📥 Kari's Tip #112: Auto-Organize Outlook with Dynamic Search Folders! 🔍🚀

 ✨ Dynamic Search Folders in Outlook—Your Inbox, Smarter!

Is your Outlook inbox a chaotic mess of emails? Stop wasting time filing messages manually! Today’s Kari’s Tips & Tricks #112 shows you how to use 📥 Dynamic Search Folders to auto-organize emails in Outlook. Find what you need with one click—no more digging!

🎥 Video Walkthrough!

You asked, I listened—videos make learning a breeze! Check out this quick guide:

📥 Eliminate Filing Messages in Outlook with Dynamic Search Folders! 🔍
Time to Read/Watch: ~2 min

Got an inbox overflowing with emails from clients, projects, or that one VIP? Set up a Dynamic Search Folder to automatically sort and display the messages you need! Here’s how to create one in Outlook in a snap:

Why Dynamic Search Folders?

Before we dive into the how, let’s talk why these are a game-changer!

Outlook is your communication hub, but manually sorting emails into folders is a time suck....

Tricks to Save Time Writing Emails

Most people are going to think we're referring to AI but that is not what today's tips and tricks are about. Although using AI to draft complex emails is a GREAT strategy as well. On average, professionals spend 30 minutes drafting more complex emails like proposals or in-depth responses and most professionals draft a few of these per week.  Just think if we were able to cut this time down how much time you could save?!?! 

I've got 2 tricks for you to try!!

Trick #1: My Templates (formerly Quick Parts)

Why do I want to Use My Templates and How Can it Save Me Time?

My Templates (formerly Quick Parts) allows you to Save commonly used chunks of text and/or graphics/pics so you can re-use them and not have to find them to copy or re-type them.

Most of us have phrases or paragraphs of text we use over and over in emails. This could be a short bio about us, a summary of what our organization does or a product it sells, a response to a frequently recei...

Confused by Copilot? You're not alone!

I'm sure you've noticed that copilot is everywhere in Microsoft right now. If you're like me - you know it's AI but not exactly sure how it's different than the other tools and how can it help you? We're not going to do a deep dive here yet, but one of the first things you need to know is that there is a FREE and a LICENSED(paid) version.

Free vs. Licensed

First off, if you haven't looked too much into it yet, you may not even know this but there is a free and licensed version of Copilot.  

FREE VERSION - The free version of Copilot is a chat.  It's similar to other AI chat apps you've likely used like Chat GPT or GROK. Copilot is considered the most robust free access to AI, but it does have a Microsoft lens. It can also be accessed at https://copilot.microsoft.com/ 

PAID VERSION - The paid version of Copilot is fully integrated into your M365 apps. There are multiple types of subscriptions available which I won't get into. 

Which Version D...

Sending an Encrypted Email in Outlook

Did you know you can send an encrypted email in Outlook with just one click or automatically by using a key word in your subject line?  This is so easy you'll be amazed you didn't know this. Ideally, of course you don't send private information in an email - but sometimes it's necessary.

When to Send an Encrypted Email?

Although it depends on your company and your position but odds are most of your messages don't contain information that requires you to encrypt your emails.

• PII (Personally Identifiable Information).
  This includes Social Security Number, full mailing address, spouse and family information, bank or credit card numbers, detailed work information, tax returns etc.
• Secure Business Data.
  Any information considered proprietary by your business that could be used or valuable to competitors.
• Logins and Passwords.
  If possible - don't send passwords and login information but sometimes it may be necessary, if so this should always be encr
...

The Power of Email Merge

What is it?

When you use Word/Outlook/Excel to send a individual of emails to a list (usually in Excel)  with unique content specific to each user. This is not when you send the same email and put every user's email in the BCC field.

When do you use it?

Although there are a few scenarios, the most common one is when you export a list of users and related information from another program and need to send specific content to a group of users. For example, you want to send each customer an email that contains their name, shipping address and history of their orders last year. Another example, you want to send your employees an email that contains the benefit choices they have selected.

Can I (Should I) Use Constant Contact or Mail Chimp Instead?

Products like Constant Contact or Mail Chimp allow you to send large amounts of emails to groups of users. Most often, this content is mostly generic. These are great for newsletters, announcements and the like. 

Wh...

Should you Schedule your Teams Meeting from Teams or Outlook? 

Does it matter you're wondering? As more and more people jump on the Teams train, the crossover of Teams and Outlook is undeniable. You have already noticed that your Outlook calendar also shows up in Teams. You have maybe also noticed you can schedule a Teams meeting from within Teams and in Outlook. So the natural question is - does it matter? Short answer - YES!

Question #1: Who are you inviting?

• If you're inviting people outside your organization, using the Teams Meeting button on your ribbon in Outlook is easier. This is because the To: field will bring up your list AutoFill list of people you send emails to and you won't have to either copy and paste or manually type in email addresses for invitees.
  
  
  
• If your meeting is strictly internal, then creating the meeting in Teams versus Outlook doesn't make much of a difference.

Either way - you will have a link and call in number (depending on your calling plan in Te...

Drawing in an Email Message

Sometimes you just need to sketch something out.  We've all heard a picture is worth a thousand words. Sometimes a lot of words can be eliminated in an email by just creating a simple drawing. Whether it's a diagram or something else - it's easy.  You can only create a drawing in an HTML formatted email.

In Outlook, you can create a drawing in your email by using the following steps.

1. Open a new message and click on the Drawing tab.
   
2. Click in the body of the message (the commands will be greyed out if you're not in the content area of the email).
3. On the Drawing ribbon, click the Drawing Canvas button.
   
4. Then you will be able to create your drawing within the canvas by either drawing  with your mouse or with your finger if you have a touch-screen.
   
5. You can use the drawing canvas handles to resize the image.

View your Calendar and Inbox at the Same Time

As an avid user of Outlook, you most likely pop back and forth between the calendar and the inbox.  There are a 2 ways you can view both your calendar and your inbox at the same time.  If you have multiple monitors, the first method is great - it gives you a full view of each window whereas the 2nd method is great for a smaller view of the calendar and if you only want it on a single screen. 

Method 1: Open in New Window

It's pretty standard that most people have multiple screens and there's an easy way in Outlook to have your inbox and calendar open in their own separate windows, one on each monitor. You can use this method with  Inbox, Calendar, People, Folders, Tasks and Notes.

1. To view the Inbox and the Calendar simultaneously, in Outlook, open the inbox.
   
   
2. Then right-click on  the calendar icon and choose Open in New Window.
   
   
   
3. You will now see when you hover over Outlook, both windows. You can drag one to each monitor.
   

Method 2: ...

Outlook's Focused Inbox

Who doesn't need help having a more focused inbox?? I will take ALL the help I can get. Outlook's built in Focused Inbox feature allows you to take advantage of automatic organization so you can quickly and easily see the more important emails and filter out the less important ones. Additionally, you can customize how Outlook organizes your emails by adding emails to the focused or the other lists.

Turn the Focused Inbox Feature On

1. Click on the View tab in Outlook.
   
   
2. Click on Show Focused Inbox button. This toggles the feature on/off.
   
   
   
3. Click Focused to view the focused emails. This should be the more important emails. The marketing and mass emails should be in the Other category. You can toggle between the 2 filters. You can also turn it off completely. 

Customize the "Focused" List

As you use this feature, you will need to "teach" Outlook what should be in the Focused list and what should be in the Other list.

1. Right click on a message in the Focused ...

Tricks to Sort your Inbox Like a Pro

Sorting your inbox might not seem like a big deal BUT if you have 100's or 1000's of emails in your inbox like most people, sorting like a pro can literally save you hours!

Using Outlook Columns

The new default view in Outlook looks like this.

If you change the width of the window - you will see all the column headings displayed. (It's easier if you watch the video than to explain it in steps.)

Once you have the columns visible - you can simply click to sort by that column.

Super simple - but so useful when you're trying to find all the messages from a certain person.