How to Configure RSS Feeds in Outlook 2010

Google Reader is one of the most popular RSS readers out there, but did you know that Outlook 2010 also enables you to subscribe and access your favorite RSS articles? RSS feeds are quite easy to configure in Outlook 2010 and involves only a few steps. Subscribed feeds are displayed as subfolders within the RSS folder on the Navigation pane. Unread articles are highlighted in bold along with the count of unread items. There are quite a few ways in which you can subscribe to RSS feeds in Outlook. In this Outlook 2010 tutorial, we’ll look at two popular ways on how to configure RSS feeds in Outlook 2010.

How to Configure RSS Feeds While Browsing on Firefox

1. Browse to the web page that you want to subscribe to.

2. Click the RSS button that appears on the web page. If you are using Firefox, you can click the RSS button in the Address bar.

Note: If the RSS Feedburner page is displayed, you can also click Microsoft Outlook or View Feed XML.

3. If Outlook 2010 is configured as your default mail client, a Microsoft Outlook message box will be displayed requesting confirmation of the feed. Click Yes.

You can now start reading your favorite articles by navigating to the specific folder in the navigation pane.

You can also manually enter subscribe to RSS feeds in Outlook 2010. Here’s how.

How to Configure RSS Feeds in Outlook 2010 Manually

1. Select the File tab.

2. Click Account Settings, and then click Account Settings.

3. In the Account Settings dialog box, select the RSS Feeds tab and then click New.

4. In the New RSS Feed dialog box, enter the RSS Feed URL. For example, http://www.example.com/feed/main.xml. If you’re not sure of the URL you can right-click the RSS icon, and copy the link location. Then paste the link in the text box.

5.Click Add and then click OK.

If you have configured RSS feeds in Outlook 2010, you will sooner or later end up in a situation where the size of the mailbox or PST file increases quite rapidly. This may require you to delete older RSS feeds that you no longer want to read. Microsoft Outlook 2010 provides an easy way to automatically delete older RSS items using a feature known as AutoArchive.

What is AutoArchive?

AutoArchive is an Outlook feature that enables you to manage the mailbox space by automatically moving items to an archive location. Generally, AutoArchive moves items from your folders to another folder known as the archive folder. Also, depending on the options you set in the AutoArchive dialog box, it automatically deletes items that have aged permanently. In Windows 7, archived items are stored in the C:\Users\YourUserName\Documents\Outlook Files\archive.pst path.

After you archive items in Outlook, you can access them from the Archive Folders in the Navigation Pane. You can also move the archived items back to your mailbox by importing them or manually moving them between folders.

Let’s see how we can use AutoArchive to automatically delete older RSS items in Outlook 2010.

How to Automatically Delete RSS Items

AutoArchiving RSS feeds involves specifying the AutoArchive settings for each RSS Feeds folder. It involves two parts; turning on AutoArchive and then specifying AutoArchive for each RSS folder.

Part 1: Turn On Auto Archive

1. Select the File tab and choose Options.

2. In the Outlook Options dialog box, select the Advanced tab.

3. In the AutoArchive section, click AutoArchive Settings.

4. In the AutoArchive dialog box, check the Run AutoArchive every …days check box and specify the number of days you want to auto archive items. It is preferable to select between 1 to 7 days to run the  AutoArchive feature.

5. Uncheck the Delete Expired Items (e-mail folders only) and Archive or delete old items check boxes.

Unchecking these two options ensures that you don’t accidentally AutoArchive folders that you don’t wish to archive.

Part 2: Auto Archive Each RSS Feeds Folder

1. Right-click the RSS folder you want to archive in the Navigation menu and choose Properties.

2. In the [RSS Feed Item] Properties dialog box, select the AutoArchive tab.

3. Select Archive this folder using these settings.

4. In the Clean out items older than spin box, specify the aging period.

5. Select Permanently delete old items, click Apply and then click OK.

You can now get all your huge RSS feeds archived and manage your mailbox efficiently.