How To Organize Your Outlook – PC Version

An unorganized Outlook inbox is no good if you’re running a small business. So organize your inbox and don’t miss important emails!

Here, I’ll show you how to create folders, categories, and rules all on Outlook PC  

This article is about how to create folders, categories, and rules for Outlook PC. But if you’re looking for a different email service or Outlook web version, check out our other blog posts that are specific to those. (Gmail and Outlook for web) 

1. Folders
2. Categories
3. Rules

Folders

Folders are helpful because they move emails into a separate space to help you chip away at your ever-growing inbox.

To create a folder:

1. Go to the “folder” tab at the top of the page next to “file” “home” “send/receive”.
2. There is a “new folder” button on the far left. Click and create.

However, there is a second way.

1. Right-click your email-account on the side menu and select “new folder”.

Tip: If you want to make a subfolder, right-click on any existing folders and select “new folder”.

Categories

Categories are a more specific way of organizing your emails because they help you label your emails. For example, you receive an email that contains an important password. So you create a label named “password”, and that email will be highlighted so that, when you’re scrolling through your inbox, it stands out and you don’t miss it.

1. Click the “home” tab (same menu bar with the “folder” tab).
2. Select an email that you want to categorize
3. Then click the red flag called “tags” and select “categorize”
4. In the “categorize” tab, you can select a color that is already created, or you can click “all categories…” and rename or create your own category.

Rules

Rules are great for automatically sorting and assigning emails exactly where you want them. Create a rule and it will govern all future emails.

1. Right click on an email from your inbox, and towards the middle of the menu will be a button “Rules”
2. There you can create a new rule or chose one of the suggested actions.

If you have opened an email, then you can select, under the “home” tab, the button “move”. Then two options will appear “move” and “rules”, and there you can create new rules or apply already made rules.