Outlook Mail Format Options - Grayed out

[smdshack]

The 400 people where I work cannot set Outlook 2003 Mail Format options.
Email is set to default to RTF and cannot be changed to HTLM or Plain Text.
The fields are grayed out. When you open a new email item, you can only use
the RTF or change your message to Plain Text, however HTML format is not
available as a selection. Also MS Word cannot be selected as the default to
edit email messages or RTF messages. Again the fields are grayed out. I
assume the Mail Format options are locked down in the registry or by a policy
applied against the workstations. Does anyone know how, or if, the options
can be locked down in the registry? Does anyone know how to determine if the
problem is policy based? I have run gpresult /z on a couple workstations but
am not certain what to look for. I am also browing the registry to see if
there is something obvious but not certain what to look for. Any help is
greatly appreciated. BTW - all workstations are running Office 2003 in a
Windows XP Pro SP3 environment.

[Diane Poremsky [MVP]]

The easiest way to find out is to ask the administrators if there is a group
policy applied. Typically policies are in
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Policies\Microsoft.

to change between RTF and plain text and HTML you may need to change to the
available format then change again. Ie, you change from RTF to plain text,
then from plain text to HTML.

many admins lock out word as the editor in the mistaken belief that it’s a
crappy editor or a resource hog. (It was, back in outlook 97 but is much
improved now).

when you run gpresult, look for resultant set of policies section. Admin
templates would be for office apps.

--
Diane Poremsky [MVP - Outlook]
Outlook Tips: http://www.outlook-tips.net/
Outlook & Exchange Solutions Center: http://www.slipstick.com

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[smdshack]

Diane - thanks for responding you gave me sufficient information so I would
know what to look for.

I found a user policy applied against the workstation OU in active
directory. In the policy, under User Configuration\Administrative
Templates\Microsoft Outlook 2003\Tools | Options\Mail Format\Message Format,
Message format/editor is enabled and set to Rich Text/Outlook. There are
several options it may be set to including HTML/Outlook or HTML/Microsoft
Word. Which setting should I recommend the administrator apply (I don't have
permissions to change the policy). Also under User
Configuration\Administrative Templates\Microsoft Outlook 2003\Tools |
Options\Mail Format\Message Format\Internet Formatting, HTML Options are not
configured, Outlook Rich Text Options are enabled to Send using Outlook Rich
text format, and Plain text options are enabled. Should I recommend the
administrator enable HTML Options?

Before I talk to the administrator, after the administrator changes the
policy will Mail Format options no longer be grayed out in Outlook? Will
changing Message format/editor and Internet Formatting/Html Options fix this
problem so users may select their own default email format and be able to
select Word as the default editor?

[Diane Poremsky [MVP]]

> under User Configuration\Administrative
> Templates\Microsoft Outlook 2003\Tools | Options\Mail Format\Message
> Format,
> Message format/editor is enabled and set to Rich Text/Outlook. There are
> several options it may be set to including HTML/Outlook or HTML/Microsoft
> Word.

HTML Outlook uses the Outlook Editor, HTML Word uses Word as the editor.
Either is fine, but if the users want to use Word and the admin agrees, then
it should be on HTML/Word. Some admins are anti-word as the editor based on
bad experiences with Outlook 97. Fortunately, the experience with Outlook
2003 is much improved and there is little reason to force users to use
Outlook's built-in editor. (This policy could be disabled - just let the
user choose their editor, although support usually likes one editor so its
less confusing when a user complains they are missing features their
coworker has. )

> under User
> Configuration\Administrative Templates\Microsoft Outlook 2003\Tools |
> Options\Mail Format\Message Format\Internet Formatting, HTML Options are
> not
> configured, Outlook Rich Text Options are enabled to Send using Outlook
> Rich
> text format, and Plain text options are enabled. Should I recommend the
> administrator enable HTML Options?

Yes, HTML should be enabled (or the policy disabled). Sending RTF to the
internet is usually a bad idea, although its occasionally necessary but HTML
is ok.

--
Diane Poremsky [MVP - Outlook]
Outlook Tips: http://www.outlook-tips.net/
Outlook & Exchange Solutions Center: http://www.slipstick.com

Outlook Tips by email:
mailto:dailytips-sub...@lists.outlooktips.net

EMO - a weekly newsletter about Outlook and Exchange:
mailto:EMO-NEWSLETTER-S...@PEACH.EASE.LSOFT.COM

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