How To Clean Out Old Emails Outlook

If yous're overwhelmed by too much email in Microsoft Outlook, don't despair! We can show you how to get rid of email you don't desire by using filters, rules, folders, and Outlook's own Focused Inbox. As a bonus, we'll even show you lot how to use Gmail to manage your Outlook e-mail, too—it sounds weird, but it works. And, of form, nosotros'll show y'all to auto-delete and annal one-time e-mail.

We likewise have tips on how to get rid of spam in Outlook, and more Outlook tips to manage your inbox past categories. Simply for now, let'southward clean upwardly your inbox!

How to filter electronic mail in Outlook

Microsoft Outlook exists as both a standalone app within Microsoft 365, too as a web app. You can work within either, and your changes will propagate inside both versions. Unfortunately, the two differ from 1 another in both look and feel. Even worse (and yes, this is dumb), at that place are features that are bachelor in i Outlook app but non the other, meaning that you lot may need to shift back and along. We'll provide instructions for each.

What we're trying to accomplish is to create folders in which to grouping and store e-mail—both to have a substantial chunk out of your inbox, too as create an easy go-to location to notice that email in the hereafter. Merely we don't want to move every email manually; instead, we're going to utilise Outlook'southward born electronic mail rules system to automatically route e-mail into those folders and out of your manner.

How to create electronic mail folders in Outlook

First, think about what you lot'd like to store in each folder—perhaps all of the automated notifications from Facebook, for case, or emails from a specific contact. You can as well organize your Outlook inbox like Gmail does: creating folders for social notifications that you don't want to delete, but you don't want clogging your inbox, either.

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Microsoft Outlook for the Web offers the about user-friendly way to add together new folders. In one case created, y'all can elevate them effectually and organize them as you'd similar.

In the Outlook Web app, the process is simple: Click the New folder link at the lesser of the list of folders, mode downwards beneath your Inbox. If you want to create more than one, merely click the link over again.

In the Outlook desktop app, correct-click the name of your email accost (not the Inbox) and selectNew Folder. Outlook'south UI makes this unnecessarily difficult, and more oftentimes than not you'll end with a sub-folder in an odd spot. You may be better off opening the web app via the link to a higher place and performing this pace with the handy shortcut the Outlook web app provides.

Next, we're going to apply Outlook's rules system to organize your existing email automatically, as well as assign email to your new folders automatically as they come in.

How to make simple rules to filter electronic mail in Outlook

To go started, find i of those semi-spammy emails that'southward bottleneck your inbox: a notification from a social network account, for example. Information technology's like shooting fish in a barrel to place and blackball these offenders, especially because such notifications ordinarily come from the same electronic mail accost. (If information technology's spam, we can show y'all how to deal with information technology.)

In the Outlook desktop app: Correct-click an electronic mail, and so scroll down to Rules. In the drop-downwards card, selectAlways move messages from [email address], where the email address is the originating email address. Then select the folder where you want all hereafter email from that sender to get. The rule will execute, beginning the email cleanup process on that address alone.

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The nearly common email should exist what you lot apply quick rules to beginning. Once you click "Always Motion Letters From:" y'all'll be given a list of target folders to move the email to.

In the Outlook Web app: Right-click the email, so scroll downwards toMove > Move all messages from…Hither, you tin can tell Outlook to "Move all letters from the Inbox folder and whatsoever future messages" to whatever folder you lot'd like.

That should carve out a chunk of your inbox right there. But if filtering email past the sender alone isn't specific plenty, Outlook provides a much deeper rules organisation.

How to utilize Outlook Rules to filter email in Outlook

It's Outlook's Rules command that allows y'all to filter, not but past the originating email address, simply by important filters such as the sender'due south proper name, keywords in the subject line, keywords in the body of the email, and more.

In the Outlook desktop app, right-click any email and scroll downward once more to Rules. This time, clickCreate Rule.While the Create Dominion allows you to select from several options, you'll notice some shortcomings: in that location are no Boolean operators, for instance, so yous can't create a rule that triggers when "Facebook" OR "Twitter" OR "LinkedIn" is in the subject area line. Fortunately, the Advanced Options push button in the lower right opens up those options, with a large number of available weather condition which can as well be customized further. This is really where yous tin tailor Outlook'southward rules to your specific needs.

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Outlook's Rules allow for deep customization of various fields and categories.

In the Outlook Spider web app, you could click an individual email, and so scroll down toAdvanced actions > Create dominion. Only if y'all practice, Outlook locks you into creating rules for that specific electronic mail sender. Instead, click the gear-shaped Settings icon in the upper right of the master Inbox window, then theView all Outlook settings popular-upwardly box to create global rules for all of your email.

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The Settings carte for the Outlook Web app can be constitute to the far right, under the gear icon.

Navigate toMail service > Rules. Here's another example of Microsoft's inconsistent UI: If yous've made any rules in Outlook'southward desktop app, you'll be able to see them—but not edit them. Only y'all can create a new rule, name information technology, then proceed through a series of drop-downward boxes, adding conditions and exceptions to fine-melody your rules.  Finally, there's an option to "Finish processing more rules," which simply gives that particular rule top priority in case there'due south a disharmonize with another rule.

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The Microsoft Outlook spider web app provides a rather lovely, straightforward UI for creating rules for your email.

How to block email in Outlook

Automatically routing electronic mail is ane thing; blocking, deleting, and auto-archiving email is quite some other. "Deleting" email actually ways several different things within Outlook.

Within the Outlook desktop app, y'all can right-click an e-mail and selectIgnore. This substantially eliminates the chat y'all're having, sending it and whatever future email responses to the Deleted Items folder. By clicking Junk instead, Outlook will open up a second pop-out menu where y'all can block the sender'south e-mail address, routing any future email from the sender to your Junk folder. Y'all can manage this by selectingJunk > Junk Email Options, which opens up a small menu where you can add or decrease e-mail addresses from your blocked senders list. TheOptions tab besides allows you to control how aggressive Microsoft'due south assessment is of whether an e-mail is in fact junk.

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Junk Email Options is some other feature where Microsoft applies AI to try and filter out junk (spam) postal service. Past default, Microsoft takes its all-time guess at what's junk and what non—but if in doubt, Microsoft lets information technology through.

Finally, you can also gear up an Outbox inbox dominion, and instead of moving the email, you can delete it instead.

The Outlook eeb app offers like functionality. You can right-click an e-mail and selectIgnore, or get to Security options > Marker as junk to practise but that.

How to automobile-delete and car-archive email in Outlook

What's the difference between archiving and deleting email? Archiving electronic mail sends it to the Archive folder, where information technology remains—ordinarily for six months. Deleting email gets rid of it immediately. You might not encounter older email at the acme of your inbox, simply it tin withal take upwards space!

Deleting and archiving electronic mail is another areas where Outlook'southward desktop app is superior to the web version. (By default, machine-archiving/auto-deleting is off in both versions.)

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AutoArchive is off by default within Outlook. You lot can modify the options by clicking the Properties option on a folder in the Outlook desktop app.

In the Outlook desktop app, you can either auto-archive or motorcar-delete email on a per-folder basis by right-clicking the binder (including the Inbox) and selecting Properties, and so the AutoArchive tab. If you lot turn on AutoArchive, information technology will run every 14 days, and automatically ship electronic mail older than six months to the Archive folder. Yous can configure the frequency at which this runs, change the folder, or even—if you're feeling lucky—just delete the old email entirely.

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In the Outlook web app, the auto-archiving (or deleting) options offer far fewer configuration options than the desktop app. They're all a role of the Motion command, accessed by right-clicking a given electronic mail.

In the Outlook spider web app, there are far fewer options. There'southward no AutoArchive office, though you can manually drag email into the Archive binder. Instead, correct-clicking an electronic mail, selecting Movement, and then configuring the email to be automatically moved to the Annal after ten days is one option. You could besides set a rule to practise the same for email received earlier than a given appointment—and and so simply keep adjusting the engagement.

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Microsoft also provides a "Mailbox Cleanup" tool, attainable from the File bill of fare. Y'all can access it by clicking the Tools button.

When y'all've finished with this section, y'all should take reduced the amount of your email in your inbox by a considerable amount!

Use Outlook's Focused Inbox to find important email

And so far, you've used your own expertise to route, delete, and block email. Simply Microsoft can lend a helping mitt as new email comes in, also.

Focused Inbox taps Microsoft's ain AI to dissever your e-mail inbox into two tabs: Focused (the of import stuff) and Other (everything else). What's important and what's non? By watching and seeing what you collaborate with, Outlook learns over time what you intendance nigh. You tin also right-click an email and manually designate it as Focused or Other.

Focused Inbox doesn't reroute or delete email. Just it does cut downwardly on everything vying for your attention, which substantially accomplishes the same thing.

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Focused Inbox is an excellent feature, just it does require some training. My work inbox (not shown) does an excellent job of whittling down simply what I want to run into.

In the Outlook desktop app: It's easiest to blazon "focused inbox" in the search box at the top of the app, so click on "Show Focused Inbox" under the Actions menu.

In the Outlook Web app: Open up the Settings gear menu to the upper right, then toggle on Focused Inbox in the bill of fare beneath.

How to use Gmail to manage Outlook's e-mail

If this sounds similar a lot of work, there'due south one more way to manage your Outlook email. This may accident your mind, just yous can actually use Google's Gmail to manage your Outlook.com email—and with all of Google's filtering applied, too.

Within Gmail, click the Settings gear in the upper right, then the See All Settings push button. Under Accounts and Import, selectCheck mail from other accounts. Hither, y'all tin add together an Outlook.com account via Gmailify, a service that Google offers. One time yous enter your email address, you tin begin to see emails from that other address within in your inbox.

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Gmailify is keen in that information technology automatically filters your email into Gmail's default filters, such as Social and Promotions. Merely the service doesn't dissever the two inboxes. TheInbox setting under Settings offers a "Multiple inboxes" configuration, but unfortunately all that does is separate out the second inbox via a "to:" filter—and does away with the other filtering. Gmailify is certainly neat, and information technology'southward and so easy to clean up a Gmail inbox. Merely Gmailify could too apply some more than polish.

What we've tried to show, notwithstanding, is that with but a bit of endeavour, you lot can continue your Outlook inbox manageable, only like Google does. Proficient luck!

Source: https://www.pcworld.com/article/3613148/how-to-clean-up-your-outlook-inbox-and-manage-your-email.html

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