Tip 475: To-do Bar: Click Here to Add

An Outlook 2007 user asked the following question in the Microsoft newsgroups: "I have my outlook to-do bar customized only to list only one category. I would like to be able to enter in tasks I need to make and have them show up. The problem is, when entering the task there's no way (that I can see) to specify a category. So I have to turn off my filter, find the new task I entered in my list of a million tasks and change the category. How can I specify the category initially when I enter my task into the to-do bar?"

The 'Click here to add' field is limited to the fields showing in the view, in the compact view this is just the subject field. If you drag the edge of the to-do bar inward and make it wider, more fields will display, including the categories field. You can change the order of the fields so categories is after the subject and/or remove any fields you don't need from the view, so the fields are larger. When you have fewer fields to display, you can reduce the size setting for the compact view and still have decent sized fields for typing. To change the compact view setting, look in the Other settings.

To access the view options, right click on the field header, such as "Arrange By: field_name" and choose Custom… Click Fields button to remove or rearrange the fields and Other settings to change the maximum width of the compact view.

Now, if for some reason you need to see another field or edit the tasks, don't turn off the filter; go to the Tasks module and select the Tasks folder (not To-do list) to look for the task or use Instant Search. Unlike the task list in the To-do bar, the folder supports multiple views.

Published February 7, 2008. Last updated on June 17, 2011.