Smiley Faces in Outlook Mail

People have asked me many times how I create the little smiley face in my e-mail messages. J

Actually it is quite simple. First, however, you must make sure that you are using Word as your e-mail editor. To do that, from your Inbox, click Tools/Options/Mail Format. Make sure there is a checkmark in the box next to: Use Microsoft Word to edit e-mail messages. Without this check mark, the following steps will not work.

1. Click shift/colon
2. Click the dash key
3. Click shift/end parenthesis

This works because of the AutoCorrect dictionary that is a part of Word (and Outlook, if the checkmark is checked.). Essentially, this dictionary is a list of commonly misspelled or miss-typed words. It also contains some symbols you can create by simply typing certain keystrokes. Take a look at the AutoCorrect Dictionary in your Word or Outlook and see what other symbols are available.