Organising your Outlook folders efficiently can significantly enhance your email management and productivity. By following best practices, you can ensure that important messages are easily accessible and your inbox remains clutter-free.

 

  1. Inbox:
    • Conversations View: This view groups related messages together, making it easier to follow email threads.
    • Automatic Formatting: Highlight messages sent only to you by setting up conditional formatting rules. This helps prioritise emails that require your direct attention.
  2. Reference Folder:
    • Naming Convention: Prefix the folder name with "1-" to keep it at the top of your folder list.
    • Auto-Archive: Set the folder to auto-archive annually to keep it from getting cluttered. This can be done by right-clicking the folder, selecting "Properties," and then configuring the auto-archive settings.
  3. Personal Folder:
    • Career-Related and Private Messages: Use this folder to store emails related to your career development, personal projects, and private communications.
    • Management Folder: Managers can create a "3-Management" folder for storing employee feedback and other management-related emails.
    • Auto-Archive: Similar to the Reference folder, set these folders to auto-archive annually.
  4. Contact Group Folders:
    • Top-Level Folder: Create a top-level folder named "Contact Groups" under your Inbox.
    • Subfolders: Create subfolders for each contact group (e.g., "Team A," "Project X").
    • Auto-Archive: Set these subfolders to auto-archive every six months or more frequently if needed, depending on the volume of emails.
  5. RSS Feeds:
    • Automatic Folders: Use the folders automatically created for RSS feeds. These folders don't need to be read urgently, so you can review them at your convenience.
  6. Search Folders:
    • Custom Search Folders: Create custom search folders to gather emails based on specific criteria (e.g., emails from a particular sender, emails with attachments).
    • High Volume: Especially useful if you receive a large volume of messages, as search folders can help you quickly find important emails without manually sorting through your inbox.
  7. Favorites:
    • Important Folders: Add frequently accessed folders like Inbox, 1-Reference, Sent Items, and Deleted Items to your Favorites for easy access.
    • Customisation: Customise your Favorites list based on your workflow and the folders you access most often.