Is Your Inbox Cluttered Even Though You Have Folders?
Although Outlook AutoArchive can help remove some messages in your inbox, it isn’t the best approach if you want to differentiate your messages or easily find the important message when you need it.
However, if you sort emails in Outlook so that different types of messages are in their own folders, this makes organizing emails in Outlook that much easier. Unfortunately, sorting messages manually takes time, resulting in you handling the same emails multiple times as you move them around and then read them later.
Outlook rules automate this: each rule checks new messages for a condition, such as the sender or words in the subject, and moves matches to the folder you choose. Watch our short video about how to create email rules in Outlook, or follow the steps below.
Looking for other ways to cut down on the clutter in your mailbox? You can also learn how to automatically delete emails in Outlook or use the Outlook Sweep rule to help.
How To Make Outlook Automatically Sort Emails
The steps depend on your Outlook version. Rules created on the web, in new Outlook for Windows, or in new Outlook for Mac run on Microsoft’s servers, so they keep sorting mail even when the app is closed.
Automatically sort emails in Outlook desktop app
- Open classic Outlook for Windows.
- Right-click on any message you’d like to set up a sorting rule with, then select Rules → Create Rule.
- Now, you will have the option to choose the conditions that apply for the rule. Under When I get email with all of the selected conditions, choose the condition from the list you’d like to trigger this sorting rule (i.e., all messages from this sender, messages with the subject line, etc.). To sort all mail from one company, select Advanced Options, check with specific words in the sender’s address, and enter the domain, such as @example.com.
- Next, check Move the item to folder, click Select Folder, and choose where the mail should go.
- Finally, click OK. To sort messages you already have, check Run this new rule now on messages already in the current folder.
In new Outlook for Windows, right-click a message, select Rules → Create rule, choose a folder, and click OK. In Outlook for Mac, go to Outlook → Settings → Rules and select Add Rule.
Auto sort emails in Outlook web app
- Open your web browser and navigate to Outlook.com.
- Click on Settings (the gear icon) in the upper right corner.
- When the Settings box opens, go to Mail > Rules.
- Click Add new rule.
- Name the rule and select the condition you’d like to trigger the rule from the drop-down menu.
- Under Add an Action, choose Move to.
- Now, select the folder you want to move these messages to.
- Optionally: You can also add another action to this rule, e.g. mark these messages as read.
- Click Save to apply the rule. It sorts only new messages; to apply it to existing ones, select the run icon next to the rule in the list.
The same steps work in new Outlook for Windows, which doesn’t currently support rules for Gmail, Yahoo, or iCloud accounts added to it.
Auto sorting emails in Outlook mobile app
The Outlook mobile app for iPhone and Android can’t create or edit rules. Instead, you must configure the rules using the web app or opt for the Clean Email app, which we will discuss in more detail in the next section.
Rules you set up on the web run on Microsoft’s servers, so new messages are already in their folders when you open the app on your phone.
Use Clean Email to Sort Messages and Clear Your Inbox
While it's possible to auto sort messages in Outlook, you can achieve the same goal faster and more efficiently by using Clean Email. Thanks to a feature called Auto Clean, you can create highly flexible automation rules to sort new mail, delete emails from specific senders, filter certain messages after a specific date, and more.
Here’s how you can create rules in Outlook using the Clean Email app:
- Go to https://app.clean.email/ and sign in using your mail account.
- To apply the rule to a specific message, first locate it in your Inbox folder, or use the app's search filters to find it.
- After you've located the message, select it and click on the Create Rule button located in the action bar at the bottom. Then, navigate to the Apply Action section and click on Move To.
- From here, you will have the option to select any folder you’ve already created in Outlook to move the messages into. If you haven’t already created the folder, you can type a new folder name into the box and then choose Create (folder).
- Optionally: You can have Auto Clean apply this rule to existing messages if desired.
- Click Create Rule and the rule for all future messages from this sender will be set.
You can set up as many Auto Clean rules as you need and add specific criteria such as email size, age, subject, sender domain, and more. Additionally, your Auto Clean rules can be paused, deleted, or edited at any time, giving you complete control over your mailbox.
Unlike when you auto sort emails in Outlook directly, you can use Clean Email’s other handy features to make this process even easier. For example, the Smart Folders feature automatically sorts messages for you based on common criteria. So, you can set up an Auto Clean rule to move all messages that qualify for the “Productivity tools” Smart Folder to a dedicated place in your mailbox that isn’t the inbox. You can’t do this within Outlook since it only lets you filter messages based on the sender’s address, a keyword in the subject line, or other similar metadata.
Similarly, if you receive weekly or monthly newsletters, you can use the Keep Newest feature only to keep the most recent version of that email. This applies to any type of recurring message, and it just requires you to set up an Auto Clean rule.
Once you start using Clean Email, Cleaning Suggestions will recommend specific Auto Clean rules or other ideas to help you optimize your mailbox. It may even suggest automation ideas for how to auto sort emails in Outlook based on the other users actions as it learns which messages they always move into dedicated folders.
Best of all, you’ll receive an Action History Summary each time Clean Email performs the Auto Clean rules and other guidelines you’ve programmed in the app. This lets you double check that your messages are all sorting the way you want, and it’s not available to you if you automatically sort emails in Outlook directly.
Of course, Clean Email is a mailbox management app for organizing emails in Outlook, meaning you can do much more than just set up inbox automation.
Some of these management tools include:
- Senders, which can block, mute, or take other steps based on a sender’s email address
- Unsubscriber, which removes you from newsletters and other mailings you don’t want
- Screener, which places emails from unrecognized senders into a quarantine folder outside of your inbox
- Privacy Monitor, which regularly monitors if your email has been compromised in a data breach
💡 Note: Outlook is both an email provider and an inbox client. With Clean Email, you can only perform actions if you are logged into an Outlook or Hotmail account from the service provider. If you also use Outlook as an email client for Gmail, Yahoo, or another service, you’ll need to log in directly from those accounts to use Clean Email.
How to automatically sort emails in Outlook - FAQs
Can Outlook automatically sort emails into folders?
Yes. A rule with the Move to action sends matching messages to the folder you choose as they arrive. If you only want to separate important mail from everything else without creating folders, turn on Focused Inbox, which splits your inbox into Focused and Other tabs.
What is a quick way to sort messages in Outlook?
One way to do this is by using the Outlook built-in feature called "Rules". This allows you to automatically move incoming messages to specific folders based on criteria such as sender, subject, or keywords. However, with Clean Email, you can create more customized rules and apply them to email groups instead of having to create separate rules.
How do I automatically sort folders alphabetically in Outlook?
In classic Outlook for Windows, click the Show All Folders A to Z button on the Folder tab to keep your folders in alphabetical order.
