Microsoft often updates its’ software and adds new features with little or no fanfare. One new feature introduced this month allows you to @Mention a person in the message and easily add them to the list of recipients.

This feature is very similar to tagging someone in a chat message and can make communicating in Outlook, Microsoft Teams, SharePoint, and other Microsoft applications faster or more convenient – a convenience many love.

But this can also cause frustration if you use an @ symbol in your messages or invites and you don’t notice an address is added to your To: list. If you type @name, check your To: or attendee list before sending! The name will be highlighted in the message body or invite details, which is your tip to check the list. You should see a selection box when typing, but it can be overlooked or accidentally selected and closed.
If you refer to the University’s @Rochester publication in messages, please be sure to remove to address if you’re not submitting a topic for publication.

**TIP** ADD A SPACE AFTER THE @ SYMBOL WHEN YOU TYPE AND DO NOT WANT TO @MENTION SOMEONE. This feature only looks for @name text with no space.

This feature is now active in University mail and Microsoft accounts, and for URMC and Affiliate accounts that moved to Microsoft Office online.

Learn more about how to use @Mentions by visiting the Microsoft Support Site.

To Turn off the @Mentions, in Outlook for Windows, Go to File | Options | Mail | Send Messages. Uncheck “Suggest names to mention..”.

Outlook on the web, Outlook for Mac, and Outlook for Mobile currently have no way of turning off this feature.