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About this lesson
Two great tips on how to use search and conditional formatting to quickly find any email in your Inbox.
Exercise files
Download this lesson’s exercise file.
3.06, Search for and Color Code Emails - Exercise.docx233 KB
Quick reference
Search for and Color Code Emails
Quickly find or color code specific emails to get your work done faster.
When to use
Visually scanning a long inbox can be frustrating. Use these tools to make important emails stand out (color coding) or find emails quickly (via the search box).
Instructions
- Above your inbox is a Search area. You can search your current folder, subfolders, the current mailbox, All mailboxes, and All Outlook items (which include Calendar items and contacts).
- Enter the text or name to find and the results will display below.
- A second search feature is on the Right Mouse button while on a particular email.
Color Code Emails via Conditional Formatting
- Click the View ribbon and locate the View Settings button.
- Select Conditional Formatting.
- Click Add, name the Rule, choose your font style, and click OK.
- Don't forget: Click Condition to define which messages will be formatted.
- Type your preferences and click OK to finish the process.
- The results should immediately appear in your inbox.
- 00:04 We're going to search our inbox because sometimes emails get lost in there,
- 00:09 in all the black and white lines.
- 00:10 And so by using the search box, we can quickly find them, and
- 00:13 then we'll color-code the email so they just stand out as they arrive.
- 00:17 First of all, let's take your eyes to the top of the Outlook title bar,
- 00:20 that's where we find the search box.
- 00:21 I click on it, and I want to search for the word Microsoft.
- 00:25 And it defaults to the Current Mailbox,
- 00:28 which is the email account in all subfolders.
- 00:31 When I click the drop-down arrow to the left, I can choose just the inbox.
- 00:36 Notice how my list changed down below.
- 00:40 I can also choose all mailboxes, which would mean all email accounts, or
- 00:44 all Outlook items, which are calendar items, contact items.
- 00:48 I'm going to stick with the current folder, Microsoft,
- 00:51 it did by default already search.
- 00:53 I'm going to go ahead and cancel that search.
- 00:57 Now, let's set up a color-code system so that email pops when it lands.
- 01:01 Well, that's under the View ribbon and the View Settings.
- 01:07 We're going to find our way to the conditional format.
- 01:10 So based on a condition, this email will stand out a certain color.
- 01:15 I'm going to create a brand new one with the Add button, and
- 01:20 I'm going to name it Microsoft.
- 01:23 I'll click on the Font, so this is designing what color I want it to be,
- 01:28 what font style I want it to be, and then click OK.
- 01:32 So this is a sample of what it will look like after I apply the condition.
- 01:36 Without a condition, it won't stand out, you have to hit the Condition button.
- 01:42 So I'll enter the email address and who it's from.
- 01:45 And since I already copied the email address,
- 01:47 I'm just going to paste that in, and then I'll click OK.
- 01:51 Click OK and OK.
- 01:54 My goodness, look at that.
- 01:55 Now, if that is an email from your boss, and it usually gets lost in your inbox,
- 02:00 it's not going to anymore.
- 02:01 Just scroll through and look for anything in the red.
- 02:05 So that's a wonderful tip, and this is how we use it.
- 02:08 Now, what if you decide it's too red and too bold?
- 02:12 Go back to the View > View Settings.
- 02:15 Go back to Conditional Format.
- 02:17 Now, we can click on the rule we set up.
- 02:21 We can just modify it by clicking the Font, and it was a little too big and
- 02:26 a little too red, so maybe we want green instead.
- 02:30 Click OK, click OK again, and OK.
- 02:34 There they've changed just slightly.
- 02:37 So you can customize this to have your emails just pop out on your screen
- 02:42 in the inbox.
- 02:43 Or you can just click up on top and search anything with the word Microsoft.
- 02:48 And it should find everything in your mailbox, or
- 02:51 just the current folder depending on what you choose.
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