Outlook Search Folders
Outlook, by default has three Search Folders available in the Inbox. Today's tip will explain how Search Folders work and how to create custom Search Folders.
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What is a Search Folder?
In Outlook, folders are used to collect data, such as mail messages. Users are encouraged to create a folder structure in the Inbox to store mail messages that need to be kept for future reference. Search Folders do not store messages, but work as a location to view a virtual collection of mail messages according to a certain filtering or search criteria.
By default, there are three Search Folders - For Follow Up, Large Mail, and Unread Mail. These folders are listed in a user's mailbox at the bottom of the list of folders. Click on the + next to Search Folders to expand and view the list of folders. If one of these folders is deleted, the items in the home location of the messages are not deleted, they remain in that location. Remember the Search Folders are virtual.
Unread Mail - This folder searches through a user's mailbox and displays all mail messages that have not been "Marked as Read." This includes going into sub-folders of the Inbox to locate unread messages. Notice that both the Unread Mail and For Follow Up Search Folders are in the Favorite Folders list by default. That is to prompt the user to take advantage of the power of these Search Folders, and assist users with productivity. The Unread Mail folder will display unread messages in groups, sorted by the folder they are located in.
The Unread Mail folder is not broken down into groups by default. I modified the view in my Unread Mail Folder by right-clicking on the area in the image that is indicated by a blue arrow in the image above. On the menu that pops up, select Show in Groups. This view will show where the unread message is located, based on folder structure.
For Follow Up - This folder will search through a user's mailbox and then display all mail messages that have been flagged. It will group them based on the color of the flag. To view the contents of this folder, users can click on the For Follow Up folder in the All Mail Folders list or in the Favorite Folders list. Remember, it is shown in both locations. The image below shows what the list of items in the For Follow Up folder might look like. Notice the items are grouped by color, some groups are expanded and some are collapsed.
Large Mail - The Large Mail folder will sort a user's mail messages based on size. This is very helpful when the message "Your mailbox is over its size limit" comes in and a user needs to purge items. Here is what it looks like, for someone who has a very large mailbox! Because I have over 1000 items that qualify as Large Mail, I collapsed the messages into groups. I like the terms used by Microsoft to describe the sizes, especially "Enormous!"
New Search Folders
New Search Folders can be created to assist users in filtering their mailbox to find messages of a specific type. I have used New Search Folders to find mail from a specific person or to find all mail with attachments. There are many other options as well. To create a New Search Folder right click on the Search Folders folder. Then click on New Search Folder. The New Search Folder dialog box will open. Scroll down and notice the many options provided. I selected Mail with Attachments.
Once the type of folder has been selected, click on OK. Two things will happen, the new Search Folder is added to the list of Search Folders, and that folder opens. This type of search folder is helpful when a mailbox is too large. The user can delete attachments to reduce the size of their mailbox.
There are many other options for New Search Folders. Users can even create a Custom Search Folder that is based on a specific criteria not specified in the options given in the New Search Folder dialog box. That is done by clicking on Create a Custom Search Folder, in the New Search Folder dialog box.
For more information on how to work with Search Folders check out Microsoft Online's lesson on "The basics:What are Search Folders and how do I use them."