Eventually, we can all feel a bit overwhelmed with the quantity of email received each day. Email concerning all different areas of our lives: instructional, department, campus, union, and personal issues all amassing in one place.
To better organize and manage your email messages, you can set up multiple folders and create filters to "sort" your incoming messages so that Outlook automatically delivers them to the correct folder.
Here's what it may look like when you're done:
In the above example, I've organized my folders to manage my most active accounts involving people and current projects. For example, Diane is my supervisor and, therefore, I want to give special attention to requests I receive from her. I've moved a current project Kronos toward the top by naming it 1Kronos. When the project is completed, I could either delete it and the messages within, or I could rename it "ZKronos" to move it closer to the bottom.
By having these separate folders, I don't have to sift through 58 messages in my general Inbox when someone drops by and asks a question about the Kronos project. I simply go right to my Kronos folder.
You can create as many folders as you want and name them in a descriptive fashion for easy reference. They can even be used for short-term projects such as "Research Paper". After the assignment, you can delete the folder, messages and all, or archive the folder.
To create a folder:
Right-click on the Inbox (Control-click on Macs) and select New Folder. Type in a descriptive name for this new folder and click OK. Your new folder will now appear beneath your Inbox in the folder list.
Outlook allows you to create filters (rules) based on the sender (your supervisor or your class distribution list, for instance), the recipient (was the message addressed to you alone, or to a whole list?), and the subject. Outlook also allows other criteria to be used as well, such as the date sent or whether the message has an attachment.
Most email programs also allow you to filter based on partial words. If you've been receiving a number of annoying emails, all sharing ".email.net" in the sender portion, you could create a folder to filter those emails in a folder called "suspected spam".
Scenario: I want to create a rule that will filter all email from Bonnie Laundrie and send those messages to a folder called '2Bonnie".
1. Create the folder "2Bonnie" in the Inbox.
2. From the Inbox window, select Tools, Organize.
, then Rules Wizard.
3. From the Rules Wizard window, select New.
4. From the "Which type of rule do you want to create?" window, select Check messages when they arrive. Click on Next.
5. Place a check next to "from people or distribution list" (1). Remember that we are filtering all emails from Bonnie Laundrie in this example. Then click on the underlined section: people or distribution list (2).
Note: Another popular choice here is "with specific words in the sender's address". For example: you might like to filter all emails coming from UW Madison into one folder. (see below)
6. In this step you will select the name (Bonnie Laundrie) from the global address book, and then click on OK to close the address book. Click on Next to continue with the Rules Wizard.
7. Where do you want to move this message? Check the box next to "move it to the specified folder" (1). Then click on the underlined word specified in the lower window. (2).
8. Highlight the folder where messages that match this criteria should be moved. (In this example, messages from Bonnie Laundrie should be moved to the Folder named 2Bonnie.) Click on OK to accept and close this window. Click on Next to continue.
9. The next step involves Exceptions. Click on Next.
Note: In most cases, this step can be skipped. However, there may be times when you would NOT want this email to be filtered? This might be the case if you create a rule that filters messages to the Deleted Items folder. You may want to have a closer look at these exceptions before they are deleted.
10. Give your new rule a name and turn it on. This rule will now be applied to all new emails received. If you would like Outlook to run the rule on messages already in the Inbox, then check both boxes. Click on Finish.
1. Create a folder in the Inbox by selecting File, New, Folder... from Outlook's main menu. In the Create New Folder window, type in a name for the folder and click on the Inbox folder to Select where to place the folder. Click on OK.
2. Again from the main menu, select Tools, Rules. From the Rules window, select Add Rule. Click OK.
3. From the Edit Rule window, type in the name (I typed in 'laun') of the sender in the From box and your name in the Sent to box. Click on Check Names to find the correct names.
4. In the lower section of the same window, check the box next to 'Move to'. Next click on Folder, and point to the folder you created in Step 1. Click OK to close the 'Move Message to' window.
5. The completed window should look similar to the example shown below. Click OK to close this window.
6. The rule is checked, meaning it is turned on and running. This rule will now be applied as messages arrive in your Inbox. Notice that this window is also used to edit, delete or turn off a rule.
Whether you are a Macintosh or Windows user, your email messages will now be filtered as you have specified. This will provide you with a more organized method of responding to email requests.
