How to Use the Journal in Outlook to Keep Track of Everything

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Among its many uses Outlook incorporates a Journal entry option that allows you to keep a journal. A journal entry can be entered by simply clicking on the New > Journal Entry.

What if I told you that if enabled, Outlooks Journal entry feature will keep track of all your documents (Excel, PowerPoint, Word, Email, etc) for you? It will tell you when those items were opened, how long they were open for and by whom. The journal entries act like a listing of all the file properties in one view.The instructions below will show you how to view your journal entries as well as configure the journal feature so that you can configure the settings to keep track of the items you wish to keep tabs on.

Viewing Journal Entries

1. To view Journal entries you have click on the Journal button located on the pane to the right.
NOTE: If the button is not present, click on the small arrow located next to the shortcut icon to open and additional menu. Click on Add or Remove Buttons > Journal

Once opened you will be presented with a timeline view of all of the entries to your journal. If you scroll side to side you will move from past to future and vice versa. When you scroll up or down you will be able to view the different file types that are entered in the Journal.

When you click on Entry List located under Current View in the panel to the right a listing of all entries will be made available.

NOTE: In this example I sorted by Duration (number of minutes I was working on that file)

Configuring the Journal Feature

Follow the instructions below to quickly setup this often overlooked Outlook feature.
1. Click on Tools > Options…

2. Make sure that you are in the Preferences tab, click on the Journal Options… button

3. Select (add a checkmark) which items you would like to automatically record

Once you’ve made your selections click OK to proceed.

Your Journal should now start tracking the items specified.

This “how to” is written by Gilberto J Perera, laptoplogic.com’s specialist in laptop tips and reviews.

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