Walkthroughs created with Outlook 2007
These walkthroughs are companions to the product You Are Not Your Inbox: Overcoming Email Overload, an audio program by Stever Robbins. Click here for information about You Are Not Your Inbox.
Jump straight to the topic you’re interested in:
- Color-coding messages using filters – Option 1 from scratch
- Color-coding messages using filters – Option 2 from an email
- Filter messages into a separate folder – Option 1 from scratch
- Filter messages into a separate folder – Option 2 from an email
- Using autocorrect
- Turning off new mail notification
Color-coding messages using filters / rules
Option 1 – from scratch
- Under Tools, select Rules and Alerts
- Click New Rule
- Start with a blank rule – check messages when they arrive
- Click next
- Check the box next to criteria (for example with the word “kitten” in the subject)
a.
Check “with specific words in the subject” and click the linked phrase in stepb. Type the word “kitten”
c. Click addd. Click OK
- Click Next
- Click “assign it to category”
- In Step 2, click on the linked word “category”
- Select a category or create a new one
a. Click Newb.Name your category (“kittens”)
c.
Select a colord. Click OK
- Click OK
- Click Next
- Specify a name for your rule
- Make sure the box by turn on this rule is checked
- Check ‘run this rule now on messages already in my inbox’
- Click finish
Option 2 – from an email you want to filter
- Right click on an email that you want to filter in the inbox and select “create rule”
- Check and edit any of the conditions you want to filter for
- Click Advanced Options…
- Follow instructions above from step 5 on.
Filter messages from mom or an e-zine into a separate folder
Option 1 – from scratch
- Under Tools, select Rules and Alerts
- Click New Rule
- Under Step 1, Stay Organized, Select the appropriate action – in this case, Move messages from someone to a folder
- In Step 2, click on the linked text and select the appropriate options. To create a folder for messages from mom:
a. Click people or distribution list
- Select mom from your address book and click from
- Then click OK
b. Click specified
- Click New
- Name your new folder
- Click OK
- Click Next
- Make sure “from people or distribution list” is checked (and/or any other option)
- Click Next
- Make sure “move it to the specified folder” is checked (and/or any other option)
- Click Next
- Select any exceptions (none necessary)
- Click Next
- Name the rule
- Make sure the box by turn on this rule is checked
- Check ‘run this rule now on messages already in my inbox’ if you want to do that
- Check ‘run this rule now on messages already in my inbox’ if you want to do that
- Click finish
Option 2 – from an email you want to filter
- Right click on an email that you want to filter in the inbox and select “create rule”
- Check any of the conditions you want to filter for
- Check move the item to a folder
- Select the folder (create a new one if necessary)
- Click OK
- Check ‘run this rule now on messages already in my inbox’ if you want to do that
- Click OK
Autocorrect
Example turn YANYI into You Are Not Your Inbox: Overcoming Email Overload
- Under the Tools menu, select Options
- On the spelling tab, click spelling and autocorrection…
- Click autocorrect options
- Make sure “replace text as you type” is checked
- Under replace:, type YANYI
- Under with:, type You Are Not Your Inbox: Overcoming Email Overload
- Click OK
- Click OK
- Click OK
Turn off "You have new mail"
- Under the tools menu, select options
- On the preferences tab, under email, click the Email Options… button
- Under message handling, click the Advanced Email Options… button
- Under “when a new item arrives in my inbox”
- Uncheck all boxes
- Click OK
- Click OK
- Click OK