Outlook 2003 Keyboard navigation changes

[JericoDW]

If you select a column and "Group by this column" it groups related
items under a "header row" that has a + or - in it to collapse or
expand the group. Imagine I grouped my 700 emails by SENDER thus
getting about 200 groups. Some of the are expanded and others are not.

In Outlook 2000, when using the keyboard UP or DOWN key, the selection
moved from an individual Item to the Header Row as expected. Then I
could press LEFT or RIGHT to expand/collapse the group.

In Outlook 2003, when using the keyboard UP or DOWN key, the selection
SKIPS the header row and jumps up or down to the next ITEM. This is
really frustrating!

I know that you can press <ALT>+[UP|DOWN] to get the desired results,
but this is extremely annoying when I am working with hundreds of
groups. And I often still have ALT pressed down when I press LEFT or
RIGHT which is like hitting a browsers BACK button sending me to a
completely different folder!

My question is: Is there a way to get the default 2000 behavior back
where pressing UP sends the selection UP, and pressing DOWN sends it
DOWN without skipping all around???

I often use nested groups 3-6 layers deep. So pressing DOWN, RIGHT,
DOWN, RIGHT, DOWN, RIGHT would expand the group I want. Now I have to
use <ALT>+DOWN, RIGHT, <ALT>+DOWN, RIGHT, <ALT>+DOWN, RIGHT, etc...

Any help would be appreciated.

 

[ControlAir]

This bugs me too. I don't know what causes it.

 

[Diane Poremsky [MVP]]

You don't have to be on a group header to collapse - hit the left arrow key
when on any item and the group collapses resulting in the group header
selected so you can scroll group lists.

If you have the show unread and flagged in conversation option enabled (it's
on by default) the behavior is different in the by conversation view but the
left arrow should work as expected in all other views - collapsing the group
to just the group header.

--
Diane Poremsky [MVP - Outlook]
Author, Teach Yourself Outlook 2003 in 24 Hours
Coauthor, OneNote 2003 for Windows (Visual QuickStart Guide)
Need Help with Common Tasks? http://www.outlook-tips.net/beginner/



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This bugs me too. I don't know what causes it.

If you select a column and "Group by this column" it groups related
items under a "header row" that has a + or - in it to collapse or
expand the group. Imagine I grouped my 700 emails by SENDER thus
getting about 200 groups. Some of the are expanded and others are not.

In Outlook 2000, when using the keyboard UP or DOWN key, the selection
moved from an individual Item to the Header Row as expected. Then I
could press LEFT or RIGHT to expand/collapse the group.

In Outlook 2003, when using the keyboard UP or DOWN key, the selection
SKIPS the header row and jumps up or down to the next ITEM. This is
really frustrating!

I know that you can press <ALT>+[UP|DOWN] to get the desired results,
but this is extremely annoying when I am working with hundreds of
groups. And I often still have ALT pressed down when I press LEFT or
RIGHT which is like hitting a browsers BACK button sending me to a
completely different folder!

My question is: Is there a way to get the default 2000 behavior back
where pressing UP sends the selection UP, and pressing DOWN sends it
DOWN without skipping all around???

I often use nested groups 3-6 layers deep. So pressing DOWN, RIGHT,
DOWN, RIGHT, DOWN, RIGHT would expand the group I want. Now I have to
use <ALT>+DOWN, RIGHT, <ALT>+DOWN, RIGHT, <ALT>+DOWN, RIGHT, etc...

Any help would be appreciated.

 

[JericoDW]

Thanks for the reply Diane,
Actually, the LEFT arrow key doesn't work when the "Allow in-cell
editing" feature is turned on.

So I'm back to wondering why they would determine that skipping row
headers was a usability enhancement???

Thanks again.