Tip 354: Changing Quick Flag Colors

A reader asks:

Is it possible in Outlook 2003 to add new flags so that I got more than the standard ones and can I change the colors of the flags?

Sorry, no. Outlook 2003 doesn't allow you to change flag colors or add more flags. The only thing you can do is create a Flag toolbar and change the button labels to help you remember what you're using the flag for.

To create a toolbar:

Right-click on the toolbar and choose Customize.
On the Toolbar tab, click New and enter a name for your toolbar.
On the Customize tab, select Actions from the Category list.
Locate the flags in the Commands column.
Drag the flags to the new toolbar.
Right-click on each flag and enter a descriptive name.
Select Image and Text from the menu.

Microsoft's data was very enlightening on the usage of flags and categories and as a result, Outlook 2007 makes changes to both. Flags go back to being red (and pink) reminder flags and the Quick Flag concept is now color categories. Just in case you can't guess what color categories are, they are categories with color swatches added. When you upgrade from an older version of Outlook, existing categories will be assigned colors, which you can easily change and they work pretty much the same as Quick Flags, except they don't support reminders (you'll use a flag for reminders).

You'll be able to create many color categories and choose from 25 colors (or none). You can also easily add a shortcut key to up to 10 of your most frequently used color categories and set one category as a 'quick click'.

Published May 5, 2006. Last updated on November 16, 2012.