 may not be the most aesthetically pleasing email provider, it offers numerous organization features that let you stay on top of incoming mail somewhat effortlessly. The only issue here is that many users don’t know how to leverage such features because Outlook’s interface is not particularly intuitive.

In order to save you from experimenting with the platform’s features, 

this guide will show you how to organize Outlook email

 using the most effective ones. You’ll then learn whether creating a specific workflow is worth the effort, taking into account Outlook’s drawbacks.

Skiff Mail's user-friendly interface and advanced search function make organizing emails a seamless experience

Simplify your email management

There are numerous ways to adapt Outlook to your workflow, so if you don’t know where to start, follow these steps:

Prevent new emails from threads you no longer need

Focused Inbox is a useful feature that separates the most important messages from the rest. Messages that Outlook deems important will appear in the Focused tab, with everything else going to the Others tab.

While this feature isn’t perfectly accurate, 

it highlights the emails that might require your attention

. It’s enabled on the mobile app by default, but you might need to turn it on if you’re using Outlook in your browser.

Click the gear icon in the upper-right corner of the screen

Creating and organizing folders in Outlook

Folders give you the easiest way to sort emails and reference them more easily later on. They’re particularly useful if you use one account for multiple purposes, such as personal correspondence, work, and school.

 to personalize your Outlook workflow. To do so, 

Go to the left-hand menu from the main inbox and scroll down

You will see recently used folders, so your new one may not appear immediately. Click 

 at the bottom of the drop-down menu to see all your folders

Choose the folder you want to move the email to

. For instance, your Work folder can be broken down into subfolders like Clients, Projects, Invoices, etc. If you don’t want to create such a hierarchy, 

you can use another useful feature—labels

—let you give each email an attribute that sorts it beyond folders. 

, which may not be particularly useful because you need to remember which color represents each category you need.

you can create custom categories and edit the existing ones

You will see the default list of colored categories, so click 

 to add more labels or click the pen icon to edit the existing ones

Categories will remain color-coded, but you can change their name and choose the color for each label.

There has been quite some confusion around Outlook categories vs. folders, as users often mistake the two. Note that these features are separate, so 

categorizing an email doesn’t move it to a specific folder

. You can use both options in conjunction to fine-tune your inbox organization and store messages more neatly.

Ignoring future emails from unnecessary threads

Outlook lets you opt out of threads you no longer need to participate in. This is useful if you’re CC’d on a project you don’t work on anymore or involved in a group conversation you want to leave.

stop receiving emails from specific threads

Right-click the correspondence you want to remove

All messages from the selected thread will 

disappear from your inbox and folders you have put them in

. The only exception is the Sent folder, from which you’d have to delete the correspondence manually.

When someone sends an email to the thread, it will automatically go to the 

Setting rules to automate incoming mail organization

Rules are among Outlook’s most useful features—they reduce manual labor and can significantly streamline your correspondence if you implement them properly.

it applies to all emails meeting certain conditions

Keywords in the subject, header, and body

You can decide what happens with the emails defined by these conditions to 

avoid repeating the same action for similar emails

To create a rule, take the following steps:

Click the gear icon in the upper-right corner of the main screen

 and follow the steps outlined in the window:

Set conditions from the available options

Add the desired action(s) that will automatically trigger when you receive the email

 if you want to apply it immediately (optional)

You can set several conditions and actions, which gives you numerous ways to automate incoming mail. This option is 

 lets through—a notable issue that will be discussed later in this guide.

You may receive dozens of emails daily, so you might not get to all of them on top of your other work. To make sure you remember to follow up on important emails or reply to them, you can use Outlook’s flags.

highlighted more prominently in your inbox

. It’s also added to Microsoft’s To Do app connected to Outlook, which you can find in the 

. This way, you can turn an email into an action you’ll remind yourself to complete.

hover over it in your inbox and click the flag icon

Click the down-facing error next to the flag icon above the inbox

Choose when you want to be reminded of the email from the available options

How to organize Outlook email—A step-by-step guide

, it would take over 200,000 emails to fill up Gmail’s 15 GB of free storage. Unfortunately, Gmail storage is not dedicated to emails but shared between Google Drive and Google Photos.

If you use Google Workspace for work or back up your data and photos, 

the free storage can fill up rather quickly

explaining how to declutter Gmail and free up the available space

. You will also learn how to get more storage if you’re willing to commit to Gmail in the long run. To ensure you make an informed decision, we will explain whether such a commitment would be wise, taking into account 

Skiff Mail's intuitive design and robust search functionality help you efficiently organize your emails and free up space

Streamline your inbox with Skiff Mail

, there are three things you can do if you’re running low:

There’s a high chance that much of your used Gmail storage does not come from the 

 but from Google Drive. In this case, the most effective way to free up space is to delete large files you no longer need.

You will see your files sorted by storage in descending order, so right-click the heaviest files and choose 

You will notice your storage hasn’t changed. That is because the 

file wasn’t deleted entirely but only moved to the Trash 

, where it will remain for the following 30 days. To delete the file immediately and free up your storage, follow these steps:

Click the three-dot icon in the upper-right corner of the file you want to delete

Depending on the number and size of your files, this step alone might free up enough storage for you to keep using Gmail uninterruptedly. If not, you should move on to 

another platform tied to Gmail’s storage—Google Photos

If photos from your phone or computer are automatically backed up to Google Photos, your storage might fill up without you realizing it. You will need to 

delete the photos you no longer need manually

, which you can do by following these steps:

Select the photos you want to delete by clicking the check mark in their upper-left corner

Click on the bin icon in the upper-right corner of the screen and confirm the deletion

Your photos will be moved to trash, similarly to files in Google Drive, but there’s an important distinction here—

your storage will be freed up immediately

. Files in Google Photos’ Trash folder don’t take up your Google storage, so permanently deleting them won’t be necessary.

Deleted photos will be removed automatically after 60 days. If you want them deleted permanently right away, you can follow the same steps you would when deleting files from Google Drive’s Trash. The layout looks virtually the same, so you can find the corresponding options by referring to the steps in the previous section.

 can often make emails significantly larger than the average size. If you still don’t have enough space after deleting files and photos, you can remove heavy emails and conversations you will no longer refer to.

Gmail’s advanced search can help you identify such emails

 and delete them in bulk. For example, if you wanted to find and 

 with attachments larger than 15 MB, you’d follow these steps:

Select the emails you want to delete or click the checkbox above the inbox to select all emails from the given page

You can use a similar approach to find old emails by entering 

 at the bottom of the left-hand menu to expand the folder list

If you want to keep all your files and emails but still need more storage, you will need to 

three standardized options and a custom plan

While the plans are relatively affordable, you should think carefully before committing to Gmail and other Google products. You might get the storage you need, but 

you’d still be exposed to a significant vulnerability—weak 

Why your data might not be safe with Gmail

 over the years, many of which have given 

. Worse yet, the company itself has undergone scrutiny due to 

Many of these issues stem from the same problem—weak encryption. Gmail uses the 

 for data at rest. While it may seem like the attack surface is minimal, 

, allowing your provider to decrypt and read your emails

Paying for an email provider that doesn’t ensure adequate safety isn’t necessary—especially when there are privacy-first email services that do a far better job at protecting your emails for free.

, the gold standard of email security. The encryption keys are 

, and your messages are turned into ciphertext before they reach the provider’s server. Only the recipient holds the decryption key, so 

nobody can read plaintext copies of your emails

If you need a provider that offers such advanced security, 

. Your correspondence is kept safe using two separate keys—a public encryption key shared with the recipient and a private decryption key stored on the recipient’s device.

, assuming your device hasn’t been compromised. Only the recipient can decrypt messages using their private key.

The platform’s security doesn’t end there—

 without leaving any personal information

, and your account credentials and other critical data will be encrypted using the Secure Remote Password algorithm. You can also use 

 to further secure your account against cyberattacks like phishing.

Free storage is typically scarce among popular 

, which is far above the industry standard. If you need more, 

Other notable features you get with the free account include the following:

 to learn more about the security measures employed.

Skiff offers secure, private storage options, allowing you to manage your files effortlessly

Leverage Skiff’s secure email and storage 

Additional E2EE platforms at no extra cost

Skiff Mail is one of four end-to-end encrypted products that create a secure workspace, the other three being:

 to Google Docs that lets you create and 

—Storage that keeps your files end-to-end encrypted and offers optional InterPlanetary File System (IPFS) integration

—Scheduling app that syncs with Skiff Mail and has a built-in video conferencing tool

All Skiff platforms are available with the free account and 

Gmail storage cleaning—the only guide you need

There is a high chance that only a small portion of the emails you receive require action. The rest mostly fill up your inbox and 

, resulting in a cluttered email environment. You may also use one account for different purposes, and manually sorting your mail into corresponding folders is quite inconvenient.

You can eliminate all of the above issues by using Gmail filters to

 automate mundane, repetitive email management tasks

. You’ll then learn about Gmail’s shortcomings to help you decide whether setting up different filters is worth it.

Skiff Mail combines powerful organization tools with end-to-end encryption, ensuring your inbox is both tidy and private

Elevate your email management with Skiff

The term “filtering” can refer to two actions:

Using the search bar to find specific emails

Creating automatic filters (also known as rules) that sort incoming mail

 use the search function to highlight specific emails

Let’s assume you want to create a filter that automatically 

 that appears in most of them, such as “unsubscribe.”

, so you can click the filter icon on the right side of the search bar and go to ‘

’ to access the automatic filtering option, as shown in the following image:

You can also access this feature from settings

Whichever approach you take, you’ll see various options that let you 

decide on emails you’ll filter and actions Gmail should take

The first step toward creating a Gmail filter is to 

 for the email you wish to automate. The aforementioned example has the keyword “unsubscribe” as the criterion, but you can play with the feature using the so-called operators.

Besides the self-explanatory operators like 

 that lets you filter messages by sender, 

other common options include the following

fine-tune the conditions and target specific emails

. Once you do that, follow these steps to finalize your action:

Choose what you want Gmail to do with the emails that match the criteria

The new filter will regulate all incoming mail, but you can apply it to everything currently in the inbox by checking ‘

Also apply filter to matching conversations

How to filter emails to a folder in Gmail

 automatically is the most common use of filters. Some users struggle with this option because no available filter actions mention folders.

For simplicity’s sake, let’s assume you want to separate personal from 

The new labels will show up on the left side of your inbox

, and you can take the following steps to apply them automatically:

Set the conditions as explained above (e.g., you can choose to filter emails from family members)

’ box ensures the email goes straight to the chosen folder. Otherwise, it will appear in your main inbox despite being labeled.

How to edit filters in Gmail and delete unused ones

You may need to add new conditions or actions to your filters as your correspondence evolves. In this case, you can take the following steps to update them:

Change the conditions (if applicable) and click 

If you no longer want to use the filter, click the ‘

.’ Note that while deleting a filter removes it from the affected emails, 

it doesn’t reverse any action taken while it was active

—it won’t restore your deleted emails.

 based on features, which explains Gmail’s popularity. It offers a solid email experience and valuable features at no cost. Unfortunately, the platform falls short when it comes to the most important aspects of emailing—

. This measure makes it seem like your correspondence is safe from malicious parties like 

 because there’s no attack surface they could exploit.

If you scratch beneath the surface, you’ll realize this isn’t necessarily true. While Gmail does 

, a robust algorithm that comes with a significant drawback—

Google creates and stores the encryption keys

, which means they can decrypt and read your emails at any point.

Besides, a compromised server can result in the attacker obtaining the keys and 

With this in mind, handy organization features aren’t worth the 

 of exposing your data to internal and external threats. The good news is that there doesn’t have to be a trade-off, as you can find 

Skiff Mail offers advanced filters alongside robust privacy features for an organized and secure email experience

Choose safety and feature variety

Why you should use a privacy-first email service

 services are relatively scarce, but there are still enough options for 

 alike. While each provider has unique selling points, they all share a crucial feature—

E2EE gives you control over your privacy in the following ways

It secures your correspondence at all points between you and the recipient

as they are created and stored on your device, where the emails are encrypted before you send them

It factors out server-level decryption, as only the recipient holding the decryption key can decipher the message

 and can rest assured third parties and your provider can’t see plaintext copies of your emails. The only way a hacker could access them is if they stole the encryption keys from your device, so as long as you keep them safe, 

If you need a provider offering this level of protection, 

Shield your correspondence with Skiff Mail

 that gives you complete control over your personal data and correspondence. It does so by implementing two separate keys:

—Encrypts the message and is shared with the recipient

—Decrypts the email and remains safely stored on the user’s device

, which means not even their team can’t see your emails—they’re only readable to the recipient.

For additional privacy, Skiff Mail lets you 

sign up without leaving any personal information

, thanks to the zero-knowledge login feature. Once you 

, the Secure Remote Password algorithm will 

alongside other critical account information and encryption keys.