Organizing Your Inbox

This article covers message management: navigating the folder structure, acting on messages (move, delete, mark), and searching your mail.


The folder list appears on the left side of the Email page. Select any folder to open it in the message list.

Default folders:

Folder Contents
Inbox Inbound messages
Sent Messages you have sent
Archive Messages you have archived
Drafts Unsent saved messages
Trash Deleted messages, which you can restore for 30 days

Creating a folder

  1. At the bottom of the folder list, select New folder.
  2. Enter a name in Folder name and select Create.
  3. If you already have folders, you are asked Where to put it. Choose Top level (no parent) or an existing folder, then select Create.

The folder appears in the list.

Renaming, moving, or deleting a folder

Point at the folder name and select the three-dot button that appears. Choose Rename, Move folder…, or Delete.

Deleting a folder does not delete its messages. They return to your Inbox, and any subfolders move to the top level.


Acting on messages

Select a message to open it in the reading pane. You can act on a message from the message list, the reading pane, or the right-click menu on a message row (Reply, Reply all, Forward, Move to folder, Archive, Delete, Mark as read or Mark as unread, and Select multiple).

Moving a message

  1. Open the message, or right-click it in the list.
  2. Choose Move to folder.
  3. Choose the destination folder.

On the ribbon, the Move button on the Home and Message tabs does the same.

Deleting a message

Point at the message row and select Move to Trash (trash icon), or right-click the message and choose Delete.

Deleted messages move to Trash, where you can restore them for 30 days.

Marking read or unread

Opening a message marks it read. To change it yourself, use any of these:

  • Right-click the message in the list and select Mark as read or Mark as unread.
  • Point at the message row and select the envelope icon.
  • With a message open, select Mark unread in the reading pane.

Searching mail

Use the search box at the top of the page. Press / to jump to it.

  1. Type at least two characters.
  2. Matching messages appear in a list under Email as you type.
  3. Select a result, or press Enter to open the first one.

Search looks at the subject line, the sender’s name, and message text from the last 12 months. The list shows up to five email results.

To close the results, press Escape.


Trash

Messages in Trash can be restored for 30 days.

To recover a message from Trash:

  1. Open Trash.
  2. Select the message.
  3. Choose Restore.

Next steps