Even a well-organised mailbox is easier to work with when you can find anything in seconds and mark the things you must not forget. By the end of this page you will know how to use the search box and its filters, how to flag an email for follow-up, and how to mark a message unread as a reminder to come back to it.
Outlook keeps a full index of your mail, which means the search box at the top of the message list can find a word buried in an email from three years ago just as quickly as one from this morning. Most people under-use this because they only ever type a vague guess and give up when too many results appear. Learning to narrow a search, and to flag messages that need action, turns Outlook from a pile of mail into a tool you can trust.
Click into the search box, usually shown at the top of the message list with the placeholder text 'Search Current Mailbox' or similar, and start typing. Outlook will show a Search tab appear on the ribbon with extra options, including From, Subject, and Has Attachments, which let you narrow the results without needing to remember exact wording. A flag, meanwhile, is a small marker you can add to any email to say 'I still need to do something about this', and flagged emails can be gathered together in a To-Do List so nothing gets forgotten simply because it scrolled off the screen.
- Type a word here to search
- Flag icon marks it for follow-up
Try it yourself
Click into the search box above your message list and type a word you remember from an email, such as a project name or a person's surname.
Outlook searches the subject and body of every message in the current folder, or the whole mailbox, so even a rough memory is often enough.
On the Search tab that appears, click Current Mailbox if you want results from every folder, not just the one you are viewing.
By default a search may only look in the folder you have open, which means it will miss a message you have already filed away.
Use the From box on the Search tab to type a sender's name when you know who sent the email but not what it said.
Narrowing by sender cuts a search of thousands of emails down to a handful in an instant.
Right-click the flag column next to an email in your inbox, or click the flag icon on the message itself, to mark it for follow-up.
A flag keeps the email visible as an outstanding task, even after you have read it, so it does not get lost among newer messages.
For a message you have read but need to come back to properly, right-click it and choose Mark as Unread.
An unread message shows in bold, giving you a visual nudge that something in that email still needs your attention.
Words people use
Search and flags work well together: use search to lay your hands on something specific from the past, and use flags to make sure nothing important slips quietly out of view in the present. Together they take the pressure off remembering everything yourself.
Check yourself
If you can say yes to each of these, you are ready for the next lesson.
- I can search my whole mailbox, not just the open folder.
- I can narrow a search using the From or Subject filter.
- I can flag an email so it stands out as needing action.
- I know how to mark a read email as unread to remind myself later.