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Sort Those Emails!

Are you one of those people who use Microsoft Outlook and have ended up with a bulging inbox, a stuffed full outbox and not much else? Do you find it difficult finding old emails in amongst the mayhem? Perhaps it’s time to tidy it all up a bit.

Folders Galore

The first thing to do is to create some new folders. You should think about creating different folders to suit your interests or the sort of emails you receive. Perhaps you may want to have some folders for certain people you correspond a lot with. To do this, right click on ‘Local Folders’ and select New Folder from the popup menu Enter the name you want the folder to be called and click on OK. You can repeat this for as many folders as you want.

You can also create folders within folders to create a hierarchy of folders and subfolders. You do this in almost the same way but by right clicking on an existing folder rather than ‘Local Folders’ before selecting New Folder.

If you only use AOL’s software, you can create different folders in much the same way although the exact method depends on which version of AOL’s software you use. Have a look at yours and see how it works.

Now you have some kind of structure, you can start to move all your existing emails from both your inbox and outbox to your newly created folders. This will make it a lot easier to track them down in future.

Now, how can you stop things getting out of hand again? By creating rules, that’s how. Rules automate the way Outlook handles new emails. It is quite a powerful feature and it’s well worth getting to grips with them.

Rules and Regulations

To create a new rule, go to the tools menu and select Message Rules and then Mail . Next, click on New.

The rule creation screen is very powerful and allows you to set up all kinds of powerful actions through a simple point and click interface. I have to take my hat off to Microsoft here, this is a really well designed system. You build up the rule by selecting from the various options and sub screens until you have a complete rule.

Rules can move messages to any folder you designate, forward them to other email addresses, send automatic replies and much more. They are particularly useful if you get things like newsletter emails. You can have them automatically moved to a dedicated folder that you can browse when you have more time. Finally, you can run each of the rules on existing messages so they don’t just have to work for new ones.

You can also create rules to try to head off some of the more obvious junk mail or spam you might receive. I have a few simple rules that look for bits of text like ‘XXX’ or ‘100% FREE’. Any emails that contain these phrases get marked as read and moved to the ‘Deleted Items’ folder. Whilst we’re on the subject, NEVER reply to any junk mails that claim to allow you to opt out from future mailings. This is just a scam to identify active email addresses that can then be sold for higher prices to other junk mail senders.

With a little planning and setting up you can soon have an efficient email system cutting down on the clutter and time wasting. Go and give it a go!