76. Resident Exclusive Miniseries- Email Organization in Outlook

In this episode, Jason Prado, a Tech@Home technician, shares practical tips and techniques for efficiently managing and organizing your Outlook email inbox. The discussion covers features like sorting, filtering, pins, flags, archives, groups, and folders.

Highlights include:

• Sorting and Filtering: Learn to prioritize emails based on criteria like date, sender, importance, and more, distinguishing between sorting (rearranging) and filtering (viewing specific subsets).
• Pins and Flags: Use pins to keep important emails at the top of your inbox and flags to mark emails for follow-up with a visual cue.
• Archiving: Discover how to declutter your inbox by moving emails to an archive folder while retaining access for future reference.
• Groups: Facilitate collaboration and mass communication by creating shared folders and email lists for teams, projects, or communities.
• Folders: Organize emails by sender, topic, or keyword, creating custom folders for streamlined email management.

With step-by-step demonstrations and actionable insights, this episode equips listeners with tools to improve productivity and make email management a breeze. Jason concludes with encouragement to apply these strategies for a more organized digital workspace.

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Transcript

Hello there. My name is Jason Prado and I am a Tech@Home technician based in Muskego, Wisconsin. Thank you for joining me today in this presentation about Outlook email organization. I'll be going over some tips and tricks that I hope you will find helpful when it comes to organizing your inboxes and emails.

As I mentioned in the first slide, today's presentation will be about Microsoft Outlook. It's possible you might be familiar with this platform already if you currently use or have used Outlook for your emails. So before we get started, here's the agenda for today's presentation. Outlook provides some useful features that will hopefully help keep your inboxes organized.

Some of these features include sorting and filtering, pins and flags, archives, groups. And folders in each of these sections, I will have a demo [00:01:00] so I can showcase how each of the functions work. First we'll be going over sorting and filtering. Sorting lets you order emails based on the criteria shown here. In order to go to sorting in your inbox, you will find these little arrows, these little icons Once you press that, you will get the criteria to sort your emails. some of the criteria are date from category, size, importance and subject.

when you choose the criteria, you also have the option to change the sort order. for date, you can change the sort order based on oldest on top or newest on top. next one, we'll go over filtering. So filtering will only show emails based on the criteria shown here in the second photo.

So in order to start filtering your emails, it'll be right next to a sort button [00:02:00] and the button kind of looks like three little lines. Once you press on that, you'll get the criteria to to filter your emails. So some of the options you have are all on red flagged, To me has files, mentions me and calendar invites.

So the two are pretty similar. However, the main difference between sorting and filtering is that sort will sort your emails based on their criteria. And filtering will only show the emails based on the criteria here. For example, right now our emails are filtered by all. So that means it will be showing all of our emails.

If you choose unread, then the filter will only show unread emails. So any emails that you have read will not be shown while that filter is on. And then same with the other options here. Your email will be filtered based on the you choose.

[00:03:00] All right. let's get started with the demo.

All right. So now we're going to be going over the demo on sorting and filtering. So we have my inbox here. Now if you go to our inbox, we have the two buttons right here. Sort and filter. So if we go to sort, press on here, then we have the options here. So we have a sort by date. So right now for date, it's a sort.

The sort order is newest on top. So we'll be having our most current emails at the top here. And if I choose oldest on top, then we'll be getting my oldest emails. So if you see here now, the date is back in July 27th of 2023. Now, if we go back to newest on top. Now we'll have our most recent emails again, and then you also have the other options here.

So you have from, so this will be sorting emails based on the sender. In this case the sender is Aldi you can change the sort order here [00:04:00] from A to Z or Z to A. And if I go to Z to A, it'll have the, it'll have the sender that has that's closest to Z. And in this case, we have TLDR, and that is the closest to Z.

Then you have categories. In this case, I don't have any set. Then you have sort by size, and this will sort your emails based on how large the emails are. So let's say someone sends you attachments like pictures and videos. It's possible that email will probably have the largest on top.

And then you have importance. So depending on how your emails are set up, you can have emails set by the most important or the most important. And then finally, you have the subject. You can show your emails based on the subject line. Let's go back to date. And now we have filter here. So if we go to filter, we can see different filters we have.

So right now we're showing all of our emails. And then if we go to [00:05:00] unread it'll only show emails that are unread. In my case, a lot of these are unread so far. So I'm just going to read these as if I did open and read them. All right, so now these are read, and if we go to filter and go to unread.

You'll notice that they're not here anymore. So that means we are filtering based on unread emails. Alright, and then you have all these other options here if you want to change the filter of your emails.

Alright, now we're gonna go over pins and flags. Outlook has features called pins and flags. So pins will allow you to move specific emails to the top of your inbox. No matter where the email is in your inbox. So this is pretty useful for important emails or emails that you want to follow up on or emails that you just want visible right away when you open up your emails.

And next one you can [00:06:00] flag your emails. And what flagging is flagging is a little different from pins in that it doesn't put your emails at top, but it will mark your emails with a little flag and change the color of it. So that way you're able to find it. So this is also useful for important emails or emails you want to follow up on.

So when you go into your inbox, we have an example of a email here. And if you see right here, you have the little pin. So that's how you will pin an email. So you just press on that. And then right away, your email would be at the top of your inbox. And then you also have the little flag here, which is how you will flag an email.

And then when you press that, the flag will turn red and your email will turn to a slightly different color in my case. Mine is yellow.

All right. So now let's get to the demo.

. So now we're back in my inbox. So first off, let's start with [00:07:00] pins. So what I'm going to do is I'm going to scroll down pretty far here. And I am going to find a random email in this case, let's go to this email right here. So this is from target all the way back from looks like November 21st.

So if I pin this, you'll notice that it disappeared. Let's pin another one. So I'm going to pin this one back from November 16th. You notice again, it looks like it disappeared. However, if I scroll back all the way up in my inbox, You notice that the two emails that I just pinned will now be up here, and you'll notice that the pin is now highlighted in blue and that's how you know that the email is pinned.

And then let's say you are finished with the emails and you no longer want them pinned. You can just go to the pin and unpin and same with this one. And now those will be sent back to the original place that they were in your inbox. And then now [00:08:00] let's go to flagging. So for the first email, we'll just use this as the example.

We're going to press this. And then now you notice there's a little red flag on there and which indicates that is now flag. And it also, if you notice here now, as as I stopped hovering over it, it is like a little tint of yellow, which means that it is flag. And. That's just there to help you find it if you ever need to find it again.

And then, let's find another one to flag. Let's say, we're gonna flag this specific Kohl's one. Let's flag this one right here too. And you notice, these two are both yellow now. It'll indicate that these are flagged. However, they will not be at the top of our inbox like pins are.

All right. Now we'll be looking at the archive feature in Outlook. So what archiving does is move your email from your inbox to your archive folder. [00:09:00] Archiving allows for you to save important emails without having them show up in your inbox. So if you ever want to find the email again, you can either search for it in the search bar, or you can go straight to the archives folder here.

So if we go into our email, so let's say We're selecting this specific email here. You'll find the archive button right at the top. And if you press on that, It'll send it directly into the archives folder right here, and the archives folder will be located in the folders section, right? And then let's get to the demo on archiving and email.

Now we're back in my inbox. So let's go find an email that we want to archive. So let's say that We found this specific email very important. We don't want to delete it, and we want to keep it, but also keep it away from our inbox in case for some reason we accidentally [00:10:00] delete it.

So what we're gonna do here, we're gonna highlight the email, and then up here we have the little archive button. So we're gonna press this button, and then if you notice that it moved the email entirely, so it'll no longer be shown in our inbox, but it will be shown right here. In the archives folder. So if we go into here now, the email will be sitting in this area.

And then let's go and find another email here. Let's say we find this email important right here. Since this one is flagged, let us archive this. And let's say we also find this flagged email here. Also important. We'll also archive it. Now you notice they're no longer in our inbox here.

And if we go into our archives, Now we'll find those flagged emails in our archive folder.

All right, now next feature we'll go over our groups. So groups can be used for collaboration and sending out mass emails. So a group allows you to add [00:11:00] multiple users into a single folder where any member of that group is able to see that folder. Some use cases for groups would be for if you have group projects, family members, friends and even neighbors.

So essentially a group will let you send emails to everyone in the group all at once without having to continually add each recipient. In the 2 spot every member of the group will have access to all the emails and files pertaining to that group itself. How do we create a group? To create a group, you will need to go to groups here.

You have the groups section here. And underneath that, you have new group. You press on new group. Once you press on new group, then you will be greeted with this window here. At the top here, you have the group name which you can choose to name your group, anything you want in this.

In my case, I'm going to name my group test group [00:12:00] just to create a test group and then underneath that you have the description and in the description, you'll have the option to describe your group so that everyone knows what the group is about. And then once you're done setting those, You can press create and your group will be created and then at the right side of that you have discard.

So if you accidentally press the new group button by accident, you can just discard and not create that group.

All right. So once your group is created, you'll get this other window here where you can start to add members to your group. So to add members you'll go up here to add members and start typing in the names or emails of the people you want to add to that group. Right away you don't have to add members to your group immediately.

 If you don't want to or need to at the moment, you can press not now. And your group will still be created. And you can always have people to your groups later on. And then let's say you did add members to your group. [00:13:00] Once you're done adding those members, you can press add, and those people will now be part of your group.

All right, so then let's say our group is finished. Now in groups here, you'll find your group here. So in my case, we have test group. If you press on that. Then we have this section up here that has all the settings for our group. So it's pretty similar to a normal inbox except you have the settings up here where it'll have your group name How many members there are?

Send email which will send an email to everyone in that group And you have a little attachment button here where you can send an attachment to everyone in the group And then you have the options button over there to change any options you want in your group. And then you have your inbox here, which will be the shared inbox with everyone in that group.

So then what's nice about a group is once you [00:14:00] start composing emails you can just add the name of your group to the two section and it'll populate itself and we'll send an email to everyone. That's part of your group. All right, let's get to the groups demo.

All right. So now we're back in my inbox. Once we're here, we're going to scroll down here and find groups, and now we're going to press new group. All right. So now we're greeted with this window here where we can start to create our group. So group name. We're going to choose our group name. In my case, I'm just going to call it test group.

And then now we have the description right here where we can describe the group. So then everyone is part of it and knows what it's about. And in my case, I'm just going to call. I'm just going to say this is a Test Group and then now we're going to go down here and press create.[00:15:00] 

Now we have this new window here where we're able to add members to our group. So if we go in here and add members, then we can start typing out the names of the people we want to add or the email addresses. Once we're finished with adding them here, we can press the add button down here and then we will add those new members to our group.

In my case, I'm not going to add anyone right now. So I'm just going to press not now. All right. And now our group should be created. So what I'm going to do is refresh the page.

Then if we go down here, we have our test group and press on this. And now we have the inbox for our test group. So we have test group here, which is the name of my group. And we have one member, which currently is just me. And then we have the option to send emails send attachments and [00:16:00] files and a group calendar.

And then now we have our inbox here, which everyone in that group will be able to access. And let's say we want to add more members to our group here by pressing on test group, and then going to members right here. So if we go to members, then we have right here at members. I'm not going to add anyone just because I have no one to add at the moment, but yeah, if you wanted to add more members, you would press on this and then type in the names and email addresses of people you want to add, and then they'll be added to your group.

But yeah, otherwise if you wanted to send an email to everyone in our group, we'd press here, send email. Press that. And if you notice up here in the two section, we have test group, which is a name burn group. Once we send out an email here, it'll send an email to everyone in the group. And like I said earlier, this is nice for [00:17:00] collaboration and nice to send out emails to lots of people all at once.

All right. And then finally, we'll be going over folders. So creating and using folders is a great way to organize your emails. You can use folders to organize your emails based on the sender, topic, or even keywords. For example, let's say that we want all of our emails from our boss to go into a specific folder.

So what we could do is create a folder titled boss. And start adding emails from boss just to that folder. And then you can do that for a lot of other things. So if you have a shop, like shopping, you can have a shopping folder and add all the emails from your favorite places in that folder.

 In your inbox here, in order to view the folders, you have your folders right here, and then if you scroll all [00:18:00] the way down, you'll have create new folder. And then from there, you can create your new folder. So if we press create new folder, then we'll get this option here.

And if you notice that it becomes a text box, and from there you can type in the name of the folder that you want to create in my case here. In this example, I created a folder for CNN news. And then once you're done with that, you can press the save button and then now it'll be part of your folders. So now we have my new folder here in CNN News.

Alright, so then we're going to get to the demo. Alright, let's get to starting folders.

Alright, once again, we're back in my inbox. to start creating new folders, we're going to go over here to folders, and then it looks a little different [00:19:00] now. So create a new folder. We're going to press the three dots right here and press create new folder. And then now we have a little text box here where we can start to create our, our folder and choose a name for it.

in my case, let's say we want to create a folder just for Kohl's. All right, and now we're gonna press save. And then now we have this new folder here for calls. If we go into it, it's currently empty, since we haven't added anything to it yet. let's go back to the inbox start adding to the Kohl's folder here.

if you wanted to add it add any calls, emails to it, we're just gonna press on the email. And then up here we have the button move to. So if we press on that. then you'll have the option to move to any folder you want. And in this case, we're going to want to move it to a different folder here.

[00:20:00] Since we don't have the option of Kohl's yet, I'll press that. And then now if you see, we have our coals folder right here. So if you press on that, then the email that we just sent will be now in our calls folder. So if we go into the calls folder, notice now that email is in there. And then now let's say we want to add a few more.

Let's choose a few here. So I'm just going to press a little square here that lets you choose multiple. Since a lot of these are Kohl's emails, we're going to choose a few of them. All right. And then we're going to go back to Move To up here. And then since we chose calls before it should be an option right here, right away.

So we're going to press calls. If you notice, those emails have now moved. And now if we go to our calls folder, all those emails that we just sent will be now found here. Folders are a nice way to organize your emails [00:21:00] based on any subject, sender, or topic that you can think of.

This concludes the presentation on organizing your emails, specifically Outlook emails. I hope that you learned something today that you're able to use these tips and tricks to organize your Outlook email. Again, thank you for watching and happy organizing.