Creating Outlook Rules to Sort Student Email

It is possible to create a rule in your student email account so that mail sent from your instructors can be sorted into separate folders automatically. This can be helpful to quickly locate emails sent by your instructors without sorting through your entire inbox.

1

Click the Settings icon in the upper right corner.

Outlook inbox with the settings gear highlighted in the top right corner. This is the first step to begin creating a rule for sorting email.

2

Search for "Inbox rules".

Outlook Settings panel open. The search bar is used to type "inbox." A dropdown appears with options: Inbox rules, Focused Inbox, and Incoming mail handling. The option "Inbox rules" is highlighted with a pink circle.

3

Click "Add new rule".

Outlook Settings panel showing the Rules section. A message reads "You haven’t created any rules yet." A blue button labeled "Add new rule" is highlighted in pink.

4

Give your rule a descriptive name, and click "Select a condition".

Outlook Rules creation panel with a new rule titled "Sort Email from ENGL Comp 1." Under "Add a condition," a dropdown labeled "Select a condition" is highlighted with a pink circle.

5

Click "From".

Outlook Rules creation panel showing a dropdown menu for selecting conditions. The menu includes options such as "From," "To," "Subject," and "Keywords." The option "From" is highlighted in pink.

6

Click "Select senders for this condition".

Outlook Rules creation panel with the "Add a condition" field. The "From" option is selected, and the text field next to it is highlighted in pink, prompting the user to enter an email address.

7

Type the email of the professor you would like to set the rule for.

Outlook Rules creation panel with the "From" field partially typed as "ta." A dropdown suggestion menu shows matching email addresses, including "Taylor Singleton" and "Johnson, Taylor L." The Taylor Johnson email address is highlighted in pink.

8

Click "Select an action".

Outlook Rules creation panel showing "Add an action." The dropdown menu under "Select an action" is highlighted with a pink circle.

9

Click "Move to".

Outlook Rules creation panel showing the "Add an action" dropdown expanded. Options include "Move to," "Copy to," "Delete," "Mark as read," and "Categorize." The "Move to" option is highlighted in pink.

10

Click "Select a folder".

Outlook Rules creation panel with the "Move to" action selected. A dropdown labeled "Select a folder" is highlighted in pink, showing the step where the user chooses which folder to move the emails into.

11

Click "Create new folder".

Outlook Rules settings panel showing a completed rule named "Sort Email from ENGL Comp 1." The condition is set to move emails From "Johnson, Taylor L." The action is set to "Move to → ENGL Comp 1 folder." At the bottom right, the blue "Save" button is highlighted with a pink circle, indicating the step to save the rule.

12

Give the folder a name, and click "Save".

Outlook Rules creation panel showing the "Add an action" dropdown expanded. Options include "Move to," "Copy to," "Delete," "Mark as read," and "Categorize." The "Move to" option is highlighted in pink.

13

Click "Save".

Outlook Rules creation panel with the "Move to" action selected. A dropdown labeled "Select a folder" is highlighted in pink, showing the step where the user chooses which folder to move the emails into.