How to Automatically Move Emails to a Folder in Outlook

Quick Tips

• You can easily filter emails from specific senders or companies into folders.
• Using the Rules Wizard is trickier but allows you more control.
• When setting up a new rule, you can apply it to all of your old messages, too.

With the average office worker receiving over 100 emails per day, managing your inbox can feel overwhelming. A good way to maintain order is to automatically divert incoming messages to different folders in Outlook. You can do this by setting up a rule, either via an existing email or by using the Rules Wizard.

Option 1: Creating a Rule From an Email

This is the quickest and easiest method to divert emails from your inbox to a folder of your choice.

Step 1. Right-click any message from the sender you want to filter.

Step 2. Hover the mouse over “Rules” and select “Create Rule.”

Step 3. Tick the box next to “From [sender’s name].”

Step 4. Check the box “Move the item to folder:” and select the folder from the next pop-up window.

Step 5. Click on “OK.”

Step 6. Outlook will tell you the rule has been created and ask if you want to “Run this rule now on messages already in the current folder.” Check this box to apply the rule to every matching message in your inbox.

Step 7. Click “OK.”

Option 2: Using the Rules Wizard (Advanced Method)

If you want more control over how messages are filtered, you’ll need to use Outlook’s Rules Wizard. Although this method is more difficult and time-consuming, it does allow you to automate more actions and fine-tune.

Step 1. Navigate to the “Move” group in the Home tab. Click “Rules” and select “Manage Rules & Alerts…”

Step 2. In the next window, click “New Rule…”

Step 3. Under the “Start from a blank rule,” choose “Apply rule on messages I receive.”

Step 4. Click “Next.”

Step 5. Select the various conditions you want to apply (e.g., from people or public group).

Step 6. Then, click the blue underlined text for each of your conditions to specify the details, such as the name of the sender or the level of importance. Click “Next.”

Step 7. Double-click the name or public group in the “Rule Address” window, and click “OK.”

Step 8. Click “Next.”

Step 9. Check “move it to the specified folder.”

Step 10. In the lower box, click the blue underlined word “specified” and choose the target folder for your emails. Click “Next.”

Step 11. Give the rule a name (e.g., sent only to me) and tick the box “Turn on this rule.” You can optionally choose to “Run this rule now on messages already in ‘inbox’” by checking that box, too.

Step 12. Finally, click “Finish.”