Do you ever get tired of manually entering data into Outlook tasks and emails? Are you looking for a faster way to manage your Outlook tasks?
Outlook Tasks are a great way to keep track of your most pressing projects, but manually entering the due date can be tedious. Luckily, there is a Microsoft Outlook shortcut that lets you save time when setting up an expiry date for your tasks.
With this shortcut, you can quickly enter dates directly into the task without having to open the task or email itself.
In this article, we will show you how to set up the “Task Date Magic” shortcut in Outlook and take advantage of this timesaver.
How does it work?
Have you ever considered entering the due date in the task by typing 3d, 4w, 7mo, 2y, 15may+12 d …
Creating a task in Outlook itself is a process that includes entering the subject start date due date, priority level, recurring, and many more, but one thing is common which is the due date.
This article is all about punching due dates, and also has some smart date logic based on natural language.
Using smart logic can save your keystrokes and open the date picker without opening a new window.
As well as finding “calculated dates,” it can be more accurate when there are no exact dates entered.
However, sometimes we need to think of a date based on another reference. Among them are holidays, project milestones, scheduled maintenance, and so on.
Rather than using the date picker, we can type our request in the date field, and Outlook will add the correct date.
Smart Date Magic Examples
There must be some Artificial Intelligence (AI) behind it that does the magic. It’s convenient that the computed dates are reflected in other parts, such as Outlook Tasks. These have been grouped into two categories.
- Combination of Numeric and Alphabet
- Natural Date Phrases
Combination of Numeric and Alphabet
Any calculation made considering the current date as a base date, creating a task that required a fixed date but sometimes entering a specific period is also acceptable. for instance, “I like to follow up the task within 2-3 weeks“, that’s not fixed.
These dates are the easiest to learn because they use letters that represent time lengths.
- d = days
- w = weeks
- mo = months
- y = years
- m = minutes
- h = hours
- a = AM
- p = PM
- . = : (Use Dot . which gives you colon 🙂
‘M‘ represents minutes according to the Outlook algorithm, whereas ‘mo‘ is for months.
Natural Date Phrases
It is also possible to use Microsoft Outlook to interpret the following text and convert it to the correct date by interpreting it correctly.
In these examples, you will notice that I have included words like ‘before‘, ‘from,’ ‘3rd,’ and ‘yesterday.’
There are many more words that we naturally use to express proximity when we speak to other people.
As you might guess, Outlook is more likely to compute your date than you will be able to do if you open the date picker. You can approach this in a mix-and-match style.
Outlook Time and Date Shortcuts Examples
| What you Type | What you get (Base date taken 23/12/2022) |
|---|---|
| 50 days before 10/16 | Mon 07-08-2023 |
| 1 week from 7/4 | Fri 05-05-2023 |
| 3rd Friday in September | Tue 15-08-2023 |
| 12 days from yesterday | Tue 03-01-2023 |
| 10 Days after Christmas | Wed 04-01-2023 |
| 3/14 + 12d | Sun 26-03-2023 |
| 225a | 2:25 AM |
| Christmas | Dec 25 (Sun 25-12-2022) |
| three weeks from tomorrow or 3w+1 | Sat 14-01-2023 |
| day after tomorrow | 25-12-2022 |
| 4d | 4 days from now (current date) |
| last Monday of this month | Mon 26-12-2022 |
| d | A day, Total + 1 |
| 5/10+7w or 7 weeks after 5/10 | Thu 22-11-2023 |
| 122 | 1:22 (you won’t need to mention AM or PM, Outlook AI understands it’s morning time and works for 24 hours. |
| Monday before Christmas | Mon 19-12-2022 |
Surely there are many more terms we naturally use to describe proximity. In the above examples, there are a few results which are impacted the start date if you enter, or Outlook considers the current date as the start date.
Some Important Points which make your doubt clear
- Despite the limited options, shortcuts can also be used in the snooze field – just enter the number of minutes or days you want to snooze it for.
- If you are using a date in the current month, you can type the numbers instead. For instance, In August, type ’23’ to represent August 23rd.
- “Forth weeks from tomorrow“, also works but you could save a few keystrokes and type in 4w + 1.
- Shortcuts will also work in the snooze field.
- Type 122 in the time slot and Outlook converts 122 to 1:22 PM, in case you need 12:22, you need to type 1222, Outlook AI by default understand the last two figures as minutes.
- Enter the start date or choose the start date from the dropdown or enter just the day of the month in the due field (you can use date shortcuts), For instance, type 13 in the due date, and Outlook AI automatically fill the date 13/XX/XXXX.
- Outlook is really smart, you can leave the start date blank and just enter the shortcut, and you will get the due date automatically. Outlook automatically considers the start date as the current date.
How to Add Outlook Shortcut Dates
In the normal scenario, we can add dates manually for instance: 23/12/2022, and hit the tab, or you can use the calendar logo to dig into the calendar. In case you enter the date in any format or type the magic phrase, for instance, “last Monday of this month” in the start date or due date.
Final Wrap
Instead of tab you can manually type them in date and time fields, it’s faster than using the date picker. The above shortcuts allow you to simply enter the shortcuts instead of the entire date.
The same algorithm works in Outlook appointments also. Use Shift+Tab to reverse if you are using Tab to move around. In addition to these terms, I’m sure we naturally speak about proximity in many other ways.
In conclusion, the Microsoft Outlook Task date & Time Magic Shortcut is an incredibly useful tool for users to quickly and easily set up a task.
With the shortcut, users can quickly add a task to their Outlook calendar and set the date and time for it more conveniently than before. This is a great time-saving feature for users of Outlook who frequently need to add tasks to their calendars.
