Tip 60: Restore the Outlook Desktop Icon

In order to be Windows XP certified, Outlook 2003 doesn't install a desktop icon. To access the properties dialog you can either right click on the icon pinned to the start menu or open the Mail applet in Control Panel.

If you really want a desktop icon, you can re-create it by adding a key to the registry.

1. Open the Registry Editor. (Press Windows key + R then type regedit in the Open field. Click OK.)
2. Navigate to the following key: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Desktop\NameSpace
3. Click Edit then Add Key and add the following key: {00020D75-0000-0000-C000-000000000046}

Quit the Registry Editor. Refresh the desktop to see the restored icon. You may need to log off windows and log back on to see the icon.

A tip from a reader:

If you receive errors, try changing the default value under {00020D75-0000-0000-C000-000000000046} to 3.  The change of the default value stopped the errors here on the few machines running Outlook 2003.

Published November 11, 2003. Last updated on November 22, 2013.

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