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 disable faulty add-ins in Outlook and to generally be more efficient at using Outlook.

How can I manage complicated tasks?

In these cases, reply and include the person you're delegating the message to on the To line. If you find you're doing this often, consider creating a Quick Step that replies and adds the delegated person to the To line. If you need it as reference (even if you have decided to defer it), move it into your reference folder.

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

• If your corporate policy dictates that you have multiple folders for each type of item, follow that policy.
• Looking at the whole picture of your time and your tasks will help you to prioritize important work over less urgent tasks.
• Search folders are useful for gathering information from across different mail and RSS folders.
• You can’t read every message you receive — nor should you try to.
• The tool that you use to collaborate during a meeting depends on the location and access of your participants.
• The Room Finder pane contains suggested times for the best time for your meeting (when most attendees are available).

After you process your messages, you can tackle your task list. This is when you respond to those messages that you have deferred. Sometimes you receive a message that is really meant for someone else to deal with.

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The Bcc recipient might not realize that he or she has received flush DNS and re-sync Outlook a Bcc and might respond to everyone, exposing that he or she received a Bcc message. The following rules will help you look professional and get your message across. To find a message with an attachment, select the Search box and on the Search tab, select Has Attachments. Or, start by typing the name in the Search box, and then press the down arrow key to select From to narrow the results. After you have processed your messages, the best place to do work in Outlook (reply to messages and so on) is in Tasks. By switching to Tasks, you won’t be distracted by messages arriving in your Inbox.

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

To apply the "Work Less" theory, have Outlook automatically file an email. Then you can read them all at one time without distraction. If you just want to remember a few related tasks, list them in Fix Outlook and Office 365 Errors 2025 the body of the task. If you have more than 20 items in your Inbox, process the last week of messages and then select the remaining messages and move them to your 1-Reference folder.

Recommended Reads

Some people try to use the read and unread states to indicate whether a message is new or a reference item. Inevitably, messages will be reread, and the mental tax of figuring out what you need to do will be paid again. A far more efficient Inbox plan is to go through your messages and decide what to do with each one.



Let rules help you to read what is most interesting and pertinent to you. Read and unread states in Outlook help by showing you quickly which messages have been read at least once and which have not. However, the read and unread states of messages can be easily be triggered by clicking around your messages so they aren’t a perfect record — just a tool.