Updated: 2009-04-09

As users work in Microsoft Office Outlook 2007, messages appear in the notification area with information about network and Microsoft Exchange Server availability. You can configure how and when these messages are displayed to users in the notification area by default.

NoteNote:

This article is for Outlook administrators. To configure the notification area on your computer, see Hide the Outlook icon in the notification area of the taskbar.

You can deploy default settings for these messages by using the Modify user settings page in the Office Customization Tool (OCT). These settings cannot be enforced by using Group Policy.

Configure Outlook notification area message behavior

  1. In the OCT, on the Modify user settings page, click the plus sign (+) next to Office Outlook 2007.

  2. Click the Outlook System Tray icon.

  3. Double-click an option (such as Show Network Warnings), and then click Apply Changes.

  4. Select the check box for the option displayed (such as the Check to Show Network Warnings check box), and then click OK.

  5. When you have finished making all your Office customizations in the OCT, select Save As... in the File menu.

  6. Specify a unique name for the file (with an .msp file name extension) and save it in the folder of the network installation point.

  7. Click Save.

For more information about how to customize Office by using the OCT and how to deploy customized Office with customized settings, see Customize the 2007 Office system and Deploying the 2007 Office system.

More information about notification area messages

The kinds of messages are as follows:

  • Network warnings   Example: Network problems are preventing connection to the Microsoft Exchange Server servername.

  • Exchange Server warnings   Example: Outlook is trying to retrieve data from the Microsoft Exchange Server computer.

  • Synchronization messages   Example: Outlook is preparing a local copy of your Exchange mailbox. This one-time process may take several minutes to complete. Some of your data might not be shown until the process is complete. Note that there are no configuration options available in the OCT for this message type.

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