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I can't change how my text looks.
When you compose a message in plain text, you can't add formatting. If you want to format your text, use the HTML or Rich Text message format.
Some themes in Word don't appear in the list of available stationery in Outlook.
Microsoft Word themes include the same stationery patterns that are available in Microsoft Outlook; however, Word offers additional themes that Outlook doesn't include. To work with one of these additional themes, you must do so from within a message you're editing with Word as the e-mail editor.
I want my replies to plain text messages to contain formatting.
By default, when you respond to a message in Outlook, your reply is formatted in the same way as the original message. However, you can change the message format of your reply.
With the message open, on the Format menu, click the format you want to use (HTML or Rich Text).
Note If Microsoft Word is your e-mail editor, see Word Help.
When I edit an HTML message, the changes don't save back to the original message.
If the message you received was created in Microsoft Excel, for example, you can't save the changes back to the original message. You must edit the message in Excel and save the changes to a separate file.
I received a message in a different language, and the characters don't display properly.
The sender used an e-mail program that didn't mark the message with a language encoding (character set). To fix the text in the message body (not the header) so that it displays the correct characters, specify the encoding Outlook should use. (The following procedure applies only to messages in HTML or plain text format.)
Open the message you want to read.
On the View menu, point to Encoding, and then click the encoding you want to use.
Once you've applied the correct encoding and finished reading the message, close the message, and then click Yes to save the changes.
The message is in a language that your system doesn't currently support. If you want to read this message and future ones you receive in the same language, add support for that language using the Regional and Language Options (Windows XP) or Regional Options (Windows 2000) Control Panel.
If the message still contains boxes, change the font to a more suitable font.
Text I type appears blue and underlined.
You may have typed the beginning of an Internet address (or protocol). When you type what appears to be an Internet protocol in the body of a message, Outlook creates a hyperlink for you from the text, so that recipients of the message can quickly go to the destination of the hyperlink. (Recipients of the message must have an Internet browser (such as Microsoft Internet Explorer) that supports the protocol installed on their computers.)
Some messages appear gray with a line through them in the main Outlook window.
When a message expires, it appears in the message list with gray text and a strikethrough mark. If the message is in a Microsoft Exchange Server mailbox, the message is deleted when the administrator cleans up expired messages. You can have expired messages deleted automatically when you archive.
I use high contrast settings, but it's hard to see the text in some messages.
You may have cleared the option that enables Outlook to display Rich Text messages in a draft font, which lets you see messages using the high-contrast settings you specified in Control Panel (Accessibility Options icon, Display tab). To turn the draft font feature back on for all messages and still retain the high-contrast setting, on the Tools menu, click Options, and then click the Mail Format tab. Click Fonts, and then select the Automatically display Rich Text in draft font when using high contrast check box. You can also turn this setting on for individual Rich Text messages. With the message open, on the View menu, click Draft Font.