Have Outlook notify you when you receive a new message (2000/2002/2003)

You probably don't want to have to continually check to see if you've received new mail, so let Microsoft Outlook tell you when you have new mail. There are four ways you can be notified that you have new mail: have Outlook display a message, have Outlook make a specific sound, have Outlook change your cursor to a mail icon, and have Outlook display a mail envelope display in your system tray (not available in Outlook 2000).

To activate the first option in Outlook 2002 or 2000, choose Tools | Options and click the E-mail Options button on the Preferences tab. Select the Display A Notification Message When New Mail Arrives check box, and click OK. To activate any of the other three options or any of the four options in 2003, click the Advanced E-mail Options button on the E-mail Options dialog box. These options are all located in the When New Items Arrive (When New Items Arrive In My Inbox in 2003) section; select the check box for whichever options you want to be activated and click OK twice.

You can choose any combination of these four notification methods. Outlook will be as intrusive or unintrusive as you choose.