Organizing Microsoft Outlook email by using folders

Applies To Outlook for Microsoft 365 Outlook 2024 Outlook 2021 Outlook 2019 Outlook 2016 Office for business Microsoft Office

Create folders to organize emails, move messages, and add folders to your Favorites folder for easy access. Right-click folders to see more options on how to organize. 

Create a folder

1. Right-click your name in the Folder Pane and select New Folder.  
   Or right-click Inbox to add a folder inside the Inbox and select New Folder.

2. Type a name for the folder and press Enter.

3. Select the new folder to open it. 

Move messages into a folder

1. Select an email message.

2. Drag and drop it into a folder.

   Note: To move more than one email, select an email, hold down the Ctrl key and select other messages, and then click, drag, and drop them into a folder.

Add a folder to Favorites

To add a folder to Favorites, right-click the folder, and then select Add to Favorites.

Note: You can also select the folder and then drag and drop it in Favorites.