How to Sort Emails in Microsoft Outlook 365 

Are you tired of clutter in your Outlook 365 mailbox? If you have been using Outlook for some time, chances are high that your inbox has become rather difficult to navigate. That can have a negative impact on your business. If you don’t sort out your mailbox, you could very well end up missing some important messages from clients. Fortunately, there are steps that you can take to filter your emails in Outlook for a cleaner inbox.  

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How to filter emails in Outlook 

Not all of the emails that people get in their inboxes are of equal importance. It’s crucial, therefore, to be able to filter your messages by order of priority. That becomes even more important as your business grows.  Fortunately, there are ways of filtering your message. You can do so by the sender or based on the subject line.  

Filter messages by sender 

To begin with, you can filter items in Outlook 365 based on the sender. If you do this, messages from a particular sender will be sent automatically to your chosen folder. The following is how to do it;  

1. First, you need to create a new Folder. 
2. Give the Folder a name. An example is “Not urgent.” You want to put into this folder messages that do not necessarily spam, but ones that you only wish to check out every once in a while.
3.  Once the folder is created under your email, you can drag it to your Favorites area. 
4. Next, you need to identify messages that you deem to be not urgent. You can do this by opening your Inbox. 
5. If there is a message that you wish to send to the Not urgent folder, simply right-click on it and scroll down to Rules.
6. Click on Always Move Messages from (Sender name). 
7. Now you can choose where you wish messages from the particular sender to go. In this instance, we wish to have messages automatically sent to the Not urgent folder. Choose that and click on Ok. 
8. Now all emails from your chosen sender will be sent to the chosen folder, including ones that were already in your mailbox.  

Filter based on the subject line 

Alternatively, it’s possible to filter items in Outlook based on the subject line. Perhaps there is a subject that’s not urgent. As an example, you could be getting newsletters from different companies. These emails can clatter your Mailbox, preventing you from seeing messages that are more important. The following is how to sort emails based on the subject line;  

1. Open your inbox in Outlook. 
2. Right-click on a message containing the subject that you wish to automatically filter to another folder.  
3. Click on Rules. 
4. Click on Create Rule.  
5. Select the Subject contains. 
6. Type in the words that you wish to serve as triggers. These words appear in the subject line of emails. As an example, you may choose “Newsletter,” as the trigger. Type this in. 
7. Under Do the following, click on Move the item to folder.  
8. Choose the Not urgent folder that you have just created. You can also choose to move the message to any other folder. As an example, you could have created a Newsletter folder where you wish to have all such messages automatically conveyed.
9. When done click on Ok. 
10. You have the option to run the rule now so it applies to messages that are already in your inbox.  

See the total number of items 

One thing that you will notice after creating a particular folder as part of the process of sorting out your Outlook mailbox is that the new folder defaults to showing the number of unread items. If you have read all the emails there, then you will see no number.  

That usually works in that you are usually only interested in the emails that you have not read. However, some people prefer to see the total number of messages that they have. The good thing is that this is a very easy feature to change on all your folders.  

All that you need to do is to click on the folder in question and then choose Properties. In Properties, you will see that the default is to show the number of unread items. Choose Show total number of items and click on Ok. The total number of items is shown in square brackets.   

Why filter emails in Outlook 365?  

That’s how to sort emails in Microsoft Outlook 365 for a cleaner mailbox. But why would you go through the trouble? Well, depending on the nature of your business, dealing with emails can take hours out of your day.  

It’s important to sort things out so that you can prioritize what is important. As an example, you may wish to have unread emails always appear on top. That way, you will not miss out on important correspondences.  

Having a cleaner Mailbox allows you to deal with more important things, rather than spending all your time going through your mail. Applying the above rules means messages are automatically directed to the appropriate folders. This helps de-clutter your Inbox.  

About Author

Troy Adams

Troy Adams is the Managing Director of Crossware Mail Signature, the most trusted email signature solution. Troy is also a tech investor, director of companies like GRT, Boost, Hakkasan, Novikov and more. Being a curious tech enthusiast, Troy is passionate about providing innovative solutions that are driven by value and growth in multiple industries.

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