Organize email

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In this section: Archive or delete Sort and filter vs. Search Folders with color categories vs. Labels with colors Flags vs. Stars and importance markers Mark email you send as important Rules vs. Filters

Archive or delete

Outlook:  Archive or delete email

Gmail:  Archive or delete email

Outlook 2016 Outlook 2013 Outlook 2010

Archive instead of deleting On your computer, go to Gmail. Point to the message. On the right, click Archive . Tip: If keyboard shortcuts are turned on, you can also press e to archive an email you're looking at. Delete emails permanently On your computer, go to Gmail. Point to the message. On the right, click Delete . Note: If you don’t see All Mail or Trash, scroll to the bottom of the left sidebar and click More.

Sort and filter vs. Search

Outlook: Sort and filter

Gmail: Search

Outlook 2016   Outlook 2013   Outlook 2010

At the top of your inbox, search for one or more keywords that appear anywhere in the email—in the subject, body, or sender name.  If you’re looking for something specific, click Show search options to use advanced search. Example: Search for: Senders—Example: From:([e-mail]) Date ranges—Example: after:2019/3/29 before:2019/4/5 Keywords—Example: Company confidential Message attributes, such as attachments—Example: has:attachment

Folders with color categories vs. Labels with colors

Outlook: Folders and color categories

Gmail: Labels with colors

Outlook 2016   Outlook 2013   Outlook 2010

Give messages one or more descriptive labels, such as Project X. Check the box next to one or more email messages. At the top, click Labels . Choose one of the following: To make new labels, click Create new. Type the name of your label and click Create. To select an existing label, click it in the list. In the left sidebar, click a label to see messages with that label. Click More Label color to change its color.

Flags vs. Stars

Outlook: Flags

Gmail: Stars

Outlook 2016   Outlook 2013   Outlook 2010

Star an email On your computer, open Gmail. From your inbox, go to the left of the message, then click Star . If the message is open, click More Add Star. If you have multiple stars, keep clicking the star icon until you see the one you want to use. See stared messages On your computer, open Gmail. On the left side of the page, click Starred. You may need to click More first. You can also use shortcuts to find starred messages by searching is:starred or has: with the star's name, like has:yellow-star.

Mark email you send as important

Outlook: High importance	Gmail: Add a red exclamation mark to the subject line
Outlook 2010, 2013, and 2016	Open a new browser tab and search for a red exclamation point. Copy and past the exclamation point to the subject line.

Rules vs. Filters

Outlook: Rules

Gmail: Filters

Outlook 2016   Outlook 2013   Outlook 2010

Open Gmail. In the search box at the top, click Show search options  . Enter your search criteria. If you want to check that your search worked correctly, see what emails show up by clicking Search.  At the bottom of the search window, click Create filter. Choose what you’d like the filter to do. Click Create filter. Note: When you create a filter to forward messages, only new messages will be affected. ​Additionally, when someone replies to a message you've filtered, the reply will only be filtered if it meets the same search criteria.

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