Introduction

The Journal records when you create, use, or modify items in Microsoft Office Outlook 2003, and shows these actions in a timeline view. In addition to tracking e-mail and other Outlook items, you can also track Microsoft Office documents, recording the file type, filename, date the document was created, how long the document was open , and the path to which the document is stored on your computer. In fact, the Journal lets you keep a record of anything you want to remember, such as phone calls, meetings, or how much time you spend on particular projects.

During a typical workday , you probably talk to numerous people both in person and on the phone. You take notes about those conversations. The Journal provides a central location where you can store those notes and other details, such as dates and times, about your interactions with contacts. Outlook automatically creates a Journal entry for the types of actions you specify based on when the action occurs. For example, the Journal records an e-mail message when you send it, or a Word document when you create it.

You can also use the Journal to organize e-mail messages, meetings, documents, notes, and phone calls so that you can quickly locate all the important information related to a contact. To review details about an activity, you open a Journal entry. You can then open the Outlook item or document associated with that entry.