Tip 129: Create New Items From Old

Did you know you can create new Outlook items by selecting text and dragging it to a folder? A new item form opens with the selected text in the Notes field or message body. In OL2002 and earlier, drop the selected text either on the Outlook Bar buttons or the folder if using the Folder list. In Outlook 2003 drop the text on the folder buttons at the bottom of the Navigation pane to create a new item in the default folder or hover over the pane to open the pane then drop it on a non-default folder.

Use this trick to create a task, calendar item, contact, or note from a part of an e-mail, from a document, or web page.

Notes:It doesn't work with all items types and text formats in all versions/service pack levels of Outlook. If you receive an error, test it by selecting a block of plain text. Creating new tasks from an e-mail in Outlook 2003 fails for me, even with plain text but dragging HTML from a webpage to create a new task works.

In Outlook 2003, you may receive errors if you use both Unicode and ANSI (Outlook 97/2002 format) message stores and try to create new items from existing items in the other message store format.

Not into drag and drop? Try copy and paste – use Ctrl+V to paste copied text on a button or folder in Outlook to create an item with the copied text in the Notes field.