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About this lesson

Those little grey flags beside your email list actually have a useful purpose. Click the Flags as a reminder to get back to certain emails first, and apply a Category color to keep track of similar subjects.

Lesson versions

Multiple versions of this lesson are available, choose the appropriate version for you:

2016, 2019/365.

Exercise files

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Follow up Flags
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Quick reference

Follow Up Flags and Categories

Stay visually organized with color cues in your Inbox.

When to use

Click the Flags as a reminder to get back to certain emails first, and apply a Category color to keep track of similar subjects.

Instructions

  1. FLAGS: Along the right side of the Inbox is a set of grey flags. Click a flag to turn it Red:

     
  2. When finished with the item, click the FLAG again to place a check mark “finished” icon, or Right click the flag and select “Mark Complete”.
     

            

  1. Note: After 24 hours, a Flagged email will appear with red text in your inbox:

     
  2. CATEGORIES: Also along the right side of the Inbox, Categories apply a small dab of color to visually prioritize your similar topics:
  3. To rename or choose from the 25 available colors:
    Note: This list will be the same in your Calendar and Contacts.
  1. Right click a Category (or select the Categorize button on the HOME ribbon) and choose “All Categories”.
  2. Choose a Category, click ‘Rename” and label it, then choose a new color:
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  • 00:05 This lesson is about categories and flags to help you stay visually organized to
  • 00:10 at a glance see the important items on your Inbox.
  • 00:13 Now, my Inbox is pretty long and it's all black and white.
  • 00:17 But, I've got my notes added, which helps me.
  • 00:19 But, over here on the right, I've got categories and I've got flags.
  • 00:23 Now the flags, follow up flags, you can actually left-click to make them red, or
  • 00:28 I could do a right-click on them to get options.
  • 00:31 And right down here I can mark as complete when I'm done with the flag to give me
  • 00:34 a nice little handy check mark, or maybe entirely you just want to clear the flag.
  • 00:38 That's just fine as well.
  • 00:40 Now notice on the home ribbon of the Inbox, I do have an option right over
  • 00:43 here, follow up flags with the same list I just saw on my right mouse button.
  • 00:48 So it's up to you, sometimes it's handy, your mouse is already there,
  • 00:51 just hit a right click, you'll get the same list.
  • 00:54 Now lets talk about categories.
  • 00:55 Now categories are different.
  • 00:57 Categories will allow you to actually color code topics.
  • 01:01 Now flags just mark them as important, you want to get back to them, but
  • 01:04 categories will color code them.
  • 01:06 Now I've got some already tagged here, so if I just do a left click right here,
  • 01:09 it automatically puts a red color code on it by default.
  • 01:14 I want to change that and I want to choose a different color, or
  • 01:17 maybe I want to look at all categories.
  • 01:19 Now under all categories, you have a variety of colors, 25 different colors.
  • 01:24 And I can actually click in here, and I can actually rename one of these
  • 01:27 by simply clicking the rename, type in a new name and clicking okay.
  • 01:31 Now if I choose this to be my blue category, my travel, it'll put both of
  • 01:36 them on there, so you can have multiple categories on e-mail, that's fine.
  • 01:39 You can also sort by these categories.
  • 01:42 If I click it again, all my travel ones will come up to the top, my red and
  • 01:45 my orange.
  • 01:46 Or, I like to stay chronological, so I always stay on received and
  • 01:50 then what I do is I actually build a search folder.
  • 01:52 Now you'll see this in the next video about folders on how to build these search
  • 01:55 folders and gather them together.
  • 01:57 But just so you know you have that option.
  • 01:59 Now there might be something going on in your email, you might not have categories.
  • 02:04 If your categories list is gone for whatever reason, maybe you accidentally
  • 02:08 drug it off or you didn't like it there and let go of it, but now that you know
  • 02:11 how important it is, let's go ahead and make sure that's back on there.
  • 02:14 So, I'm simply going to go to my view ribbon and
  • 02:17 my add columns, and right in here, you'll see Categories.
  • 02:21 Simply add it to the list, and hit OK,
  • 02:23 and you'll get your categories back in case it has vanished.
  • 02:27 So again, up on the Home ribbon, we also have a Categories drop-down arrow
  • 02:32 with the same options that you saw on the right click of those categories as well.
  • 02:37 So there's a couple ways to do it.
  • 02:38 So please watch the next video and I'll show you how to use folders to stay
  • 02:41 even more organized with your categories and your flags.

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