Tip 1092: Change Outlook 2013 Yellow Note Color

What happened to the note colors that have been in Outlook since 1997?
The only option is yellow.

In an effort to streamline Outlook and remove features that got little use, Microsoft removed some features from notes, including the ability to change the color of the notes.

Although Microsoft removed the note colors and the choice of default sizes, you can add some color back by assigning color carries to notes. If you need a larger note, drag the edges to make the note larger and the note will stay that size until you change it.

In older versions of Outlook, you could set the default Note color in Options.

In Outlook 2013, you can't change the defaults for notes: all notes are medium size yellow.

However, you can right click on a note and choose Categorize. When you assign a color category to the note, the note takes on that color.

This is a small sampling of the 25 note colors available via color categories. Generally speaking, the lighter colors work best. The darker colors use a white font, lighter colors use black or dark gray font.