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If your inbox looks anything like mine, it's a cumbersome mixture of read and unread messages. That's a problem, because it's too easy for that unread mail to get pushed down and out of sight. What you need is a way to tighten up that inbox, to tweak the view settings so that you see only unread mail. Gmail makes it simple to do this,. Surely Outlook must offer a similar option?
![Emails Emails](http://www.office.mvps.org/Images/smart_folder/create.gif)
It does, though it can be hard to locate if you don't know where to look. For example, you might think that clicking the View tab (in Outlook 2010, that is) would reveal some kind of 'show unread mail only' setting - but, alas, no. Here's how to access this option in Outlook 2010: 1. Open Outlook and switch to your inbox. Make sure the Home tab is selected.
Open Microsoft Outlook and click with the right button of the mouse on the Search folders folder on the menu on the left. Then, click on New search folder. Select Unread mail (selected by default) in the New search folder window and click on OK.
Near the right side of the Ribbon you'll see a Find section; click Filter E-mail, Unread Mail. Now your inbox will display only those messages that are marked as unread. Don't worry, the rest of your mail is still there; you can click Close Search up in the Ribbon to return to the standard view.
While you're at it, check out the other handy filter option in that menu: Has Attachments. That's great if you want to see only those messages that, well, have attachments. If you're an Outlook 2007 user, look for and expand the Search Folders option in your navigation pane, then click Unread Mail. (Find out more in.) But on my system, this option wasn't available for my Gmail IMAP accounts, only for my primary mail account. This is a great way to focus solely on the unread messages in your inbox, without all the distractions and clutter of mail you've already viewed. Got an Outlook tip to share?
Hit the comments and let 'em fly.
What Is a Folder View? Every place you keep your email in Outlook—whether it’s the inbox, sent items, archive, deleted items, or any other place—is a folder. Each of those folders looks the same by default, with columns that contain metadata about the email, like the sender, subject, date and time received, and so on. Outlook groups the emails by date (with the latest at the top), styles unread messages in bold blue text, and shows messages you’ve read in a regular black font. This is the default folder view. But you can change that view if you want.
You could create a different view for each folder, or you could create a folder view you like and apply it to every folder. Outlook even has some alternative built-in views you can start with. How to Change to Another Built-In View To start with, let’s change to one of the other built-in views by clicking View Change View.
The Compact view is the default view that every folder uses, but you can change to either of the other two:. Single: This removes the By Date grouping and shows all your messages in a simple list. Preview: This (somewhat counter-intuitively) removes the Preview panel. How to Customize the Existing View You can customize the current folder view by clicking View View Settings. This opens the Advanced View Settings window, where you can change all manner of things about the view. We’ll change the displayed columns and the sort settings as an example. Click “Columns” to open the Show Columns window.
Select “Mention” in the right-hand column, click the “Remove” button, and then click “OK.” Back in the Advanced View Settings window, click the “Sort” button to open the Sort window. In the “Sort items by” drop-down menu, choose “From” and then click “OK.” Now click “OK” on the Advanced View Settings.
The folder view has now changed so that the “Mention” column is hidden and the folder is sorted by the person who sent the mail. These are just two quick examples of what you can do. You can add or remove lots of different columns, group and sort messages in different ways, and even change the fonts and styles used to display messages. Play around with the various options to find what works best for you. Apply a View to Other Folders Once you’ve customized your view, you can apply the same view to any other folder without having to customize each one.
Click View View Settings again and this time, click the “Apply Current View to Other Folders” command. Select the folders to which you want to apply the view and then click “OK.” You can select as many folders (or subfolders) as you want. Save a Customized Folder View You can also keep your customized view as a template so that you can apply it to other folders in the future.
Click View View Settings again and select the “Save Current View as a New View” command. This opens the Copy View window, where you can give your view a name and choose who can see the view. Click “OK” when you’ve set everything up. If you click View View Settings again, Outlook displays your new view as an available option.
Click “Manage Views” to see all of the views to which you have access. The Manage All Views window lets you add, edit and delete views, as well as see the settings applied to each view. Create a View From Scratch If you want to create a brand new view, click the “New” button in the Manage All View window. This opens the Create a New View window. Select the type of base view you want to start with and click the “OK” button. The Advanced View Settings window opens, and you can customize your view the way you want.
When you’re done, click “OK” until you get back to the Manage All Views window and then click “Apply View” to apply the view to the current folder. Once you’ve created a new view, you can apply to any other folder, customize it further, or use it as the base for another new view. Remove Customizations from a View If you’ve made some customizations to your existing view, you can revert back to the existing view easily. This is a good way of trying things out without having to worry about undoing them if the changes don’t work for you.
Click View Reset View to remove any unsaved customizations from the current folder. With these View tools to hand, you can make your folders work exactly the way you want, and start to tame that overflowing message list.