on October 3rd, 2007 at 10:52 pm, said:
    

    Thanks to TOMMERTRON @ Lifehacker.com:

    Also, you can use keyboard shortcuts within Outlook to create the following items no matter which screen you’re in:

    CTRL-SHFIT-M: New Email
    CTRL-SHFIT-A: New Appointment
    CTRL-SHFIT-K: New Task
    CTRL-SHFIT-N: New Note
    CTRL-SHFIT-C: New Contact.

11. Hugo, on October 15th, 2007 at 9:05 am, said:
    

    Just wanted to say, thanks everso much for posting these command line shortcuts. I’m now able to bind a shortcut using WinKey to open a new sticky note, to jot down my thoughts as I get them. Really useful!

12. How to create Outlook shortcuts for email and tasks, on October 21st, 2007 at 9:50 am, said:
    

    […] Source via MrTweak […]

13. Timothy C. Bohen » Create Outlook Task Shortcuts & Simplify with Command-Line Switches, on October 23rd, 2007 at 7:20 pm, said:
    

    […] Very useful outlook tweaks. […]

14. Nandan, on December 6th, 2007 at 7:08 am, said:
    

    I tried following
    desktop - right click - new - shortcut
    need to type location of the item

    what exact string i should type after ..
    “C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\OFFICE11\OUTLOOK.EXE”

15. fedmich, on February 8th, 2008 at 7:54 pm, said:
    

    Very helpful indeed, thanks

16. george chrisitidis, on March 13th, 2008 at 12:18 pm, said:
    

    In 2003 Outlook it provided the ability to create appointments, tasks etc. from a specific contact. With this, it allowed you to click on the contact name from theh task and appointment and would take you to the general screen for the contact.
    Does 2007 OUtlook provide this convenience? I couldn’t find it.

    George

17. Implement GTD in 10 Easy Steps « Everything [ Design | Technology | Business ], on July 7th, 2008 at 8:17 am, said:
    

    […] Create Outlook Task Shortcuts & Simplify with Command-Line Switches […]

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