An untidy mailbox might make it difficult for the users to find their needed email. Microsoft Outlook has provided quite useful tools that help the users filter and organize their messages in a more manageable way. Outlook can even help increase efficiency and performance for the users. Whether you are using Outlook 2013, Outlook 2016 or Outlook 2019, you can easily manage your emails.
You may use these following tools to clean up your Inbox as well as to make it easier to find the information you need.
1. Quickly filtering the messages
Outlook 2019 has a new feature that helps sort the messages by dates and arrange them in Conversation. When using this feature, the messages which have the same theme will appear as Conversation and the users can view, expand or shrink them by clicking on the icon to the left of the Subject line. The messages inside each Conversation are classified with the newest message placed on top. When a new message is received, all Conversation will move to the top of the email list that helps you track easily the flow of the emails.
To activate the Conversation, in the View tab of the Conversation group, tick the box Show As Conversation. You can reduce the size of a Conversation with the Clean Up feature. This feature will help to remove the duplicate messages in the Conversation. On the Home tab in the Delete group, click Clean Up then click on Clean Up Conversation.
In all versions of Outlook, the users can find the messages in the mailbox folder faster by changing the way they are classified in the email folder. For example, you can sort out your emails by date, sender and file size or importance level.
2. Grouping the same messages in the folders
By creating a new email folder, the users can group related messages together in the folders. For example, you can group the messages by subject, project, communication or other categories that are appropriate to your works or your hobbies. The users can also create a folder for all the messages sent from your boss or someone important including the principal information that needs saving.
To create a new folder in Outlook 2019, on the Folder tab, in the New, click New Folder.
To create a new folder in Outlook 2013 or Outlook 2016, on the Menu bar, click on File, choose New then Folder.
3. Creating a search folder to find the messages
Search Folder is a quick and convenient way to find a collection of email messages. It doesn’t save any messages but provides the virtual folders that display all the messages in your Inbox based on the attributes you are looking for.
Outlook Search Folders provide default features such as Unread Mail but you can also create your own rule. For example, you can use Search Folder to help find all the information related to a certain project, an important client or an upcoming meeting.
To create a Search Folder in Outlook 2019, in the Mail on the Folder tab, in the New, click New Search Folder.
To create a Search Folder in Outlook 2013 or Outlook 2016, in the mail on the File Menu, move the mouse to the New then click on the Search Folder.
4. Using Rules for Email routing
By creating Rules for Outlook, you can automatically perform actions for both incoming and outgoing email messages based on the set criteria. For example, the users can automatically forward to their superiors all the messages sent from someone as long as the message is received by assigning their project related word to all the sent messages that contain the word in the Subject line. Email routing efficiently not only helps organize your emails but it also helps save your time when performing a small task.
5. Reducing junk emails with the email filter
Keep unnecessary email messages from the Inbox by using the Outlook Junk Email Filter. This filter will send the emails that are flagged as junk emails into a separate folder in the mailbox. The users can view the content of this folder to make sure that there are not any valid emails mistakenly sent to it. If so, you should adjust the filter to avoid the wrong mark on the messages in the future.
6. Assigning a colour category
Assign a colour to an unrelated email message group and other categories in the Outlook such as notes, contacts and appointments. From there, the users can easily identify and sort them. For example, you can easily track all messages, appointments and contacts for computer sales project by creating a category called “Computer Sales” and assigning the messages to it.
7. Flagging for follow up
The users can use the Flag for Follow Up feature in order to flag the email messages and tasks to help sort them or mark them. The flags will prompt you to track an issue, point out someone’s request or order for a prompted message and contact. They can also arrange your email folder easily because you know exactly what to do and when to do it. Note that when you create a task and set an expired date for the task, it will automatically be flagged so you do not forget the expired date for the action and fulfil it.
Maria Wilson a Microsoft Office expert has been working in the technology industry from the last 7 year. As a technical expert, She has written technical blogs, white papers, and reviews for many websites such as office.com/setup
Original Source Content : http://officecomofficee.com/blog/steps-to-managing-your-microsoft-office-outlook-email-effectively/
