Inspired by my achievement this week where I reduced the number of emails in my inbox from over 1,000 down to 296, I thought it would be a great idea to touch on the processes of how to create folders in Outlook.

I asked the question online, “how many emails in your inbox?” and I received mixed responses. There was one clear winner with 91,097 unread emails in their iPhone inbox. WOW. Side note: Apple, take note and give us a “Delete All” option.

Email management on those very convenient, but sometimes life interrupting smartphones, is a whole different article. However, managing the hundreds, or thousands of emails you receive into your computer’s inbox is equally as important. A tidy inbox can ensure your day to day tasks are organised and easy to identify. (I need to take my own advice!)

So along those lines let’s now look at how you can create folders in Outlook (or any email client for that fact) and keep your inbox in tip-top shape.

Let’s create folders in Outlook

  1. Firstly open Microsoft Outlook and display your Inbox
  2. On the left-hand side within the Folder Pane, you will see your email Mailbox containing folders such as the Inbox, Drafts, Sent Items, Outbox etc.
  3. I have seen many people just start creating folders directly within the main mailbox directory. It ends up getting quite large and difficult to manage. Another option is to create a main folder which will then hold all the sub-folders you wish to store content in. Think of it as creating the filing cabinet first and then within that we create draws and folders.
  4. At the top of the mailbox you will see either your name or your email address:

  1. Select the Folder tab from the Ribbon and click the New Folder command
  2. The Create New Folder dialog box will appear:
  1. In the Name field type the name of your main folder so you can easily locate it E.g. Files, Cabinet, Emails, essentially whatever you’d like to call your storage area
  2. Leave the Folder contains setting as Mail and Post Items
  3. From the Select where to place the folder section, select your name or email address which should be the first item in the list
  4. Click OK
  5. You should now see the new folder within your mailbox items list (I named my folder Cabinet)
  6. Repeat the process to now create folders withinyour storage folder. I would create a folder for The Training Lady, Training Courses, Correspondance, To Do etc where I can sort and store emails in a relevant location should I need to look back on them in the future
  7. To move emails from your inbox simply drag and drop them into the folder you wish to store them in