Using Keyboard Shortcuts to Create an Appointment

This page covers creating an appointment in Outlook 2003 and 2007 without using the mouse. Appointments are the way you schedule time for yourself on your calendar, and are the base of meeting requests. I cover the mechanics of scheduling a meeting elsewhere--for now, the focus is on the appointment page.

To create an appointment using only the keyboard (assuming Outlook is running), follow these steps:

1. Get into Outlook using the ALT+TAB keyboard shortcut if you are not already there.


2. Open a new Appointment window. If you are in a Calendar view, use CTRL+N. If you are in any other view, use CTRL+SHIFT+A.


3. The cursor starts in the Subject field. Fill in the subject, then press TAB to move to the next (Location) field.


4. Fill in the Location field, then press TAB again. In Outlook 2003, this takes you to the Label field. Use the UP and DOWN arrows on the keyboard to select the label you want to apply to this message, or press TAB to move on to the Start time field.

   In Outlook 2007, there is no Label field and you go right to the Start time field.



5. Use the UP and DOWN arrow keys and the TAB key to set the start and end dates and times for the appointment. Remember that you can press SHIFT+TAB to go backwards through the fields at any time. If you are scheduling an all-day event, use the TAB key to get to the All day event checkbox. Press SPACE to set or clear this box. When set, the time of day fields in the Start and End times become disabled.





All day events have only Start and End dates.


6. When you are done setting the dates and times, press TAB to move on. In Outlook 2003, this will take you to a section where you can set a reminder. As with setting the Start and End date of the appointment, use the TAB, SHIFT-TAB, SPACE, and UP and DOWN keys to set up a reminder if you want one. When you are done, press TAB until the cursor appears in the body of the appointment.

   Outlook 2007 takes you directly to this area after you set the date and time of the appointment.



7. Enter any description or additional information you want associated with the appointment in your calendar. To check the spelling of this area, press the F7 key. For Outlook 2007, you can also use the ALT, H, S, S keyboard shortcut, but the old-style F7 is a lot faster.


8. If you would like to assign a Category to this appointment, you can do so by pressing ALT+G in Outlook 2003, or ALT, H, G in Outlook 2007. Scroll through the Category list using the cursor keys and press SPACE to select or deselect a particular category.


9. Press ALT+S to save the appointment and close the New Appointment window.

That's what it takes to create an Appointment without touching the mouse in Outlook 2003 or 2007. It will take you some practice to learn to consistently use this process, but once you do, you'll be able to create Appointments (and Meeting Requests) that much faster and easier.

• The top of this page


• The Outlook Calendar Tips page.


• The Keyboard Shortcuts to Send Mail page.


• The Keyboard Shortcuts to Create a Task page.


• The Living With Outlook home page.