Question
How do I use colors in Outlook to get organized?
Answer
Categories allow you to group items that belong together. For example, you could create 3 different categories for school, work, and home. This allows you to organize your emails so that emails pertaining to a particular category can easily be managed. To access the Categories option, from the main Mail tab, click Categorize from the upper navigation bar.
The Color Categories window will open up. From this window, you can create a new category, rename a category, delete a category, or change the color for a category.
If a message belongs in more than one category, that's okay. There's no limit to the number of categories that you assign to a message.
TIP: Unless you're adapting an existing system that's already working for you, it's probably best to stick to just a few categories. Keeping the system simple will make it easier to use.
With colored categories, you can assign meaningful text at the same time that you assign a color. That's good because, as we mentioned earlier, if you forget what purple means, you can look at the category name as a reminder. Another advantage is that colored categories can be applied to all Outlook items, so you can organize your contacts, calendar items, and tasks all in the same way.
To view messages by Category and not by date, Click the Arranged By shortcut menu (under the “Search” box in your email list) and then click Categories.
For more information about Outlook 2016, please view this article from the CTL: Outlook
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