What are commands and switches?
Each time that you start the program, you run the outlook.exe command, although you do not usually type the command or even see it. You can change certain aspects of how the program starts by adding subcommands called switches to the outlook.exe command.
A switch appears as a space after the main command, followed by a forward slash and the name of the switch, which provide additional information about how to execute the command.
For example, the following command instructs Outlook 2010 to start with the Reading Pane turned off.
1. The command outlook.exe starts Outlook.
2. The switch /nopreview starts Outlook with the Reading Pane turned off.
Use a switch one time by adding it to the Run command
First, verify the location of the outlook.exe file on your computer. If you accepted the default folder locations when you installed Outlook 2010, theoutlook.exe file is located at the following:
c:\program files\microsoft office\office14\outlook.exe
Outlook 2010 32-bit installed on Windows 64-bit
c:\program files (x86)\microsoft office\office14\outlook.exe
If you do not find the outlook.exe file at that location, search for the file and note the full path.
- Do one of the following:
- Windows 7 and Windows Vista
- Click the Start button, point to All Programs, click Accessories, and then click Run.
- Windows XP
- Click the Windows Start button, and then click Run.
- Windows 7 and Windows Vista
- In the Run dialog box, type a quotation mark, enter the full path for the outlook.exe file, and then type another quotation mark. Alternatively, clickBrowse to locate and select the file. In this case, the quotation marks are supplied automatically.
- After the closing quotation mark, type a space, and then type the switch. For example, you might type:“c:\program files\microsoft office\office14\outlook.exe” /nopreview
The next time that you start Outlook 2010, the program opens as usual. To make your customized startup available for repeated uses, see the next section.
Note
- Switches are not case-sensitive. For example, /NOPREVIEW functions the same as /nopreview.
- Remember to include one blank space before the switch and one before each parameter.
Make a switch available for reuse by creating a shortcut
First, verify the location of the outlook.exe file on your computer. If you accepted the default folder locations when you installed Outlook 2010, the outlook.exe file is probably located at the following:
c:\program files\microsoft office\office14\outlook.exe
Outlook 2010 32-bit installed on Windows 64-bit
c:\program files (x86)\microsoft office\office14\outlook.exe
If you do not find the outlook.exe file at that location, search for the file and note the full path.
- Right-click the Windows desktop, point to New, and then click Shortcut.
- In the Create Shortcut Wizard, in the Type the location of the item box, type a quotation mark, enter the full path for the outlook.exe file, and then type another quotation mark. Alternatively, click Browse to locate and select the file. In this case, the quotation marks are supplied automatically.
- After the closing quotation mark, type a space, and then type the switch and anyparameters. For example, you might type:“c:\program files\microsoft office\office14\outlook.exe” /nopreviewNote If the parameter is a path of a location on your computer, it must also be enclosed in double quotation marks.
- Click Next.
- In the Type a name for this shortcut box, type a new name that you want to use for the shortcut, and then click Finish.The wizard creates the shortcut on the desktop.
- Whenever you want to start Outlook 2010 in this particular customized way, double-click the shortcut.Tip To add the desktop shortcut to the Windows Start menu, right-click the shortcut, and then click Pin to Start menu.
You can create various shortcuts, each of which applies different switches and parameters to the program at startup.
Note
- Switches are not case-sensitive. For example, /NOPREVIEW functions the same as /nopreview.
- Remember to include one blank space before the switch and one before each parameter.