SuperTekBoy

Practical Help for Exchange & Office 365

Duplicating Meetings & Appointments in Outlook

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One of the best-kept secrets in Outlook is the hotkey that allows you to quickly and easily duplicate meetings and appointments on your Outlook calendar.

One particular use case is if you have a meeting and need to quickly schedule a follow-up meeting. This meeting may have all the same participants and agenda. If the meeting was not previously set up as a recurring meeting, only needs a single follow-up and, you want to maintain the original meeting on the calendar, then copying the meeting is the best way to go.

To copy a meeting, select the meeting, hold the CTRL button on your keyboard and drag the meeting to a new spot. Once in the new spot, release both your mouse button and the CTRL-key.

A duplicate meeting appears in that new spot and the existing meeting is preserved for historical purposes. The new meeting will contain all the same attendees and content from the old meeting.

You will then need to open the new meeting and click the Send button so all attendees get the new meeting invite.

If you want to duplicate appointments the process is identical.

Copying Meetings and Appointments in Outlook

You are all set!

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So, what do you think about this option to quickly duplicate meetings and appointments in Outlook? Drop a comment below or join the conversation on Twitter @SuperTekBoy.

Improved Dark Mode in Outlook for Windows

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The black theme has been around in Outlook for Windows for some time. However, unlike Outlook Web App, or, Microsoft Teams, the black theme was not a true dark mode. Some aspects of the black theme were still fully illuminated, such as when you read or composed a message.

The screenshot below is an example of how the black theme changes certain aspects such as the folder view and toolbars to black but leaves the email preview pane in white.

Outlook on Windows Black Theme Read Email

Similarly, when you compose an email the message body is also in white.

Outlook on Windows Black Theme Compose Email

The new Black Theme for Outlook

Starting with version 1907 for Office Insiders, the Outlook team has extended the black theme so it now incorporates the message body and the composition panes.

Note: Anyone can enroll in the Office Insider program. However, Office Insiders receive weekly updates, which could be subject to bugs.

UPDATE 10-5-19: For those on the Monthly Channel, you can get dark mode with the 1909 monthly channel update (released September 30th).

With version 1907 the message preview pane defaults to black.

Outlook on Windows Black Theme Read Email Version 1907

Similarly, when you compose an email the message body is now black.

Outlook on Windows Black Theme Compose Email 1907
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Awarded for a 4th year as a Microsoft MVP (Thank you!)

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On July 1st I had the great pleasure of being awarded for a fourth year as a Microsoft Most Valuable Professional (MVP). It is truly a great honor to be awarded for another year.

Microsoft MVP Logo Vertical

I want to give a special shout-out to everyone who supports this blog. Your comments, your follows, your likes and your shares–they have all got me to this point. Thank you.

I would like to offer special thanks to my family, friends, colleagues, and employer. Thank you for your continued support and for challenging me to the best I can be.

I want to congratulate all MVPs who were awarded and renewed today. Your contributions and commitment to helping others are inspirational.

If you were not awarded or renewed then keep trying. MVPs are now being awarded on a monthly basis. So, there are twelve opportunities to become an MVP versus four.

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Using Exchange Cmdlets in Azure Cloud Shell

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The Exchange Team has announced the general availability of the Exchange Online PowerShell Module in Azure Cloud Shell.

Azure Cloud Shell is a web-based version of PowerShell that can be launched from within any web browser by navigating to shell.azure.com, or, clicking the PowerShell icon in the Azure portal (portal.azure.com).

In this article, we will explore how to initially configure Azure Cloud Shell, cover the basics of the interface, connect to Exchange Online, and perform some basic Cloud Shell tasks, such as managing files and running some Exchange cmdlets.

Let’s get started!

Running the Azure Cloud Shell for the first time

To get started with Azure Cloud Shell you can either navigate to shell.azure.com or, click the PowerShell icon in the Azure Portal. The icon is at the top of the screen, to the right of the search box (pictured in the screenshot below)

Access Azure Cloud Shell

The first time you open Cloud Shell you will be asked if you want to connect to PowerShell or Bash. Click PowerShell.

Cloud Shell PowerShell or Bash

You will then be prompted to create storage for use with Cloud Shell. You will be given a drop down of all your available Azure subscriptions. Pick an Azure subscription with active credit and click Create Storage.

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Exchange June 2019 Updates

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Exchange 2019 Cumulative Update 1

This week was a big week for Exchange. Microsoft released its second cumulative update for Exchange 2019 as well as cumulative updates for Exchange 2016 and 2013.

As always, test these updates in a lab first! I recommend checking out this 7-part guide on configuring Exchange in your lab. It doesn’t take much to get one going.

The updates are as follows:

Exchange 2013 Cumulative Update 9

Exchange 2019 Cumulative Update 2 (VLSC)| KB4488401

Exchange 2016 Mini

Exchange 2016 Cumulative Update 13 | KB4488406 | UM Language Pack

Exchange 2013 Cumulative Update 9

Exchange 2013 Cumulative Update 23 | KB4489622 | UM Language Pack

Exchange 2010 Mini

Exchange 2010 SP3 Rollup 27 | KB4491413

The final countdown – 208 days left for Exchange 2010

Here is a quick reminder that extended support for Exchange 2010 is coming to an end. After January 14th, 2020, no further technical support or updates will be available. This includes security, bug and time zone updates.

Unfortunately, there is no direct path to Exchange 2019 from 2010. If you do plan to stay on-prem you will need to migrate to either 2013 or 2016 (I’d recommend 2016 as 2013 is now in extended support). From there you can migrate to 2019. Alternatively, you can migrate to Office 365.

For more information about the Exchange 2010 life-cycle check out the Exchange Team blog.

So, what’s new in these Cumulative Updates?

In the last set of cumulative updates, Microsoft reduced the number of permissions Exchange had in Active Directory. In an ongoing effort to further tighten the security posture of Exchange, Microsoft has further reduced Exchange’s permissions in Active Directory.

This includes two notable changes. The first is that Exchange can no longer assign service principal names (SPN). Second, a deny attribute has been added to the DNS Admins group. The Exchange Team determined neither of these rights was necessary for the operation of Exchange.

In the previous Exchange 2019 cumulative update, you could disable legacy protocols on a per-user basis. In cumulative update 2, you can now globally disable legacy authentication at the organization level.

This series of updates also introduces support for .NET Framework 4.8. While optional now, 4.8 will be mandatory as part of the December 2019 updates.

[Read more…] about Exchange June 2019 Updates

Revoke your guest access to an Office 365 tenant (and Teams)

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As a consultant, I am often invited to collaborate in other Office 365 tenants. This is often presented in the form of guest access into that tenant, which allows me to access applications such as Microsoft Teams or share files with SharePoint Online.

The benefit of guest access is that I can collaborate as if I were a member of that organization without consuming a license, or, requiring an identity in that tenant. For example, my guest access into that tenant could easily be attached to a personal email account hosted at outlook.com.

I often see guest access granted in mergers and acquisitions where the two companies need to collaborate at a business level well before any technology to integrate the two companies has been implemented.

But other scenarios that drive guest access include a company needing to collaborate with its vendors or partners, or, a consultant working with a customer on a project.

But what happens when that guest access is no longer needed?

For our example, Amy Pond successfully completed a project at Super Awesome LLC. Amy collaborated with Super Awesome employees using Microsoft Teams and would like to remove Super Awesome from her Microsoft Teams client. Amy needs to maintain access to Totally Brilliant LLC, which is her new project, and SuperTekBoy LLC, which is her employer. The screenshot below is how Amy’s Microsoft Teams client looks today.

Guest Access to other Microsoft Teams

In this article, Amy will leave Super Awesome’s Office 365 tenant by revoking her own guest access. After she revokes her access she will no longer have any access to any Super Awesome apps or data.

Let’s get started!

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Setting Windows 10 to Dark Mode

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If you are like me and like to work on a computer at night, or, just work with the lights off, then dark mode is for you. I find dark mode helps with eye strain. In addition, many sources also report that a dark color scheme helps conserve battery power on mobile devices.

With build 1809, you can now set Windows 10 to a dark color scheme. Previous builds offered this option as well, but 1809 was the first version that also adopted this color scheme in File Explorer.

The process to enable dark mode is super easy. It only takes 5 clicks and one scroll of the mouse wheel.

Let’s get started!

Enabling Dark Mode in Windows 10

To enable dark mode in Windows 10, click the Start button and then Settings.

Windows 10 1809 Dark Mode

This will launch the Windows Settings page. Click Personalization.

Windows 10 1809 Dark Mode Personalization

From the Personalization page, select the Colors tab on the left side.

From the Colors page scroll to the bottom of the page. Under Choose your default app mode select Dark.

Windows 10 1809 Dark Mode Personalization Colors Dark Mode
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Set your time zone to follow your location

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If you travel a lot with a laptop you may find yourself working in many different time zones. The challenge is that your laptop will display the incorrect time. This can make it particularly challenging when scheduling or attending meetings.

Rather than manually updating your time as you step foot into each new geography, one solution is to configure your time settings to update based on your location. This process is quite simple.

Let’s get started!

Note: This solution requires Windows 10

Configure Automatic Time Zone

Adjust Date Time in Windows 10

From your Windows 10 desktop, right click on the time in the bottom right-hand corner of your screen.

From the context menu select Adjust Date/Time.

From the Date & Time settings window flip the toggle under Set Time Zone Automatically to the On position.

Your time zone (and time) will update automatically based on your location in the world.

You will also notice that once you configured your PC to use an automatic time zone, all other manual zone settings, such as the drop-down box to set the time zone are now grayed out.

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