The free software program will automatically scan the PC on startup for an installed version of Microsoft Outlook. The relevant file paths and information are displayed in the first window that is displayed to the user. It is here possible to change the paths (outlook path, roaming Outlook data, local Outlook data and temporary folder to open attachments) if necessary.

The very same menu links to tools like the Outlook inbox repair tool, account settings and the Windows Event Viewer. A Microsoft Update can also be initiated right from that window.

Lastly it is possible to minimize Outlook to the notification area and to configure Outlook to display all emails in plain text.

But that window was just the startup page. Outlook Tools comes with four additional tabs that can be used to configure startup switches, clear the MRU, configure new mail alerts and blocked attachments.

All known Microsoft Outlook startup switches are displayed on the second page. Here it is possible to select one of more than 40 different startup switches. They are all explained on the developer’s homepage and it is probably a good idea to take a look at the descriptions before tinkering with those settings.

Clear MRU will creal the most recently used lists of Outlook. This is an automatic process that can be initiated manually as well. Outlook Tools offer options to clear individual lists from selected profiles easily.

The new mail alerts page can be used to configure the desktop notifications that appear when new emails have been received. The Outlook user can change the interval from seven seconds to another value to better suite the needs of the user. The transparency of the notifications can also be changed on this page.

The last page lists the blocked attachment types in Outlook with the option to enable them individually again.

Outlook Tools is a free software program for Windows that requires the Microsoft .net Framework. It is compatible with the following systems:

Outlook 2000, Outlook 2002/XP, Outlook 2003, Outlook 2007 or Outlook 2010
Microsoft Windows 2000, Windows XP, Windows 2003 Server (+R2), Windows Vista, Windows Server 2008 (+R2) or Windows 7

The software program can be downloaded from the developer’s website over at How-To Outlook.

The Microsoft Outlook mail autocomplete manager NK2View by Nirsoft is a portable software for the Windows operating system that provides the means to view, delete and edit all email addresses that are stored in Outlook’s autocomplete database. The software program can be used to load a valid Microsoft Outlook n2k file after startup.

It displays the information in the usual table layout that is known from many other Nirsoft applications like the one that can be used to display and save email attachments in Outlook. Columns that are displayed are the display name of the user, the email, the autocomplete value, the protocol, the recipients field and the cryptic entry id and index parameters. They can be sorted for easier access to the information.

The Outlook tool provides the means to backup and restore n2k files. Creating a backup before processing the file is recommended as it is the only way of ensuring that the file can be restored if something goes wrong during the editing process.

The usual options to export information into various formats such as xml, txt, html or csv are provided in the interface. Another interesting option is the ability to add entries from an Outlook address book into the autocomplete file.

Several command line parameters are available that can be used to execute the Microsoft Outlook autocomplete manager without using the graphical user interface.

Outlook Tools is a software that gives access to advanced Microsoft Outlook settings that would otherwise be hard to reach. You can use it for instance to unblock file extensions which would otherwise be only possible in the Windows Registry. Five tabs are accessible at the top of the software once it is started, they are General, Startup Switches, Clear MRU, New Mail Alert and Blocked Attachments.

Most of the options are self explanatory like the Clear MRU which simply clears several most recently used lists in Outlook such as the Search history. The software runs independently from Outlook and automatically detects the installed version. Supported are all versions of Outlook since Outlook 2000. There is no word about Outlook Express on the page and I was not able to test it, I would think that it is supported as well.

Outlook Tools require the Microsoft .net framework and runs on Windows 2000, XP and Vista.