Volume 22 Issue 15

Today's Highlights:

• Bulk Add Addresses to Safe and Blocked Senders Lists
• Save attached contacts to Contacts folder
• Quick Tip: Change the Date Format
• Delay Delivery?

Bulk Add Addresses to Safe and Blocked Senders Lists

An administrator wanted to know if he could set up global safe and blocked lists for distribution to his users.

Is there a way to set a Global Safe Sender List for everyone in Exchange Online?

Yes, you have two options: you can add domains and addresses to the safe or blocked lists Exchange admin center or you can add addresses to the user's Junk mail lists in Outlook. If you block the addresses in Exchange, you can add words to the message header or delete the spam before it gets to the user's mailbox. If you add the addresses to Outlook, mail will be moved to the Junk Email folder (unless the user has Outlook configured to delete junk email).

To block domains in the Exchange admin center, log in then go to Protection and select spam filter. Open the default list and add addresses and domains to the blocked list. If any domains or addresses that should be trusted are routinely marked as spam, add them to the allow list to bypass filtering. Choose how to handle the spam at the top of the spam and bulk actions list. Tip: If you create a new list, you can apply it to specific users.

If you prefer to add domains and addresses to a user's lists in Outlook, use the Set-MailboxJunkEmailConfiguration cmdlet to create lists for individual users or use it in conjunction with the Get-Mailbox cmdlet to add the addresses to all mailboxes.

To add addresses and domains to the user's junk mail lists in Outlook without affecting entries already on the list, use this cmdlet:
Set-MailboxJunkEmailConfiguration user@mydomain.com -BlockedSendersAndDomains @{Add=" @baddomain.com"} -TrustedSendersAndDomains @{Add="gooddomain.com","sally@safedomain.com"}

For new mailboxes or to replace existing lists, use this cmdlet:
Set-MailboxJunkEmailConfiguration -Identity user@slipstick.com -BlockedSendersAndDomains "baddomain.com","alias@domain2.com" -TrustedSendersAndDomains "good-domain.com","alias@trusted.com"
Remember: using this cmdlet will replace the user's own lists with the domains you add.

To check the settings, use:
Get-MailboxJunkEmailConfiguration -Identity user@slipstick.com

To add address to the lists in all mailboxes, use
Get-Mailbox | Set-MailboxJunkEmailConfiguration -BlockedSendersAndDomains @{Add="domain1.com", "user@domain2.com"}-TrustedSendersAndDomains @{Add="domain3.com","user@domain4.com"}

To replace lists, don't wrap @{Add= } around the addresses and domains:
Get-Mailbox | Set-MailboxJunkEmailConfiguration -Identity user@slipstick.com -BlockedSendersAndDomains "baddomain.com,"alias@domain2.com" -TrustedSendersAndDomains "good-domain.com","alias@trusted.com"

If your organization is large, you'll want to spot check a few accounts, but smaller organizations can check all mailboxes using
Get-Mailbox | Get-MailboxJunkEmailConfiguration

For more information, see Set-MailboxJunkEmailConfiguration at TechNet.

Save attached contacts to Contacts folder

A user had a complaint:

When someone sends me a contact by email, is there an easier way to add it to my own contacts? The contacts say Read-only in the title bar and Save as Outlook item saves it to my hard drive. I need to open it then click the Copy to My Contacts button.

Just click the Save button (or Ctrl+S). This will add it to your Contacts folder. When it's sent as an Outlook Contact, the contact will be read-only and you won't be able to add any notes or edit it until it's saved and closed then re-opened, but you don't need to save it to the hard drive first.

If the contact was sent in internet format, with the vfc extension, you should be able to edit it after saving, without closing and re-opening it.

Another option: drag the attachment to People and drop to add it to the default contacts folder.

Quick Tip: Change the Date Format

A user wanted to know how to change the date format Outlook uses in the reply and forward headers:

From: Name [mailto:address]
Sent: May 10, 2017 2:11 PM

Outlook uses the long date format set in Windows Control Panel, Region settings. It can be changed but will affect every application that uses the long date format. The time format can be changed in this dialog as well. To create a custom format, see How to change the Calendar date format

If you want to change the Received date format in the message list, open View Settings, Format Columns then select Received and choose a new format. These formats are preset, but changing the long date format can affect the formats you'll see here. Screenshots are at Change the Received date format

To change the format in the Calendar view, see Display Weekday Names in a Weekly Calendar View

Delay Delivery?

A user had a question about Outlook's Delay Delivery command on the Options tab.

When I Delay Delivery of a message does it get sent from my PC to the server and wait there? Can I close Outlook, log off my PC and it will still get delivered even if I don't log on to my PC again until after the requested delivery date/time?

When you use Delay Delivery, the message is held in the Outbox on your computer, waiting for the scheduled time, so you will need to leave your computer logged in and Outlook open to send it.

There is one exception: when Exchange mailboxes are opened in online mode, the message is held on the server. Note that this is one Exchange feature not supported by Outlook.com, as it only uses cached mode.

New & Updated Exchange KB Articles

"Outlook not responding" error or Outlook freezes when you open a file or send mail
https://support.microsoft.com/kb/2652320

Compatibility with Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2016
https://support.microsoft.com/kb/3124955

Current issues with Microsoft Exchange ActiveSync and third-party devices
https://support.microsoft.com/kb/2563324

Meeting invites are forwarded by an attendee
https://support.microsoft.com/kb/4014990

Outlook can't set up a new profile by using Exchange Autodiscover for an Exchange Online mailbox in Office 365
https://support.microsoft.com/kb/2404385

New & Updated Office 365 KB Articles

Introduction to SharePoint Online
https://support.microsoft.com/kb/4013958

Security settings for graphic filters for Microsoft Office 365, Microsoft Office 2016, Microsoft Office 2013, Microsoft Office 2010, and the 2007 Microsoft Office system
https://support.microsoft.com/kb/2479871

Troubleshooting Skype for Business Online DNS configuration issues in Office 365
https://support.microsoft.com/kb/2566790

New & Updated Outlook KB Articles

"Outlook not responding" error or Outlook freezes when you open a file or send mail
https://support.microsoft.com/kb/2652320

"The address list cannot be displayed" error when you try to view the contacts of a public folder in Outlook 2016
https://support.microsoft.com/kb/4020049

"Unknown error" or "clock error" when you activate Outlook 2016 for Mac
https://support.microsoft.com/kb/3025946

May 9, 2017, update for Microsoft Office
https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/4020152
List of Office updates released on May 2 and 9, 2017.

May 2, 2017, update for Outlook 2016 (KB3191883)
https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/3191883

May 2, 2017, update for Outlook 2013 (KB3191889)
https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/3191889

May 2, 2017, update for Outlook 2010 (KB3191906)
https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/3191906

Other Resources

Exchange 2007 End of Life
The End of Life for Exchange server 2007 is April 11, 2017. Organizations still using Exchange 2007 should be working on a migration plan to Office 365 or Exchange 2016.

Focused Inbox is not available in Outlook
What to check when the Focused Inbox is enabled for the account but isn't available in Outlook.

Outlook.com's Contacts Company Names Missing
A number of Outlook.com users have a problem with Outlook.com contacts losing the company name. They create a contact with a company name in the company field and Outlook.com removes it. We now know the cause and the solution.

Outlook's New Conversation Mode
Coming to Outlook 2016: a new conversation view, one that shows the conversations in the reading pane the order the message was received.

Outlook.com Accounts Stopped Syncing
If your Outlook.com account is set up in Outlook 2013 or Outlook 2016 and it has stopped syncing, you need to remove the account from Outlook and use auto account setup to reconnect the account as a Microsoft Exchange account.