Tech Tips

Have you ever looked at your Blackberry and thought, “Wow, 156 messages? already?” I know that I have!  Especially if you have multiple mailboxes installed on your device.  They add up quickly.

To quickly mark all messages read for a certain time period, or for “all time” — highlight the “date” that you want to mark all items “read/opened” for..press your menu key… select “Mark Prior Opened”

To mark all your messages as opened/read, from anywhere within your mailbox, press “T” to get to the top — press Menu – Select “Mark Prior Opened”.

Use with caution however, as the option to “Delete Prior” is right below the mark prior opened menu option — Be aware that if you select delete prior in error, you may not be able to get those messages back on your device unless you performed a very recent backup.  On the plus side.. you will still have them in your Outlook or Lotus Notes mailbox so all is not lost!

Marking all messages as open is useful when you are returning from vacation and when the blackberry is powered back on, 2000+ unread messages start to trickle through!

1. Quickly get to the top of your messages in your mailbox by pressing T
2. To get to the bottom of your messages, press B
3. Insert your phone number into a message quickly and easily by typing mynumber. You can put it in the subject or body of the message.  If this doesn’t work right away, you may need to modify your phone settings so that your number is displayed.
4. Send your PIN to a friend by typing mypin and pressing space.  You can put it in the subject or the body of the message. As long as you press space after typing mypin..they will see it.  Then you can send pin messages to your friends for free!  and delivery receipts are shown beside the pin message as soon as the message gets to the receiving device. Pin messages are much like text messages only they only work if you and your friend both have a Blackberry with a valid data plan.
5. Perform a quick search if you are looking for a specific name or subject within your messages without scrolling through all of them.  When inside your mailbox, press S and a search screen will open. Enter your search criteria and press enter. 

Do you want to turn your Blackberry into a modem? This post was created to assist when it is necessary to create a network dial up connection using the Blackberry cell phone as your modem because an internet connection is otherwise not available.

• Contact cell phone provider (Rogers/Bell) to ensure the cell phone plan included this option

• Ensure Blackberry Desktop manager is installed on the computer prior to starting this process.

1. Connect the Blackberry to the computer (authenticate as needed **this applies only when a security password is set on the blackberry)
2. Click Start / My Network Places
3. Select View network connections
4. Click Create a new connection
5. Click Next
6. Click Next
7. Select Set up my connection manually –> click Next
8. Click Next
9. Select Modem – Standard Modem (COM 3) ONLY –> click Next
10. Name your new Connection Blackberry–> click Next
11. Enter “ *99# “ as the phone number–> Click Next
12. Select My use only –> click Next
13. Ensure nothing is selected on this screen –> click Next
14. Click to Add a shortcut on the desktop and click Finish
15. Click Dial at this screen (username/password not necessary)
16. Enter password to your BB device if application
17. Connection icon appears near your clock when connected.
18. To disconnect, right click your new connection and choose Disconnect

Get the most out of your Blackberry!

Most Blackberry owners aren’t aware of half the great features and functions of their BB.  Stop by Tech Tips often for helpful  Blackberry tips.