Searching for text in the subject of a message with OWA

Using Outlook on the web, aka Outlook Web App (OWA)and Outlook Web Access, to check my email on a Microsoft Exchange server using a web browser, I can use the search function to search for a string that may be part of a word in the subject of a message. But I can only search for that string if it occurs at the beginning of a word. E.g., if I'm looking for any message that has "CRQ000000473568" within the subject of a message, I can use either of the two searches below to successfully find such messages.

Subject: CRQ000000473568
Subject: CRQ*

I can use the asterisk as a wildcard character to represent one or more of any character.

But if I use either of the following search parameters, the relevant messages won't be found.

Subject: *473568
Subject: *473568*

The search function doesn’t provide a search option that will allow you to search for text in the middle or end of a word. It only find items that contain a word that begins with your search string.

[ More Info ]

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Importing contacts from PST file into Outlook 2013

The following steps can be used to import contacts from an Outlook .pst file into Outlook 2013:

1. Click on File.
2. Click on Open & Export.
3. Select Import/Export.
4. When the Import and Export Wizard window opens, select "Import from another program or file" and click on Next.

   

5. Select "Outlook Data File (.pst)" and click on Next.

   

6. Browse to the location of the .pst file and then click on Next after selecting the option you prefer in regards to how Outlook should deal with any entries that duplicate existing entries in your contact list. The options are as follows:
   • Replace duplicates with items imported
   • Allow duplicates to be created
   • Do not import duplicates

   

7. At the next step, you can select the folder to import from. You can also decide whether you wish to import any subfolders from the imported file; the default value is to include subfolders. You can also choose from the following 2 options:
   • Import items into the current folder
   • Import items into the same folder in

   

   For contacts, you may want to import them into the Contacts folder in Outlook, so can leave "Import items into the same folder in" selected for the appropriate email account.

8. Click on Finish to complete the process.

For creating a contacts list PST file from the prior version of the application which can be imported into Outlook 2013, see Exporting contacts from Outlook 2010.

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Outlook Web App (OWA) not wrapping text

When I attempted to forward an email message I received in the Microsoft Outlook Web App (OWA), which I had accessed in the Firefox browser on a MacBook Pro laptiop, I found that the text I was typing was not wrapping, but kept extending across the window where I was typing additional information I wanted to add to the message. I copied the text I was typing and closed the window and then attempted forward it again. When I pasted the text I had been typing into the message, the same problem occurred. Microsoft has an article titled Wordwrapping does not work in Outlook or in OWA email messages that describes the problem.

The Microsoft article states the problem can occur if there are extra space characters in the message, i.e., if you have two or more spaces right after one another, e.g., if you type fast and inadvertently type an extra space or more. The solution listed in the article is to compose the message as plain text rather than HTML or to remove the extra spaces. Since I was using an Apple OS X system, I hit command-F to search for "  ", i.e., two spaces. OWA reported that there were such instances in the message. In this case, I simply discarded the message I had been typing and opted to start fresh with the foward process for the message, retyping the text I had intended to add to the forwarded message and the problem didn't occur this time.

If, instead, you wished to opt for the alternative of composing the email as a plain text message, you can look to the right of "Options" in the window where you are composing the message. You will see "HTML" there; you can change the selection to "Plain text", instead.

Though, when I tried to recreate the problem by forwarding the message again and purposefully typing extra spaces at verious points in the text I was adding, the text wrapped as I expected. I.e., I could not recreate the problem.

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Outlook 0x800ccc0f error message

I had a user on a Windows 7 system contact me today to report that he was unable to check email from his system, but others at his location were not experiencing problems. He was able to get to websites with his browser, so there didn't appear to be an issue with Internet access. He told me that Outlook was displaying a 0x800ccc0f error message, but he didn't know what version of Outlook was present on his system, so I had him check in Outlook by going to Help then About Microsoft Office Outlook. He reported the version number was 14.0. I had to look up the version name corresponding to that number. The name to version number correlation is shown below:

Version Name	Version Number
Outlook 97	8.0
Outlook 98	8.5
Outlook 2000	9.0
Outlook XP/2002	10.0
Outlook 2003	11.0
Outlook 2007	12.0
Outlook 2010	14.0
Outlook 2013	15.0

So that version corresponded to Outlook 2013. With the version number, I was able to provide instructions on how to determine what POP3 server was handling his email. It was pop3.firespring.com, so I had him run a traceroute to it, i.e., tracert pop3.firespring.com. He told me that was not completing successfully and some of the lines had values of over 100 ms for the time for a response from the system at that particular hop, so I at first thought there might be a congestin issue with the network path to the mail server. If other systems on the same LAN weren't experiencing the problem, then perhaps his system was more sensitive to delays, perhaps with a lower timeout value. But when I tried a traceroute from a Mac system, I saw the same traceroute issue, but a telnet connection to the POP3 mail server on the POP3 port, port 110, i.e., telnet pop3.firespring.com 110 resulted in an immediate OK response from the server which seemed to rule out that hypothesis. So I suggested he contact his mail service provider which found that he had an unusually large message on the server. When that message was deleted from the server by the email server provider his problem went away; apparently Outlook on his system was timing out when it couldn't download that message in a reasonable amount of time and then displaying the 0x800ccc0f error message.

References:

1. Outlook versions and trivia
   MSOutlook.info

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Disabling notifications for incoming email in Outlook 2013

To disable notifications when email arrives in Outlook 2013, take the following steps:

1. Select File.
2. Select Options.
3. Select Mail.
4. Uncheck the box next to "Play a sound" if you don't want to hear a sound. If you don't want alerts to pop up, uncheck "Display a Desktop Alert"
5. Click on OK

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Turning Off Outlook's New Mail Alerts

To turn off Outlook's popup alerts telling you that new mail has arrived, take the following steps in Outlook:

1. Click on File.
2. Click on Options.
3. Click on Mail.
4. Under Message arrival, clear the checkbox for Display a Desktop Alert.

Applies to Outlook 2010 to 2013

References:

1. Turn on or off new message alert pop-up window
   Office.com

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Sending a Test Message When Setting Up Outlook 2013

While setting up a POP3 account for a user using Microsoft Outlook 2013, I received the message below when I clicked on Test Account Settings:

Send test e-mail message: An unknown error occurred, error code: 0x800c8101

I found a June 18, 2012 posting by CharlieBrady at Email configuration who stated the problem can occur because there is a bug in Outlook 2013's "test email" function.

Unfortunately, this is what you should expect to see. Outlook has a bug in its "test email" function. It sends a test message with an illegal format - it has no "Date" header. This is documented in the wiki:

http://wiki.contribs.org/Email#Outlook_test_message_doesn.27t_come_through

SME server does not accept those illegal messages, as such messages are usually spam. Legitimate mail clients do not generate such messages.

So I unchecked "Automatically test account settngs when Next is clicked" and proceeded to complete the setup of the email account for the user. After it was set up, I sent an email using Outlook 2013 from the account to two other addresses, one outside the user's email server, which uses Sendmail to send email, and verified that both were received.

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Outlook 2013 Incompatible with Exchange 2003

When trying to set up Microsoft Outlook 2013 for a user to use a Microsoft Exchange 2003 server, I received the following message:

The resource that you are trying to use is located on an unsupported version of Microsoft Exchange. Contact your e-mail administrator for assistance.

That was followed by the message below:

Cannot start Microsoft Outlook. Cannot open the Outlook window. The set of folders cannot be opened. The file C:\Users\JDoe\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Outlook\JDoe@example.com.ost is not an Outlook data file (.ost).

At Office 2013 known issues, I found the following:

Workaround Outlook 2013 isn't supported on Exchange 2003 and connectivity is blocked. Please connect Outlook 2013 to Exchange 2007, 2010, or 2013.

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Steps for Transferring Outlook Signatures from an XP to Windows 7 System

To transfer Microsoft Outlook 2010 signatures from a Microsoft Windows XP system to a Microsoft Windows 7 system take the following steps:

1. On the source system, i.e., the Windows XP system, open the Windows Explorer and navigate to \Documents and Settings\username\Application Data\Microsoft\Signatures
   Note: You may have to turn on the display of hidden files and folders to view the folder; steps to do so on a Windows XP system are detailed here.
2. Copy the contents of the Signatures folder to \Users\username\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Signatures on the Windows 7 system.
   Note: In both cases username should be the relevant account name on the two systems. Instructions for displaying hidden files and folders on a Windows 7 system can be found here.

If you need to copy Outlook stationery from one system to another, simply navigate to the Stationery folder instead of the Signatures folder.

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Changing the Navigation Pane Font Size in Outlook 2010

The mail, calendar contacts, and task folders appear on the left side of the Outlook 2010 window. If you want to change the font used for those folders, e.g. to make it larger, you can follow these steps.

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