Outlook & Email
Creating Email Folders and Rules
This guide shows you how to create email folders and rules in Outlook so incoming mail is automatically sorted, helping you keep your inbox tidy and find messages quickly.
Time needed
15 minutes
Platform
Microsoft 365
Guide steps
4 clear sections
Before you begin
You are signed in to Outlook (web or desktop).
Follow along
Step-by-step guide
Create a new folder — Outlook on the web
- Instruction 1: In the left-hand folder list, right-click on Inbox (or any existing folder) and select Create new subfolder.
- Instruction 2: Type a name for the folder (e.g. 'Finance Team', 'Project Alpha') and press Enter.
- Instruction 3: The new folder appears below Inbox in the list. You can drag and drop emails into it, or create a rule to send emails there automatically.
Action map
Create a new folder — Outlook on the web
- 01
In the left-hand folder list, right-click on Inbox (or any existing folder) and select…
- 02
Type a name for the folder (e.g. 'Finance Team', 'Project Alpha') and press Enter.
- 03
The new folder appears below Inbox in the list. You can drag and drop emails into it, or…
Visual guide
Use this visual action map alongside the written instructions above.
Open Outlook help & learning for Creating Email Folders and RulesCreate a new folder — Outlook desktop
- Instruction 1: In the left-hand folder pane, right-click on Inbox and choose New Folder.
- Instruction 2: Type the folder name and press Enter.
Create a rule to automatically sort emails — Outlook on the web
- Instruction 1: Click the Settings cog and then View all Outlook settings > Mail > Rules.
- Instruction 2: Click Add new rule.
- Instruction 3: Give the rule a name (e.g. 'Move Finance emails to Finance folder').
- Instruction 4: Under Add a condition, choose From and type the sender's email address, or choose Subject contains and type a keyword.
- Instruction 5: Under Add an action, choose Move to and select your destination folder.
- Instruction 6: Click Save. The rule will now apply to all future incoming emails that match the condition.
Create a rule — Outlook desktop
- Instruction 1: In Outlook desktop, right-click an email from the sender you want to filter.
- Instruction 2: Select Rules > Create Rule.
- Instruction 3: Choose conditions (e.g. 'From [sender]') and tick Move the item to folder.
- Instruction 4: Click Select Folder, choose the destination folder, and click OK.
- Instruction 5: Tick Run this rule now on messages already in the current folder if you want to apply it to existing emails.
- Instruction 6: Click OK.
Quick fixes
Troubleshooting
My rule is not moving emails automatically
Check that the rule is enabled. In Outlook on the web, go to Settings > Mail > Rules and confirm the toggle next to your rule is turned on. In Outlook desktop, go to Home > Rules > Manage Rules and Alerts and confirm the rule is ticked.
Rules run in Outlook on the web are not applying on my desktop app
Outlook on the web and Outlook desktop can have separate rule sets. Create the rule in whichever client you use most, or create it in both. Server-side rules (created in Outlook on the web) will run even when Outlook is closed.
Still need a hand?
Our support team can help with Microsoft 365.
Tell us where you got stuck and what you see on screen.