Using Outlook Quick Steps to Streamline Email Management

Let’s face it folks, managing a busy inbox can be a bit overwhelming, especially when you’re dealing with numerous emails daily. Using Outlook Quick Steps will help you to simplify repetitive tasks and remove some of the drudgery by creating shortcuts for multi-step actions. This article outlines how to use Quick Steps to transform your email workflow and save time.

What are Outlook Quick Steps?

Quick Steps are customisable shortcuts that allow you to perform multiple email actions with a single click. Think of them as macros for your email tasks. Instead of manually moving an email to a folder, marking it as read, and adding a category, you can complete all these actions simultaneously with a single Quick Step.

Quick Steps are a bit like Outlook Rules, but instead of being fully automated, you choose when you want them to run. This is particularly valuable for users who:

• Handle large volumes of emails
• Frequently perform repetitive email tasks
• Need to maintain consistent email organisation
• Want to streamline their workflow

I think that pretty much covers anyone who uses Microsoft Outlook! Let’s get stuck in.

Creating your First Outlook Quick Step

Just follow these steps to create a Quick Step:

1. Navigate to the Home tab in Outlook
2. Look for the Quick Steps section in the ribbon
3. Click “Create New” or choose “New Quick Step”
4. Give your Quick Step a descriptive name

• Choose the actions you want the Quick Step to include, for example: Move emails to a specific folder and Mark messages as read

6. If you want, you can also assign a keyboard shortcut
7. Click Finish to save your Quick Step.

Pro Tip: Start by creating a simple Quick Step that combines two or three actions you frequently perform together, such as “Move to Project Folder and Mark as Read.”  You can edit and add more actions later if you need.

Accessing the Quick Steps Gallery

The Quick Steps Gallery is used to manage your email shortcuts. You can access the Gallery from the Home tab in Outlook. From here you can:

• Access and edit existing Quick Steps
• Create new Quick Steps
• Manage and organise your shortcuts
• Remove unused Quick Steps
• Reorder Quick Steps

To make the most of the Gallery, keep your most frequently used Quick Steps at the top for easy access. It’s also a good idea to regularly review and remove any that you no longer need. For example, I often set up Quick Steps to deal with emails related to a specific project. Once the project is finished, I can get rid of the Quick Steps.

Conclusion

Outlook Quick Steps is a powerful time-saving feature that can dramatically improve your email management efficiency. By automating repetitive tasks and combining multiple actions into single clicks, you can spend less time organising your inbox and more time on important work.

Whether you’re managing project correspondence, team communications, or simply trying to maintain a clean inbox, Quick Steps provides the tools you need to streamline your email workflow. Start with a few basic Quick Steps and gradually expand your automation toolkit as you become more comfortable with this versatile feature.