Email folders Outlook uses a series of folders such as the inbox, outbox, drafts and sent items to sort your email into collections according to the status of the message. If the folders which are already set up do not allow you to manage your email in the way you want to, you can set up new folders instead, and then move your emails into them either manually or using rules. For example, you might want to create a folder to collect together all emails relating to a particular project or subject. Creating a new folder To set up a new folder for your email: Right-click on your email address in the navigation pane Choose new folder from the menu this opens the create new folder dialogue box Type in a name for the new folder Make sure the folder contains box says mail and post items Choose a location for the folder you can just select your email address here unless you are creating a subfolder Click OK To create a new folder, right-click on your email address Choose new folder from the menu
Type a name for your new folder here For an email folder, leave this set to mail and post items Select your email address to create a folder or choose a different location Click the white arrows to see more possible locations for your new folder Click OK to finish creating your folder The folder will then be created and will show in the navigation pane. The order of folders is as follows: Inbox Drafts Sent items Deleted items All other folders within your mailbox sorted alphabetically The top four folders are pre-set by Outlook Your folder will appear in this section, sorted alphabetically with the other folders
Creating subfolders You can further sort your email within your existing folders by creating subfolders. To create a subfolder within one of your folders: Right-click on the folder in which you want to place a subfolder Choose new folder - this opens the create new folder dialogue box Type in a name for the new folder Make sure the folder contains box says mail and post items Check that the folder you want to put the subfolder into is selected as the location Click OK To add a subfolder inside one of your folders, right-click on the folder you will put the subfolder into Choose new folder from the menu Type in a name for your new subfolder Check this still says mail and post items The folder into which the subfolder will be placed should be selected here
Your new subfolder will be placed into the folder you have specified. As with folders, subfolders always appear in alphabetical order in the navigation pane. The new subfolder will appear within the specified folder subfolders will be listed alphabetically here Moving folders You can move folders in the navigation pane to change their location. Subfolders can be moved out of the folders they are in to become main folders, and folders can be moved into other folders to become subfolders. To move a folder, click on it in the navigation pane and drag it to the folder you want it to be inside. If you want it to be a main folder not a subfolder, drag it onto your email address at the top of the list. A blue bar will show you where your folder will end up when you release the mouse. To move a folder, click on it and drag it to another location within your mailbox If you do not want the folder you are moving to be inside another folder, drag it up to your email address at the top This bar shows you where the folder will end up when you release the mouse
Renaming a folder To change the name of any of your folders, right-click on it and choose rename folder from the menu. You can then type in a new name for your folder. Press enter to keep the new name you have chosen or escape to cancel the changes. To rename a folder, right-click on it and choose rename folder from the menu Type in a new name for the folder, then press enter to accept it Deleting a folder To remove a folder from your mailbox, right-click on it and choose delete from the menu. If you use this method to delete a folder, you will receive a warning that you are about to remove the folder. Click Yes to proceed or No to cancel. The folder and any emails stored in it will be moved into your deleted items folder.
To delete a folder, right-click on the folder name and choose delete folder from the menu To delete the folder and all its contents, click Yes You can also delete folders by clicking on them in the navigation pane and dragging them to the deleted items folder. Using this method, you will not be warned that you are deleting your messages. You can also delete folders by clicking and dragging them to the deleted items folder you will not be warned that you are deleting your emails