Office 2013: The Missing Manual

Chapter 13. Getting Organized with Folders

Outlook is built on folders. No matter what you’re working with—an email message, a contact, a task, or an appointment—it gets stored in a folder. Learn how folders work in Outlook and you’ll work faster and more efficiently.

This chapter covers how to find folders in Outlook’s Navigation pane, how to create and manage folders, and how to move items between folders. It’s also got techniques to make working with folders easier: Categories help you organize items within folders; customizing Outlook’s panes puts folder items at your fingertips; and search techniques zero in on what you’re looking for, no matter what folder it’s in. Finally, because virtual folders can fill up and get messy just as fast as their physical counterparts, the chapter closes by showing how to clean out your Outlook folders and archive their information.

Finding Folders in the Navigation Pane

Outlook’s Navigation bar is the place to go when you’re looking for a folder. The bottom part of the bar shows Outlook’s main offerings: Mail, Calendar, People, and Tasks. Click any of these links to open that folder and the items it holds.

Whichever part of Outlook you’re in, the top part of the Navigation bar displays an All Folders link. Click it to see all of the folders and subfolders in the part of Outlook you’re currently using. When you’re working in the Mail folder, for example, you’ll see main folders for each of your email accounts, along with subfolders like these: Inbox, ...