Remove Word As Your Outlook Editor

If you run Outlook, you probably are aware that it is a resource hog. One reason for the large amounts of memory usage is because, by default, Word is set as the email editor. While you do gain the benefits of Word when you have this set, it comes at the cost of 20-40 MB of memory usage.

My recommendation is to change your default Outlook editor from Word to Rich Text Format. When you make this change, you get most of the features of Word without the bloat:

  1. Open Tools > Options.
  2. Mail Format tab.
  3. Change the setting “Compose in this message format” to Rich Text.
  4. Uncheck both boxes which start with “Use Microsoft Office Word…”

Again, you will lose some functionality when you do this, but the benefits are well worth it.

Free eBook!

Like what you read?

If so, please join over 28,000 people who receive our exclusive weekly newsletter and computer tips, and get FREE COPIES of 5 eBooks we created, as our gift to you for subscribing. Just enter your name and email below:

Post A Comment Using Facebook

Discuss This Article (Without Facebook)

One comment

  1. You do not specify the version of Outlook or Word in the post. This information is not valid for Outlook 2007.

Leave a Reply

PCMech Insider Cover Images - Subscribe To Get Your Copies!
Learn More
Every week, hundreds of tech enthusiasts, computer owners
and geeks read The Insider, the digital magazine of PCMech.

What’s Your Preference?

Daily Alerts

Each day we send out a quick email to thousands of PCMECH readers to notify them of new posts. This email is just a short, plain email with titles and links to our latest posts. You can unsubscribe from this service at any time.

You can subscribe to it by leaving your email address in the following field and confirming your subscription when you get an email asking you to do so.

Enter your email address for
Daily Updates:

Weekly Newsletter

Running for over 6 years, the PCMECH weekly newsletter helps you keep tabs on the world of tech. Each issue includes news bits, an article, an exclusive rant as well as a download of the week. This newsletter is subscribed to by over 28,000 readers (many who also subscribe to the other option) - come join the community!

To subscribe to this weekly newsletter simply add your email address to the following field and then follow the confirmation prompts. You will be able to unsubscribe at any time.

Enter your email address for
Free Weekly Newsletter: