Creating Tasks 717
● When you display your Tasks List, enter the task description in the Click Here To Add
A New Task box, press Tab to move to subsequent fields, fill in other information,
and then press Enter.
Tip The fields available in the Tasks List vary based on the list view you’re displaying.
For information about the available views, see “Displaying Different Views of Tasks”
later in this chapter.
In any module:
● Click the New Items button on the Home tab and then, in the list, click Task.
● In the To-Do Bar, enter the task description in the Type A New Task box at the top
of the To-Do Bar Task List.
From any view of the task list, you can assign the task to a category, change the due date,
add a reminder, mark the task as complete, or delete the task entirely. To access these
commands, right-click the task name, category, or flag, and then click the option you want.
Tip By default, Outlook doesn’t automatically set a reminder for tasks as it does for calendar
items. You can turn on reminders from the Outlook Options dialog box. For more information
about Outlook 2010 features not covered in this book, refer to Microsoft Outlook 2010 Step by
Step by Joan Lambert and Joyce Cox (Microsoft Press, 2010).Task Options.
When you create a task item, the only information you must include is the subject. As with
many other types of Outlook items, you can set several options for tasks to make it easier
to organize and identify tasks.
● Start date and due date You can display tasks on the various Outlook task lists on
either the start date or the due date. The color of the task flag indicates the due date.
● Status You can track the status of a task to remind yourself of your progress. Specific
status options include Not Started, In Progress, Completed, Waiting On Someone, or
Deferred. You also have the option of indicating what percentage of the task is com-
plete. Setting the percentage complete to 25%, 50%, or 75% sets the task status to In
Progress. Setting it to 100% sets the task status to Complete.
● Priority Unless you indicate otherwise, a task is created with a Normal priority
level. You can set the priority to add a visual indicator of a task’s importance. Low
priority displays a blue downward pointing arrow and High priority displays a red
exclamation point. You can sort and filter tasks based on their priority.
● Recurrence You can set a task to recur on a regular basis; for example, you might
create a Payroll task that recurs every month. Only the current instance of a recur-
ring task appears in your task list. When you mark the current task as complete,
Outlook creates the next instance of the task.