5 Tips to Better Search, Store and Sort Your Outlook Email

Tracing its origins back to the Morse code messages of the 1800’s, today’s email has become an invaluable productivity tool for both business and personal use. Unfortunately, this reliance on electronic mail can often lead to overly cluttered inboxes that actually end up impeding efficiency instead.


Luckily, for those using Microsoft Outlook for their email needs, there are some simple tips and tricks to incorporate into your email routine that can actually help you sort and organize your mail in meaningful, easy-to-use ways.


Sort Messages by Conversation

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One of the best features to come with Outlook 2010 is the ability to arrange messages by conversation. When you use this feature, messages that share the same subject appear as a Conversation, which can then be viewed, expanded and collapsed by simply clicking the icon to the left of the Subject line.


To utilize Conversations, click on the View tab. From there, click the Show as Conversations check box in the Conversations group.


Clean up Conversations

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Once you’ve set up your conversations, it’s easier to keep track of new messages, because as they come in, your conversations will automatically move to the top of your inbox. If a conversation’s size ever gets too big, however, it’s easy to reduce the size with the Clean Up feature.


Clean Up will delete all of the duplicate messages in a conversation. To use it, start by clicking on the Home tab. From there, you can select the Delete group, and then click on Clean Up. Next, click on Clean Up Conversations.


Group Similar Messages into Folders

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Creating mail folders lets you keep related messages and conversations together in an easy to access location. Grouping messages by contact, category, project or topic makes it easy to find exactly what you want when you need it.


To create a new folder in Outlook, start by clicking on the Folder tab. (If you’re using an older version of Outlook, you may have to go to the File menu, then click on New first.) Next, click on New Folder. You can then name your folder and begin sorting emails.


Add a Reminder to a Flagged Item

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One of the best productivity tools in Outlook email is the ability to apply a flag to any message. These flags give you a visual cue to follow up in some way. But to make your flagged items even more efficient, add a reminder.


These can be set to remind you to reply by a certain time, return a call, or even take another action altogether. To add a reminder to an open message that’s been flagged, click on the Home tab. In the Tags group, click Follow Up. In the menu that comes up, select Add Reminder. Within the Reminder list, you can select the exact date you wish to be reminded.


Assign a Color Category to a Group of Emails

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Anyone who’s ever used those neon sticky notes can attest to the fact that color coding things makes them easier to identify and organize. You can use this same theory within your email by assigning a color category to a group of interrelated emails.


To assign a color category from your inbox, simply right click on the message. From there, point to Categorize, and then click a color category.



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