Search folders in Outlook

Search Folders are one of the more elegant features that were introduced in Outlook 2003. Technically, a Search Folder isn't even a 'proper' folder - although it does appear to be a normal folder in the tree view. Instead a Search Folder is a 'virtual' folder, a location that displays certain emails in your mailbox depending on the criteria you have set. (Imagine a Find feature where all the results are stored in a type of folder - that's pretty much what a Search Folder is.)

For example, I can create a Search Folder to display only the emails received from someone called John Smith. Now I may have emails from John Smith stored in several different folders in Outlook but this doesn't matter. When I create the Search Folder, it provides me with one list showing all the emails - but, crucially, it doesn't move them from where they are saved/stored in Outlook. It simply pulls them together into one place, just like the results window you get when you search for a file. Let's create an example Search Folder:

1. Launch the Search Folders dialog box with Control Shift P or go to the File Menu and access the New submenu, choosing the Search Folder option. Alternatively, use the keystroke of Alt N and arrow down to Search Folder.
2. When the Search Folders dialog box appears use the arrow keys to move through the list of available options and get a feel for what is available.
3. For my example I want the Search Folder to list emails from a specific person (Richard Ilett in this case) so I arrow down and move to the 'mail from specific people' option.
4. Press the Tab key to move to the Choose button and press the Spacebar to activate it.
5. Focus will be in the 'Type Name or Select From List' edit field in the Choose Name dialog box so you can start typing the surname required.
6. Now press Tab to move focus to the main list and ensure that the right name is selected. Then Tab again to the From button and press the Spacebar to activate it.
7. Tab on to the OK button and press the Spacebar. Focus returns to the Choose button in the Search Folders dialog box.
8. Now Tab to the OK button and hit Spacebar to create the Search Folder.
9. Focus will return to your main Outlook window so check the Title Bar, you should be in the new Search Folder. If you are following my example specifically then it should repeat the name of the person you are searching on.
10. Now you can move to the list of messages pulled together under your virtual Search Folder and navigate them, open them and read them. The Search Folder itself just sits in the Search Folders branch of your folder tree view so they are easy to get to.

Remember that all of the individual messages are not moved into the Search Folder, nor are they copied in there, so be careful! But don't let this put you off experimenting with a very handy and often overlooked feature in Outlook.