Stop Outlook from “disappearing” when switching to the desktop

STOP OUTLOOK FROM “DISAPPEARING” WHEN SWITCHING TO THE DESKTOP

I usually keep Outlook open all the time. That assures I’ll get all my e-mails promptly. But the other day I realized that every time I clicked on the Show Desktop icon in my taskbar, Outlook closed the moment the desktop appeared. I don’t think I did anything to make that happen, but it sure is annoying. Can you help?

Actually, Outlook was not closed when the desktop appeared; it was only minimized. If you look on the right side of your taskbar, next to thetime, you’ll see several icons, and one of them will surely be Outlook (see screenshot above).

To solve the problem, right-click on that icon, and this menu will appear:

Just remove the check next to Hide When Minimized, and Outlook will not minimize when you click on Desktop.

I would guess you accidentally clicked on that item when you were making some adjustments in your taskbar

Bonus tip: Whether it’s minimized or not, how would you like to get a discrete notice whenever you’ve got new mail? With a simple setup adjustment in Outlook, such a notice, which includes

the name of the sender and the subject, will appear on your screen no matter what you’re doing on the computer. To set it up in Outlook, go to Tools, Options, Preferences, E-mail Options, Advanced E-mail Options, Desktop Alert Settings, which will bring up the screenshot at left.

Notice you can control how long the alert remains on your screen and the message’s opacity; making it slightly transparent (see screenshot below) allows you to read any data covered by the alert screen.