Tip of the week # 576
25 June 2019


Reduce the number of messages in your inbox upon your return from holiday (Microsoft Outlook) *

With the holiday season upon us, I felt it was time to share my favourite way to reduce the number of messages in my inbox when I get back from a break. It's very likely that during your absence someone has sent something to which various people responded. You obviously do not want to read and keep all of those messages or risk knee-jerking into answering an old question. So why not delete redundant messages from your inbox.

Here's how:

  1. In the Navigation Pane right-click the inbox and select Clean Up Folder. (If the Navigation Pane is off, click on the Clean Up button in the Delete group on the Home tab and select Clean Up Folder.)
  2. Press ENTER.

Any email messages in a conversation are moved to the Deleted Items folder, from where you can easily access them if you are concerned about what's been thrown away. But I wouldn't worry if I were you, as the settings are pretty good. For example, if someone answers someone else's questions within the text of the original message, the email won't be deleted.

Finally, before you head off you might want to have another look at the 5 tips to prevent email overload upon your return from holiday.

Enjoy your holiday!

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* Unless stated otherwise, these tips were written for Microsoft Office 2010.