This was long a fear of mine. I lost my unread items a few times this way. Then, when I'd realize I'd done it again, I'd panic and force to Outlook to quit to prevent it from completing the task.
Based on advice below, I've added a rule to my Office installation to
disable the Ctrl-A key in Outlook. It wasn't easy, so I'm
outlining the steps here:
Note: This worked for me on Office 2013 running Windows 7.
- Download files from here: http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=35554
- Run the downloaded exe. It will create two folders; save these to Desktop or wherever you like (doesn't matter).
- You'll only be grabbing the Outlook files from the two folders: outlk15.admx and
outlk15.adml
- Open your "PolicyDefinitions" folder (it might be C:\Windows\PolicyDefinitions or you can paste this shortcut into your Windows menu to find it:
%Systemroot%\PolicyDefinitions )
- This folder contains a bunch of admx files. Add outlk15.admx here
- Now open the [only] folder in there. If you're an English speaker in the US, it might be called "en-us". Add outlk15.adml here.
Now you're ready to add a rule to the Local Group Policy Editor (this is a utility your PC has that I certainly didn't know about):
- Find it in the Windows Menu by looking for "gpedit.msc" or "Edit group policy"
- Double-click User Configuration ...
- Double-click Administrative Templates ...
- Double-click Microsoft Office 2013 ...
- Double-click Disable Items in User Interface
- Double-click Custom
- Double-click Disable shortcut keys
- Now you should have a new window open. Click Enabled.
- Click "Show..."
- Type "65,8" (but without the quotes) and click Ok. These are codes: 65 is A, 8 is Ctrl.
- Type a description of what you're doing in the box at the top if you want to. Click OK and you're done!
It should work now. If not, try restarting Outlook; I'm not sure if that was necessary. Restarting my PC was NOT necessary, though :)
Hope this helps at least a few people.
Rick
(sourced from here and its associated links: https://technet.microsoft.com/en-in/library/cc179143(v=office.15).aspx)