how to categorize emails in outlook by color

#How to categorize emails in outlook by color how to

For more information on creating and assigning your own color categories, see Create and assign color categories. From there, you can view additional categories not shown on the right-click menu or create and assign new color categories. If you don’t see the category you need in the list, choose All Categories. The same categories list is used for all Outlook items, including email messages, tasks, and contacts. If you apply a color category to a meeting request or a meeting you’ve received from another person, that color category will only show in your calendar.

The color categories connect you to other related items too, such as messages or contacts.Ĭategories only apply to items in your calendar. Besides calendar items, you can assign color categories to contacts, messages, tasks, notes, and journal items.Ĭolor categories connect your calendar items for easy identification. You can track all items related to a particular project or task by using color categories to easily identify and organize the items. This is perfect for when you need to prep for your next meeting! Once you’ve added categories to all your events, your calendar will be far easier to read.Īs a bonus, if you categorize emails and tasks, as well, the colors will sync with your events so you can find relevant items even faster. Then, the same as above, either click “Categorize” and select a category or use its keyboard shortcut to apply it to your selected events. To do this, press Ctrl (or Cmd on a Mac), and then select all of the events to which you want to apply a certain category. Outlook allows you to select multiple events and apply a category to all of them simultaneously. This can get time-consuming if you have a lot of calendar events, but fortunately, there’s a shortcut. Then, either click “Categorize” and select a category or use its keyboard shortcut to apply it. To apply a category, select a calendar event. In the image below, you can see the categories we set up for our calendar, including their keyboard shortcuts. If you want to add or edit an existing category, click “All Categories.” Click “Categorize” to select one of the categories you’ve created. When you click a calendar event in Outlook, the “Categorize” option will be visible in the “Appointment/Meeting” section of the ribbon. Each category has a name and a color, allowing you to sort, filter, or search for items in Outlook based on that category. They’re basically like labels or tags you can apply to emails, tasks, and events.

#How to categorize emails in outlook by color how to

We’ve covered how to use Outlook categories before, but here’s a quick recap. Then, even without reading the title of each entry, you’ll immediately know which events belong to which category. However, you can use categories to tag your events and display those in the same category with the same color. Adding colors to your events makes it easier to pick out related calendar items and understand what they are, without having to read every word.īy default, all Outlook events are the same color. However, if you color-code your calendar events, you can more easily differentiate between them at a glance, and save yourself some time and energy.Ĭalendars are indispensable memory aides, but reading them can be a chore. These are some examples of conditional formatting rules that you can create in Outlook 2010.Reading requires you to expend cognitive energy, and your Microsoft Outlook calendar is no exception. To add a new conditional formatting rule, select Add, in the Name box, type a name, select Font to specify the formatting, and then select Condition to specify the criteria for this rule.

To change the text formatting, select the rule, and then select Font. To change the criteria for a rule, select the rule, and then select Condition. To temporarily turn off a rule, clear the check box for that rule. To delete a rule, select the rule, and then select Delete. In addition, any conditional formatting rules that you created in the Organize pane with an earlier version of Outlook appear. This rule makes unread messages appear bold in the message list. In the Advanced View Settings dialog box, select Conditional Formatting.Ī set of default rules appears. On the View tab, in the Current View group, select View Settings. In Microsoft Outlook 2010 and later, conditional text formatting is now accessed in the Advanced View Settings dialog box. Note: In Microsoft Outlook 2007, the Organize feature enabled you to create conditional text formatting rules for email messages.