How to Organize Email Folders in Outlook

Does your inbox get flooded with emails sending you straight into panic-mode?

Keeping your inbox organized can feel like a job in itself. From composing the right response, following up with a client and keeping tabs on emails that require your attention.

One of the most common reasons for having your inbox in a messy state is that people either do not know what to do with their emails or they do not have a proper system to file their emails.

Getting your inbox organized can result in you feeling less stressed and being more efficient. In this article, you will learn how to organize your outlook folders to manage even the most unruly inboxes.

A handy outlook-addin that help’s you to file and organize emails in folders with just a few clicks is QuickFile. But more on that later.

 So, let’s get started.

Creating an Effective Email Filing System

An effective email filing system should be simple. Having many different folders can make it hard for you to get any overview on your emails. More folders mean more decisions. Another problem that comes from having too many folders is that you have so many options on where to file your emails. This can cause confusion, and confusion can become a hindrance to your productivity.

The goal is simple, use a minimalistic approach and create only the folders that you would use on a day-to-day basis so that your filing system is easy to maintain.

If you don’t know how to create folders in Outlook, have a look at the article by Microsoft:

Create a folder in Outlook

Create Dedicated folders for your emails

For professionals that receive about 100 to 150 emails per day, managing your inbox may seem like a daunting task. That’s why it is important to create a filing system that works the best for you. If you are someone that receives and responds to emails every day, then having a time-based approach to creating folders may work for you.

For example, you can create the following folders:

• Inbox- where all your emails are kept before they are moved to the appropriate folders
• Today- where you keep emails that you need to focus on the current day (will need to update daily)
• This Week- for emails that you will be working on in the current week (update by the end of the week)
• Month-Quarter– for emails that you will be processing in the upcoming month (update after the end of Quarter)
• Completed- folder where you move emails that you have already worked upon.

How to stick to this filing system

1. Keep your Today folder with emails that only belong there. If you receive an email that might require your attention the following day, don’t keep it in the Today folder. Keep your Today folder short and simple. If an email is in your Today folder, take action on it today- no exceptions.
2. If your work is mainly project-based, you can create a five-folder system for your different projects that you are working on. After the project is complete you can archive the folders.

You can also create folders based on the level of priority. Such as:

• High Priority- for emails that are urgent
• Low Priority- for emails that are important but not urgent
• Follow-Up- for emails that you can take action on later. This way emails aren’t piled up in your inbox and you can always refer back to them to remind yourself of projects that are still pending.

Similarly, if you quite often deal with your clients on a day-to-day basis, you should consider creating different folders for respective clients.  If you are an architect or engineer, you can create numbered folders for your projects. Having client or numbered folders works best for professionals like lawyers, accountants, architects, bankers, and sales executives.

Other Useful folders to create

If the above system of creating folders does not work, then you can create some helpful folders like:

• Projects- create a folder for all the tasks that you are working on such as client work and commitments that involve multiple stakeholders. You may consider creating sub-folders for each one of your clients or the different projects you are working on but keep in mind that simplicity is a lot easier to manage than sophistication.
• Important- use this folder to keep all emails that are important in your day-to-day professional duties.
• Documents- use this folder to keep all receipts, invoices, bills, statements, and any other important documents that align with your line of duty.
• Logins- to keep all your account credentials and information.
• Newsletter- create this folder to keep all emails that you will want to read such newsletters, emails with links to long-form articles and any other informational reading materials.

Use QuickFile to Seamlessly File your Emails

QuickFile is a Microsoft Outlook add-in for serious emailers. The digital equivalent of a filing clerk, it organizes your email by sorting it into folders. It’s faster, easier, and more efficient than building mail rules and it can keep tabs on email from each of your contacts.

One of its snazziest features is the Send&File button it adds to message windows. Click this button and QuickFile will let you select a destination file for your email once it has been sent. No longer will you have to sort through a Sent Items folder containing thousands of unsorted messages.

QuickFile outperforms the other mail organizers addins because it lets you save incoming and outgoing emails into the right folders and subfolders with a simple click.

You can use eeminders in QuickFile to defer and snooze emails out of your Inbox until you need them. With eeminders you can move emails out of your Inbox and have them automatically return at the actual date and time you want to work on them.

QuickFile is the only Outlook add-in of all the mail organizers that was designed especially for users who…

• Send, receive, and store a lot of e-mails.
• Don’t have time to manually search their folders and subfolders to save e-mail.
• Are too busy to organize important sent e-mails and so can’t find them when needed.
• Wish to move incoming e-mails to the correct folder at the click of a button.
• Wish to send & file in one step
• Have tried using Rules and want a better solution.

QuickFile is free for a 30-day trial for new users free of charge. If for any reason you decide that you do not like the software, you can always uninstall this without any cost.

And if you are interested in learning more about QuickFile, get in touch with our sales team via sales@standss.com.

You might like:

How to NOT miss important emails while working from home

Filing Outlook Email to Multiple Folders

Getting Things Done (GTD), Cleaner Inboxes and Outlook Thread Filing

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