After you finish processing your messages, you should have a clean Inbox and can switch your focus to your calendar and tasks. If you find that you are repeatedly applying the same categories and flags, create a new Quick Step that flags, categorizes, and files. Quick Steps give you the ability to perform multiple actions in one click. They are a useful tool to help you keep a clean inbox Fix Outlook Not Opening After Windows Update and to generally be more efficient at using Outlook.

How can I manage complicated tasks?

Fortunately, with Outlook, you can view multiple accounts simultaneously. In addition to your work email account (Exchange Server), you can add other accounts such as Outlook.com or Gmail to the same profile in Outlook. As you go through your task list and your calendar, do similar tasks together.

I have 10 minutes: What should I read first in my Inbox?

• In the days of "paper offices" (pre-computer age), we had 3 filing systems.
• For example, if you have only a few minutes, make all of your phone calls (if you have just a few).
• For example, there might be a lengthy series of messages where the last one simply states, "Thanks, that answers my question," so you can just delete the whole conversation.
• Rather than using Bcc to inform a third party of an issue, forward the message after you send it.
• Tackle energy-intensive tasks (for some, that might be responding to messages) when you have more energy.
• If you are taking notes or minutes for the meeting, you can also use OneNote to insert meeting details from Outlook into your notes.
• Categories aren’t a required aspect of this system, but they will make your life easier if you are diligent about using them.
• Use the Bcc feature to remove extra people from an email conversation when you deem that they no longer need the extra email or if the conversation topic has changed.

To do this, select the Recurrence button and change the end date. If you find that you are often performing searches across your whole mailbox, you can set the default search scope to always search across all folders by going to the Backstage view. All search terms are additive, so if you want to find a message from someone with attachments, select the commands on the ribbon (From, Has Attachments) to build your search.

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Messages to a Contact Group that only occasionally contain useful or interesting content, regardless of frequency, should have a rule and a folder. It’s a best practice to have a central repository for your messages, so that you can refer to them after repair corrupted OST in Outlook you've "dealt" with them. The Navigation Pane folder list should be reserved for folders you use often. If it's filled with folders you don't even recognize, move all mail into the reference folder and delete your existing folders.

Advanced: How do I create a Search Folder for email messages?

I don't manage his inbox but I did help FixTechGuide login issue guide him get the Stack method set up and he's blown away by how awesome it is, so now thinks I'm an Outlook wizard. I'm decent but certainly not an expert - so I figure before I actually lead a training I should brush up. It’s liberating to depend on Outlook instead of your overtaxed brain to keep track of your tasks.



This is a simple feature that is perfect for any professional who is constantly in and out of meetings every day. If possible, keep your personal and business tasks in one place. Keeping one list reduces the number of places that you need to look for what needs to be done. Even if you already have only one list, use categories to sort your personal from business tasks and manage your list effectively. Your personal tasks will be stored on your company's Exchange Server and could be visible to your IT department, so only put appropriate personal tasks on your list.



For example, there might be a lengthy series of messages where the last one simply states, "Thanks, that answers my question," so you can just delete the whole conversation. Sometimes you can’t find a message by only searching in your reference folder alone — it could be a message that you sent or it could have been misfiled. In these cases, start by searching in any folder (Inbox, 1-Reference, etc.), then select the drop down menu from the search box, and then select Current Mailbox. The reality is that if you have a day filled with meetings, you have less time to complete tasks and write messages, so move tasks to other days. The goal of organizing your Outlook is to reduce the amount of unnecessary "noise" in your Inbox and to make the most important items bubble to the top.