Creating a 'favourite' folder in Outlook

If you use Outlook 2003 (and above) you may already have stumbled upon the option of making a folder into a 'Favourite'.

"Why would I want a favourite folder?" you might be thinking. Well, the answer is simple: speed. Having a Favourite Folder link means that you can go straight to the folders you use most without having to navigate the tree view all the time. Also, if you use the mouse to drag and drop content into Outlook folders, then dragging messages into a Favourite Folder shortcut link can be quicker.

Of course, if you don't have a lot of folders or deal with a lot of emails then the benefit is less clear. Having said this, the best thing is to test it out and see if you find it useful!

Creating a favourite folder

1. Open Outlook 2003 (or above).
2. Move to your Inbox and press F6 to move into the navigation pane.
3. Move the cursor down to your list of folders. Navigate your tree view until you find a folder that you want to mark as a favourite.
4. With focus on the specific folder press the Windows context menu key (or Shift F10).
5. In the context menu, choose the Add To Favourites option. In Office 2010, this has been changed to Show in Favourites.
6. When you have done this, a link has been placed to the folder in the Favourites window.

Navigating to a Favourite Folder

1. Use F6 to move focus to the navigation pane/folder list.
2. Press Control Home to move to the top of the pane - you may need to do this several times.
3. When focus is at the top of the pane, you are focused in the Favourites area. If you are using JAWS you will hear the screenreader comment "Favourites tree view". Press the Down Arrow to move through your list of Favourites and press Enter on the folder to move there.
4. Confirm the move by checking the Title Bar, if you are using JAWS you do this by using the keystroke of Insert T.

Removing a Folder from the Favourites List

1. Navigate to your list of Favourite Folders.
2. Arrow down and focus on the relevant folder.
3. Launch the context menu for the highlighted item using the right hand Windows key or Shift F10.
4. Choose the Remove from Favourites option and press the Enter key.

This is a useful feature, especially if you find yourself with many folders on a daily basis you'll eventually create a number of folders to store different content. In fact, you may end up with considerably more folders than when you started. In spite of this, there will be a portion of those folders that you will access and/or use more often than others.