Custom Views

by | Jun 12, 2022

Outlook has powerful features for creating custom views into your task list. To show you how to do this (and to support special TRO views) we will customize the built-in Simple List. Then we will create your All Categories list, which is your main, auto-prioritized list of tasks.

Customizing a View

Example: customizing the Simple List:

  1. Go to the Tasks page, top menu, View, Navigation Pane, and make sure there is a check mark next to Current View Pane.
  2. In the Navigation pane, in the list below the Current View bar, choose Simple List.
  3. At the bottom of Current View (Navigation Pane) click Customize Current View.

  5. Click the Fields button at the top of the new screen.
  6. Select All Task fields under Select available fields from. (This just helps you choose the fields you want.)
  7. In the screen that says Show Fields at the top, add and remove fields until only the following are listed below Show these fields in this order:
    • Complete
    • Priority
    • Subject
    • Due Date
    • Reminder
    • Reminder Time
    • Start Date
    • Categories
  8. Click OK to save your changes and go back to the Customize View screen.
  9. In Group By change it to (none) (don’t group anything). Uncheck Automatically group according to arrangement (don’t group by arrangement), then click OK.
  10. Click the Sort button.
    1. Sort items by Priority (and Descending).
    2. Then by Due Date (and Ascending).
    3. Choose the third sort option as (none).
    4. Click OK to save your changes and go back.

  11. Click the Filter button.
    1. If you ever create your own views, you can select criteria using the Advanced tab. However, for this advanced TRO view, go to the SQL tab instead.
    2. Check the box next to Edit these criteria directly.
    3. Highlight and copy (Ctrl+C) the following text: 
      ("https://schemas.microsoft.com/mapi/id/{00062003-0000-0000-C000-000000000046}/811c000b" = 0 AND ("https://schemas.microsoft.com/mapi/id/{00062003-0000-0000-C000-000000000046}/81040040" <= 'today' OR "https://schemas.microsoft.com/mapi/id/{00062003-0000-0000-C000-000000000046}/81040040" IS NULL) AND NOT (("urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office#Keywords" IS NULL OR ("https://schemas.microsoft.com/mapi/id/{00062003-0000-0000-C000-000000000046}/81050040" IS NULL AND "https://schemas.microsoft.com/mapi/id/{00062008-0000-0000-C000-000000000046}/8503000b" = 0)) AND "urn:schemas:httpmail:importance" <> 2) AND NOT "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office#Keywords" LIKE '%S/M%' AND NOT "urn:schemas:httpmail:importance" = 0 AND NOT "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office#Keywords" LIKE '%Templates%')
    4. Be careful to highlight everything, including the parentheses.
    5. Paste (Ctrl+V) the text into the SQL tab, replacing all existing text.
    6. Click OK to save your changes.
    7. If you get an error message when exiting the filter, you probably entered something incorrectly. Repeat the steps and try again. Make sure you copy ALL of the SQL text, including quotes and parentheses.
  12. Standardize the Other Settings.
  13. Turn off red highlights.
  14. Click OK twice to save your changes.
  15. Add a Group By box.
  16. Resize the columns as needed.

Your Simple List is now fully customized for TRO. You can use steps like this to customize any view in Outlook.

Create a Custom View from Another View

We will use the Simple List to Create a permanent, All Categories view:

  1. Go back to the Task view manager.
  2. Click on Simple List and click Copy.
  3. Name the new list All Categories.
  4. Select This folder, visible to everyone (or This folder, visible only to me if you are not using Exchange Server).
  5. Click OK. You will see the Custom View Organizer. Click OK to exit it.
  6. Click Apply View.

If you have a lot of tasks, and if you Group By Categories, it should look something like the following picture.

Use steps like this to create new custom view from any view you want.