Find Important Messages in Seconds by Color Coding Your Email

Receiving hundreds of emails a day is no longer the exception but rather the norm. They range from critically important to a litany of one-word replies such as “thanks” and “ok.” Sometimes you can block out 30 minutes to plow through your inbox, but sometimes you can’t.

For those days that you can’t, there is a way to zero in on emails that need your immediate attention, such as those from your manager, customers, or anyone else that needs a quick response.

Microsoft Outlook makes it easy with a feature that allows you to color code email by sender. For example, emails from customers could be yellow, emails from your manager could be blue, and all other emails could be black. Then, when you have a few seconds (literally), you can scroll down through hundreds of emails and look for those that are yellow and blue and leave the rest for later.

Follow the steps below to configure Outlook to display important emails in different colors.

First, Select View > View Settings > then Conditional Formatting.

Next, click Add, enter a Name for your new rule, and then choose the Font in which you want the email to be displayed.

Finally, enter the Condition that must be met for the email to display in that Font. In the example above, all emails that come in from your manager will now show up in your Inbox in blue 14 pt. Georgia font.

Once these rules are set up, your inbox will explode into a rainbow of colors representing different senders. You can now scroll through hundreds of emails and quickly identify the emails that need your immediate attention!

What else have you found that helps you be more productive in Outlook?