Sorting, searching and filtering emails When handling emails it is often necessary to find a certain message or type of message from your mail. As your inbox fills up, it can become more difficult to pick out the messages you want. Outlook provides search tools that enable you to sort, filter and search your emails, to find these messages more easily and quickly. Sorting your messages Usually your emails will be sorted by date, so that the newest messages appear at either the top or bottom of your inbox. This makes it easiest to find the most recent emails. It is possible to sort your inbox and other folders by characteristics of the emails you have received. For example, you might want to sort your messages by size, to determine which ones you can delete to free up space in your mailbox, or by category, to see messages relating to a particular project. Your inbox is divided into columns to show the sender, subject, date and size of the message. To sort by any of these, click on the field column header at the top of the column. This will sort your emails into alphabetical or number order, for the column you have chosen. Usually the email that was selected when you sorted your messages will still be on the screen, so you may need to scroll up or down to get to the start or end of your messages. To reverse the order of the sort, click the field column header again. Your messages are displayed in columns showing message information such as the sender s name and the subject This is a field column header click here to sort messages according to the information in this column, and click again to reverse the order
Filtering your messages When you apply a filter to your email, you will only be able to see messages that meet the filter criteria. The other messages will only reappear when you turn the filter off. There are several pre-set filters in Outlook that you can use. To apply a pre-set filter: Click on the filter button on the home tab of the ribbon Choose a filter criterion from the menu This will filter the messages and also open the search tools. The search bar will appear at the top of the folder. To remove the filter, click close search. Click filter email Choose a filter option from the menu You will only see messages which meet the selected filter in this instance messages without attachments are hidden The search tools will show on the ribbon The search bar will appear at the top of the folder Click close search to remove the filter
Using multiple filters You can filter on more than one filter by using the search tools. To do this, first filter your messages by one of the filter options, and then choose additional filters from the search tools tab of the ribbon. You can pick more than one filter at once using these buttons Only items that meet all the defined filters will show here Other filters You can filter your messages on criteria other than those shown in the filter email menu or on the search tools ribbon. To filter on other criteria: Click the filter email button on the home tab of the ribbon Choose more filters from the menu this opens the search tools Click the more button on the search tab Choose a criterion from the menu a box for more detail may appear in the search bar Fill in any extra details required by typing into the search bar Your messages will be filtered as you type. You can add further criteria in the same way, and more boxes will appear in the search bar. To remove a filter, click the X next to the filter box. To filter by other criteria, click the filter email button and choose more filters
In the search tools, click the more button Choose a filter from the menu A box will appear in the search bar where you can enter details for each filter You may have an arrow at the end of the box allowing you to choose details from a list Adding further filters will give you more boxes To remove a filter, click the X at the end of the line
Searching for messages Within Outlook, you can search for specific messages. To do this, click in the search box that is at the top of your inbox and other folders. Next, type the keyword or words, which you want to search for, into the box. Finally, click on the magnifying glass in the search field, or press the enter key on your keyboard, to check your mail for messages containing the keyword/s. Your inbox will be filtered so that only items that contain the keyword/s in the To or From fields, subject or message text will be shown. Where the keyword appears, it will be highlighted in yellow. To return to your unfiltered messages, click on the X next to the search box, or click the close search button on the ribbon. Click here and type in a word to search your email Use the search button to begin searching your email for the keyword Choose which folder to search here Where your keyword appears in a message it will be highlighted in yellow To return to your unfiltered folder, click the X or the close search button