Outlook Hacks: Boost Your Email Productivity  

In today’s work environment, emails are integral to daily communication and workflow. Microsoft Outlook stands out among various email platforms as a top choice for professionals and businesses, thanks to its seamless integration with the Microsoft suite of applications. Whether managing tasks, scheduling meetings, or collaborating with team members, Outlook offers powerful features to enhance your productivity. 

 In this article, we will explore essential Outlook hacks that can help you streamline your email management, optimise your workflow, and make the most of your time. Get ready to transform how you handle emails and boost your efficiency! 

Email scheduling 

Want to send emails when recipients are most likely to see them? Scheduling is the answer! Instead of potentially interrupting someone, you can choose the best time for them to receive your message. Here’s how to schedule emails in Outlook: 

• Write your email as usual, but don’t hit Send. 

• Click the downward-facing arrow next to the Send button. 

• Select “Send Later.” This will open a window where you can choose the exact date and time you want the email to be sent. Outlook offers 30-minute intervals, but you can also enter a specific time. 

Please note: Scheduled emails are saved under Drafts until they are sent, and the draft will clearly indicate the scheduled send time to prevent accidental deletion. If you want to send a message immediately, locate the email in your Drafts folder. Then, click on the pencil icon and choose the option to send it immediately. 

Use Outlook rules 

Email management can be a major time drain. Outlook rules can significantly streamline this process. These automated actions allow you to manage incoming emails efficiently by applying specific conditions and actions. For instance, you can create a rule to automatically filter out all marketing emails except those from trusted senders. Furthermore, these rules can be modified and customised to adapt to your changing organisational needs, ensuring that your email management remains efficient and effective. 

To create your own Outlook rule, follow these steps: 

1. Locate the “Settings” tab in the upper section. 

2. Select “View All Outlook Settings.” 

3. Click on “Mail.” 

4. Click on “Rules.” 

The dedicated settings page is the central hub for all your Outlook rules. It provides a comprehensive overview of your existing rules, allowing you to easily modify or delete them. Importantly, this page also enables you to run any newly created rule on demand manually.  

Mute email threads 

Let’s be honest: we’ve all been stuck in those annoying WhatsApp groups or email threads we’d rather avoid. Fortunately, just like WhatsApp, Outlook lets you silence notifications for specific threads and remove them from your inbox. If you change your mind and want to access a muted thread later, finding and unmuting it is simple.  

Here’s how to mute a conversation: 

1. Locate the conversation you want to silence. 

2. Right-click on the conversation to open a menu. 

3. Select “Ignore Conversation.” 

Important Note: Enabling “Ignore Conversation” will permanently delete the conversation and any future replies by moving them to the Deleted Items folder. So, carefully consider this action before proceeding.  

If you’d prefer a temporary silence instead of permanently ignoring a conversation, you can choose “Snooze.” This allows you to mute the conversation for a specific duration, such as 1 hour or 1 day. This provides a temporary escape from distractions while ensuring you can access the conversation again once the snooze period ends. 

Delay emails 

We’ve all been there—hit “Send” and then immediately realise we included the wrong information or forgot an important attachment. With Outlook, you can prevent that sinking feeling by delaying your emails. This gives you a few precious minutes to review your message before it’s officially sent. 

Here’s how to set up email delays in Outlook: 

1. Go to “File” and select “Manage Rules & Alerts.” 

2. Create a “New Rule” from a “Blank Rule.” 

3. Skip the conditions to apply this delay to all outgoing messages. 

4. In “Step 1,” select “Defer delivery by several minutes.” 

5. Choose the desired delay time (e.g., 5 minutes). 

This simple rule will give you a brief window to review and edit your emails before they are actually sent, saving you from potential embarrassment or miscommunications. 

In addition to the features discussed above, leveraging keyboard shortcuts can significantly boost your email productivity in Outlook. Here are a few essential shortcuts to remember: 

Keyboard shortcuts 

• Ctrl + N: Create a new email quickly and easily. 

• Ctrl + Enter: Instantly send your composed email. 

• Ctrl + Shift + M: Create a new meeting request with a single key combination. 

• Alt + S: Save an item or send an email with a single key press. 

Distilled 

We hope this guide has introduced you to helpful hacks for enhancing your productivity within the Microsoft Outlook platform. Now it’s time to put these tips into practice! Start implementing these features today to streamline your email workflow, save valuable time, and increase efficiency.