Outlook.com tips to try

Clutter-free inbox

Outlook.com has easy-to-use, automated tools to help you get through your inbox quickly, so you can focus on the things that matter. With Outlook.com you can tailor your inbox to just the way you use it—bills in one folder, receipts in another, important documents archived, and only the latest daily deals.

Filter

To filter your messages, tap or click View and then select one of the filter categories. For example, click Unread to see all the messages that you haven't read yet. Or, select Newsletters to easily find and clean newsletters out of your inbox, so that you can find other mail fast.

Sweep

If you get email from a certain person or business that you want to keep, you can quickly move all email from them out of your inbox and into another folder. Here’s how you can use Sweep to file it away:

Choose a message in your inbox, tap or click Sweep in the top action bar, and then click Move all from. On the next screen, select the folder you want to move the messages into.
If you want, select the Also move future messages check box, and you’ll never have to file another message from that sender again.

You can also use Sweep to automatically delete messages that you don’t want, like a newsletter you signed up for a long time ago and don’t read anymore. Here’s how you can use Sweep to delete:

Choose a message, tap or click Sweep, and then click Delete all from. On the next screen, select the Also block future messages check box if you want to delete all new messages from the email address.
Tap or click Delete all and you’re done. Outlook.com will automatically delete all the email from that person or company in your inbox—and if you chose to block future messages, all new incoming messages will also be blocked, as well.

Schedule cleanup

Schedule cleanup automatically moves or deletes email from a specific sender after 30, 60, or 90 days. If you subscribe to a daily deal site (like LivingSocial or Groupon) or newsletter and never want to see anything but the most recent message, you can use a scheduled cleanup to do the work for you.

You can even set simple rules to automatically file away emails from specific senders, so they never hit your inbox in the first place. Here's how:

Choose an email in your inbox, then tap or click Sweep in the top action bar.
Tap or click Schedule cleanup.
Choose the options that work best for you.

That's it! Your work here is done: Outlook.com will do the rest.

Instant actions

With Outlook.com instant actions, you don't have to open an email to get things done. Point to any email and you can flag messages for follow-up, delete them, or mark them as read—all with a single click.

You can also create and add your own instant actions, or remove the ones that you don't want. Click the Options icon

and then select More mail settings. Under Customizing Outlook, click Instant actions and make your changes. Don't want to see the actions at all? Just clear the Show instant actions check box.

Next: You're in control of your privacy with Outlook.com