Someone please tell Microsoft to fix the drawbacks 😛 TIMESTAMPS 00:00 Inbox Zero for Outlook 00:18 Benefits of Inbox Zero 00:45 Microsoft Outlook Settings 03:03 Categories for Inbox Zero 04:51 Daily Workflow Example 08:21 How to Apply to Your Own Inbox 08:33 Microsoft Outlook Drawbacks
💡just create a rule call it "archive" -> conditions = "apply to all messages" -> action = "move to" "archive". This will move all your mails automatically to archive, later just delete the rule and your inbox is 0. Hope this helps!
I LITERALLY LOVE YOU. I'm using the Inbox Zero method for Gmail for months now and I never had my inbox so organized and clean. I need to use Outlook too for work but I was always so confused because I never used it, it's less intuitive to me. So this video will be a game changer for sure. So thank you in advance, I'm going to watch and follow the steps this evening!
@jeffsu quick question. I like the use of categories versus folders. It’s more effective as you label and archive together. Creating quick steps to reduce all the actions to one click is a real time saver as well. However only issue is see is that on Outlook for iOS and iPad you cannot see categories this have to either search for the email or trawl through your archive folder 😢
I did your Inbox zero for gmail, it’s been the biggest help! Now I’m back to sort out my Outlook. Thank you so much for all the time and effort you’ve put in to keeping us sane 🙌🏽🧘🏽♀️
You're a hero! I loved the inbox zero workflow at my old company that used Gmail. Last year switched to a new company that used Outlook and tried many methods to get as close as possible but they were so clunky. I literally gasped when I saw this video, thank you!!
I stumbled upon your video on "Inbox Zero for Outlook - Step by Step Guide" and I must say it was incredibly helpful! Your step-by-step approach made it easy for me to follow along and apply the techniques you shared. As someone who often struggles with email overload, I found your tips and tricks to be practical and effective. I especially appreciated how you explained the rationale behind each step, which helped me understand the principles of inbox zero better. Thank you for taking the time to create this video and share your knowledge with us. Your efforts are greatly appreciated, and I look forward to implementing your suggestions in my daily routine. Keep up the excellent work!
Loved this! I have to use outlook for work. To get around combing through sent to move a message to waiting, I auto bcc myself and have a rule to send those emails to the waiting folder. For emails I don’t need to wait on, I remove myself from bcc. Pretty easy.
Hi! @Veronica! How do you auto bcc yourself? I've tried so many times and I keep doing it manually for every email! 😢
Před rokem+2
Inbox Zero change my life! I use it with Gmail and I recommended to my colleagues. Now I can share this with my friends that use outlook too. Thank you very much, Jeff! 🙌
Another issue is that categories don't work at all on iOS so if you want to use the same system on your iPhone, a workaround is to use folders instead of categories. It works the same, just use "V" to move an email to a folder.
@@JeffSu Yes, I found this out after applying your Gmail inbox zero tutorial to my Outlook. As Steve suggested, I made the categories into folders. I then changed my swipe actions on my iPhone's Outlook app. I swiped right to mark it as unread. I swiped left to move to the desired folder. This helps me out in the morning, as I can quickly organize my inbox before I head into the office. I still use categories when I get to my desktop. For example, instead of a "Waiting" folder, I have a "Delegate" folder. When I arrive at work, I can categorize who I have assigned the request to after I have forwarded the email.
I have three email ids that I need to check on daily basis. I have achieved zero inbox by achiveing your video. Thank you so much. Another two more email ids to go.
Thank you for a brilliant video. I have implemented this today and will try it out. Expecting a lot from it - but I am sure that it will help me a lot. Tip: @6:53 : press C and then choose category with the arrow keys instead - much much faster than to type to search for the category.
it is incredible how much you are essential and minimalistic! I used for 1 year the inbox zero method in gmail… unfortunatly… the migration catastrophy to outlook destroyed the hard work and the Atomic Habit. I’m struggling woth Outlook. One suggestion to speed up the process you can assign shortcut to the quick rules of categorization. Bye
What I do is create folders and favourite them, and create rules to automatically move emails to these folders once it hit my conditions. Really productive and automated.
Great video! I recognize the problem with filters from gmail not quite working in Outlook. As a solution I created folders with action, waiting and read through instead of categories filters. Then as a bonus I created a rule in Outlook that all emails that come from my own email address in the bcc, that they automatically go to the folder waiting on read with a reminder for 3 days. This is a faster way for me than moving separately . Hopefully this tip will help you or one of your subscribers 🙏 Your video about zero inbox for gmail has helped me a lot to structure my work email and private email. this has enabled me to make significant strides in my personal life and career. Because of this structure I am in control of my mailboxes in a corporate job. Thanks for sharing!
@@JeffSu Around 1.40 minutes you will show how to create categories in Outlook that correspond to the labels in Gmail, action, waiting and read through. With Outlook in the app or in the browser version, I noticed that the categories function does not work well, as it does in Gmail. As a work around I use folders called action, pending and read through in Outlook instead of categories. I thought I understood around 09:40 minutes or at least in part 4 that Outlook has a few draw backs. I think the folder structure instead of category labels has a possible solution for this, as you also indicate around minus 10.12. Accidentally looked over it. Good video, I was able to apply some new settings in my own set up. Thanks for sharing and kind regards from the Netherlands 🙏
To make your e-mail workflow even faster, I stop using category when I realized there is more action, but I use folder to place email with shortcut V to move (naming folders : follow up/Reading/Read through) It’s save the action to move from the inbox and doesn’t require to archive at this step 😊 (thanks Jeff, and Microsoft need to do take action to change their system, Google is way more ergonomic to use) A guys trying to survive on Outlook .. 🎉
@@JeffSu Thanks for the video ! I don't know quite why but I just don't get along / like outlook on the web so use the desktop client and am also using Tokyo By Bicycle's method of folders, I have To Do To Read Waiting
Hey, this was a great idea and one I just implemented. It lets me keep my categories for several projects I manage in tact with no need to add then subtract additional categories for Follow up, Waiting and Read.
Using your method now for about half a year with Outlook Web App. BIG THANK YOU! It changed everything, and I enjoy a nice work-life balance now. It has a relaxing effect on me to know that the Inbox is empty, and the next steps are planned (Follow-Up, waiting...).
Great video Jeff! I've just spent the first hour of my day implementing this. Shoutout to a comment I read about using a rule to move emails to archive, I had 14k emails in the inbox to start!
@@JeffSu check the top ribbon when you open an email. You can create “quick steps” that perform multiple actions at once. So you could create a shortcut that will archive AND add your chosen category, or categorise and move to a folder, for examples
@@JeffSu I also use Quick Steps for Inbox Zero - it works *almost* as easily as the Gmail workflow! With Quick Steps you use CTRL + SHIFT + # (1-10) to categorize and move emails, but the drawback (for my setup at least) is that you’d be limited to 10 categories.
Hey Jeff! I really really love your content and I appreciate your work. It just makes my work 10x easier. I love how you create your videos. Can you please make a tutorial on how you edit your videos. It'll be great help to make a presentation video.
Jeff, the video came on such good timing --- I just recently moved to a new company that doesn't use Gmail but Outlook instead. I need to re-learn stuff including inbox zero for the Outlook app, this helps immensely. Thanks for the video!
I think you can ctrate an auto archive property for your main inbox and it would auto archive older emails. That would be one way to get most of the emails out of your inbox to archive.
Literally just implemented your Gmail version in this weekend to reach inbox zero (which I did!) and was hoping to figure out the same structure for Outlook. Perfect tiiming!
Hey Jeff! This is amazing. You saved my life since I moved job and had to switch to using outlook. 😢 In your GMail video tutorial, you showed us how to automatically archive the accepted email from calendar invitation. I wonder if we can set up something similar to that in outlook.
Aw man, I'm sorry you had to switch to Outlook from Gmail haha Yes you just need to identify a "keyword" within the accepted email and create a rule around it!
Thank you, I’ve watched this video multiple times and setup my email like this. On the desktop app, i use quicksteps to follow your steps on the web version. I’m excited and I think this is going to work well for my adhd too.
Like most people, I really dislike Outlook, and use something else. Currently my favorite is Spark email for my MacBook Pro (also main email app for iPhone and IPad Pro). I’d love to see this modified for Spark. Great overall ideas here though. Especially like the GTD approach integrated in here. Thanks! 😎👍
Great job, use outlook for work and didn't know about those initial settings ...yes makes searching emails confusing when seeing those top results.. now I can turn that off 😀
Jeff, I love your approach. This setup has helped me regain control of my inbox. Question, I don’t believe Outlook mobile has categories available. How do you manage your inbox on the move? Have you found a work around? Thank you! Keep up the great content!
You can use folders instead of categories, as other viewers pointed out. Just setup three new folders as sub-folders of the inbox. Call them the same as shown in the video. Clear the inbox using the "V" key in order to move e-mails to the designated folder. Once the e-mail has no use for the folder anymore, just use the "E" key to archive. That should work also on the mobile or the tablet.
Damn you Jeff! I put so much time into adapting your last Gmail video to Outlook for you to come out with this video and do it so much better! Please stop being so talented... 😄
Hi Jeff, thank you for making an Outlook version! The "categories" and workflow is SUPER helpful. However, among many drawbacks of Outlook, one of my biggest frustration so far is that the desktop app doesn't seem to display "categories" on the sidebar as it would once you marked as favourite. I tried going to the settings in the desktop app but couldn't fix it, I might miss something tho. If anyone knows how to change that, please let me know. Thanks!
The way I solved this on desktop app is setup a search folder and pick categorised mail then I get a view similar to gmail seeing multiple categories at once.
Thanks for the video, like to try it out. But I have different opinion on the 3rd drawback, because of slightly different way for pre-category. When it’s pre-category, it’s usually not important right now, but needed or may be needed later. So I actually don’t need to see them now in inbox, save my time to acknowledge it. Especially newsletters, for me I rarely read them, it’s great they disappear automatically in my inbox by using folder. For trips, there are always somewhere else for example calendar trigger me to follow up any reservations email, so I can go into that category only the day when it’s the time.
OMG thank you so much for this!! I have been procrastinating on organising my work email (only available on Outlook) for a while because I just can't find a system as good as your inbox 0 for Gmail which has helped me greatly! It's like you can read minds :P
After seeing the categories you made in gmail, I tried to do it in outlook and I couldn't and now you publish this video that helped me a lot, Thank you very much Jeff. Hug from Portugal
YESS! THANKS THANKS! THIS WAS FASTER THEN WHAT I THOGHT ! I still remember when I asked you in the gmail one if you had one for outlook and you did it! THIS DESERVES A BIG LIKE!
That's a common question when using Microsoft products: WHY MICROSOFT?! I just set up my inbox 0 in outlook, I had some issues with categories because it also affects the calendar (I didn't remind that, and only edited the names of the categories and when I was to check if the categories were empty it was full of the calendar events 🤣 I think I fix it but let's see) I am happy to finally apply inbox 0 in outlook, thank you for the video
Hi Jeff. Just recently came across your content - love it! I subscribed immediately. Two questions: 1. How many folders/labels/categories do you maintain? 2. If you’re on a mailing list, do you just pre sort them into folders?
I used gmail in my previous job for 5 years and I’ve been using outlook for 1.5 years now at new company and I still hate it. It’s so inefficient to archive emails and sometimes rules didn’t work and my company server delete emails regularly that are not archived so I have to manually move emails to category folders all the time. And I have multiple clients, there are multiple projects going on so I need to archive those emails in each client’s folders and sub folders. MS doesn’t provide filtering entity’s email address why thoooooo! I’ll think about how I can apply this method in my case, but looks convenient! Thank you Jeff!
Can you do a video on setup quick steps to send emails on the web version of outlook. I have them on the desktop but can find it on the web version to start new emails. And love your video I just did this to me email at work an it has helped me so much.
Hi there! regarding the pre-tag/folder issue you could set up a rule to 1) categorise email(s) according to xyz, b) add another action: move to folder, perhaps add an exception rule and leave them unread while still having the category as a favourite. e.g. newsletters, JIRA-Spam wont clutter up your inbox, you still have the unread-counter in the favourites AND have all categorised mails in a folder, too. i use this to keep 120+ jira mails at bay while only being interested in 2-4 per day. i haven't worked with the second method but it COULD be applied for a reading-pane-similar-inbox. set up a 'working inbox folder and rules for senders with categories etc and change the importance to high/medium/low by rule, and always move these mails into the working inbox-folder. then sort that folder by importance. since you're setting your own importance by rules, others understanding of what is important for them won't become your to-do immediately. And any new email that is not addressed by the rules can be added to an existing or new rule, or whatever makes sense for it. all the best, please keep those videos coming they are a great way to unwind, find valuable and actionable information that is made ready to be DONE and implemented and not watched only thinking "yeah, not gonna administrate myself to death, keep your 25.099,08 tools to note a single task" apologies if my ideas have been mentioned already, i only skimmed the most recent comments. xoxo from Austria
Great video! Not sure if it's a new thing, but you can filter the emails in the inbox by categories so that you can view them in the main inbox. This way, you don't have to click into the category individually.
When you are in your inbox view, there is the "Filter" button on top. Clicking on that reveals the "Sort" option, which will let you sort by categories. This way, when you categorize an email, it will appear almost like in Gmail.@@JeffSu
Also, I don't need to put in a number in front of the category, because I can rearrange them however I want. I can also remove them from the Favorites completely if I wanted to but still use the Categories in my Inbox. I'd guess that Outlook did put out some good updates in the meantime.
In the Inbox View, there is the "Filter" button up top. Clicking on it reveals the Option "Sort" which lets you select "Category". This way it almost works the same as in Gmail.@@JeffSu
I'm at a company migrating away from google workspace to microsoft for a variety of reasons, so I found this video very helpful! the lack of pre-categorizing is annoying... I'm wondering if there isn't a way you could set up a Rule? for example you could set up a contact for each category (name the contact 01, 02, 03) where you add +01, +02, and +03 to your username in the address. then just BCC those addresses on your email, and set up rules to pre-categorize them. Might seem clunky at first but I'm sure you'd get the hang of it, and i like it more than putting a keyword into the email itself or subject line
The features aren't there for the mobile app. The workflow is the same for desktop version (even though you can't favorite the categories, you can use the folders instead)
Saved my workflow yet again man! I know it's limiting vs the gmail workflow. But is still is really good. I also took it a step further and added my PARA method Resources & Projects as Folders & areas as additional categories. This makes the same info in my notion workflow as in the outlook workflow! Thinking about trying to program some quick actions to forward an email to my notion GTD workflow whenever I assign the Do Next Category 🤔🤔 Thanks man!
@@JeffSu I them as labels actually. Gmail is nice because you can have something with multiple labels. So you can tag it “do next” and also “project xyz”! In outlook I decided to use folders instead!
@@gavinscott-miller1553 😅 Oops that's embarrassing, I meant labels in Gmail. Dam I hope none of my colleagues saw that. So taking that 1 step further, do you literally have Projects, Areas, Resources, Archived as labels? Or do you have Projects - Project A, Projects - Project B, etc.?
@@JeffSu I have a main projects “folder” or label. And then “project a” “project b” etc. areas the same. I just use the built in features for archive. So I didn’t need to make a folder for that.
Jeff's self-promotion at 3:31, also at 5:22. So back to Outlook, I have to use this 2000s-style, old-school email app at my workplace. And one thing is unacceptable, I found sometimes people have replied to me, but I don't get any notifications........
@Jeff Su My pleasure Jeff. I really enjoy your videos. I use the Watch List folder for conference invites that is still a few months out, agendas to upcoming meetings, announcements that I may need to reference from time to time, etc. I manage the folder quite closely so that it doesn't get too full, but ultimately it tends to be reference materials.
OMG - I always hated keyboard shortcuts (don't know why 🤷🏻♂) but after doing all these steps my inbox have never been that good! Now I have a better way to focus on my mails, poking colleagues and discard everything else. Will your next video be --> How to annoy your colleagues to answer emails? hah! Good video as always, I feel you connect with real life examples that personally, I can relate too.. Keep it up 🙂
@@JeffSu - I use desktop, web app, and iPhone app. Each has pros and cons. I travel a lot and during that time I only have access to mobile app. It’s missing some key features. For example, Microsoft has been VERY slow to bring things like categories (labels) to iOS app. Which is weird because gmail iOS app is able to show labels on emails. Microsoft isn’t communicative about plans unfortunately.
@@JeffSu - on a side note, Proton Mail supports labels on both web and mobile apps. So it works with the zero inbox very well. As good or better than the Gmail mobile app (at least on iPhone). I only use proton mail for security related emails, so there’s not much work there. Still, it further shows just how slow Microsoft is in implementing basic features across the ecosystem. They keep promising “one outlook” or now it’s call New Outlook.
My prayers have been answered! Thanks for the video Jeff 😁 I've actually gotten pretty good at keeping my work inbox clean but I'll be seeing where I can incorporate these tips into my Outlook next Monday!
@Jeff Su Update, I got an Inbox Zero workflow for my Outlook now! I mainly use the desktop app though, so what I did was I just added subfolders under Inbox and named them [01], [02], and [03] with the proper headings
Hi @jeffsu, love your videos and have used the Gmail version for many years. My new org uses classic (as do many others) - I don't know how much of an audience this has, but I wanted to make a formal request and suggestion to show how this might best work in that version. This workflow is invaluable to me, and I am completely lost. Kind Regard!
I added my outlook mail to my gmail account because of the limitations you mention. The drawback is that it syncs the incoming mail every 30 min.but worth it
This is an absolute GAME CHANGER in my handling of email in outlook... What baffles me is that there doesn't seem to be a way of using the same shortcuts and functionality in the full desktop Outlook client... 🤷🏻♂
@JeffSu for Outlook for Mac, it’s better to work with saved searches per category, since your are not able to pin categories as favorites. And than create custom App shortcuts for outlook for each category. After that you have almost the same Gmail workflow. Categorize mail in the inbox via shortcut, archive it and access it later within the saved search. Apply the same shortcut again and it disappears from the saved search. Thank you very much Jeff for sharing your Inbox zero hack. I am a big fan!!
I use the Outlook app in Windows, and not the web version. Most of these doesn't work in that option. Can you please make one for the Outlook app. This is very helpful.
@@JeffSu Thanks a lot. I really liked the colored categories options. Unfortunately, I cannot add in under favorites when using the Outlook App. Ill try the folder idea.
Jeff, I completely agree with the downsides you've pointed out about some resources of Outlook. I wonder why Microsoft takes so much longer to improve one of its products, and when it is released we see that they insist on keeping some aspects not productive enough! P.S.: I use Outlook a lot at work, but for this reason many features are disabled, so it's difficult to customize some resources...
@@JeffSu The one that gets me really upset is actually from One Drive, when I want to send a link of a document or a folder to someone out of my company via Outlook and I find out that the person won't be able to receive it because the IT blocks sharing links from One Drive to externals... 😵
I use folders instead of categories in Outlook because the mobile app has a "move to" swipe option, but not a "categorise" swipe option. Once I'm finished with an email thread it gets moved to the archive folder, which is the equivalent of removing the category.
By watching your videos I'm really amazed how I am eager to learn Gmail more than outlook. I have a gmail account however I have never used like what you show in your videos let's say 1% of that. And this outlook video has given me new insights. Will surely try to implement and let you know later.
Great Video. The downside is while using the Outlook app for Macbook, It does not show the categories on favorites on the left. Also, the keyboard shortcuts sometimes work using the computer, but with an external keyboard, they do not... Microsoft + Apple mixture not working.
@@JeffSu True, that's almost impossible to use after implementing this kind of workflow for personal and profesional use ! I wish there was a way to have an equivalent in the apple ecosystem.
What do you do with emails that might be useful in the future, for example, for a project you're working on that you may or may not need to refer back to?
@@JeffSu Thanks for your reply. I have too many emails in certain categories, so I'd like to have a system for prioritizing or setting processing dates for these emails.
I think I have a similar question. Maybe you can use the snooze button to push the lower priority tasks out? Alternatively, you may need a separate task system for tracking all of your tasks.
Pretty good! Just implimented it remotely while I was sick and it worked perfectly! The power of your presentation can make it through the muddled mind haha I would say an extra category would be filter, especially those that might come through at the end of the day or things have changed and you are no longer a part of that group.
Not going to lie Matthew, I look forward to seeing your name pop up in the comments since I always learn something new from you 😁 First of all, hope you're feeling better. Secondly, sorry what do you mean by adding a "Filter" category?
@@JeffSu Thank you for the kind words and the well wishes. Let's hope it is only pneumonia and nothing worse. As far as a filter tag, this would be handy for those massive email chains that usually lead to nowhere or are just for information for most of the people on the thread. The main thing I do is create a CC folder and reroute all my CCs and BCCs out of my inbox so I know who is looking for my attention first. Generally, anyone who CCs me into a conversation is merely doing so because they don't know how to deal with the other people on the thread and wants to tag me in for some reason. The rule for me is check the CC folder twice a day: at the beginning of the day and at the end of the day. If anyone wants me to comment on an email, they'll find me and talk to me first. The filter tag then would be the way to flag those constant emails that sadly waste time and effort due to clogging up inboxes. If you know someone is constantly adding you in because they want "to include everyone," then the filter tag is your test field. If they don't come running into your office constantly asking about any CC or BCC emails you haven't answered over a 30 day period, then they go into the CC folder immediately after the 30 day period. This also allows you to have a candid conversation with that person regarding their abuse of the CC options.
@@JeffSu The one thing you can measure the people who CC or BCC you into the conversation is if they distill and give follow up requests. Most of the time it is a high level conversation that takes forever to have pertinent information to the people in the chain. If your manager or the person who starts the CC process tells you everything in a distilled manner and gives you what you need to do next, then they are thinking on a broader scope. Not everyone needs to be in on the email thread about the company grab a$$ party that happens every other Octolday and it would make the C Suite sad if no one was into grab a$$. Sadly, I received those emails constantly from my last employer.
@@MatthewEaton Makes sense! My manager says a litmus test to see whether an email is important or not is if that person follows up with a message within 24 hours
Thanks Jeff. This is so helpful. How do I display categories in outlook's sidebar ? it works on the outlook web however, when i switch to the outlook desktop version, I couldn't find it working.
@@JeffSu Since I saw your Gmail video months ago I tried my best to replicate it. In the native app, you cant have a category be a favorite. The workaround is to tie categories to folders and then favorite those folders. But if you label it you then have to have rule sets to move it, and its not as easy to just label and archive because the same email cant sit in two place. I accidently lost some emails this way. The other workaround was to categorize and then arrange by category in your main inbox (achieving the rest) to sort of give that same 4 inbox view in your main inbox similar to your gmail video via compression, but then you lose the ability to compress emails by conversation and you end up having to retag emails on the same thread. Happy to share the views with you via email since im leaving that app behind and relying on the browser version because of your great video!
Very good tip. I just started testing out the new outlook and did not like it but this will definitely help a bunch. Will slowly transition to this workflow as I see lots of values and it also fits my needs. Thanks again!
I really liked this video. Unfortunately many of the setting changes i could not find on the desktop app or the office 365 web version. Any recommendations?
@@JeffSu I can use it on the web in this way which is helpful and awesome. However, for work, and for speed of an app rather than in a browser, I have to use the Office360 version of Outlook and this is even more clunky. It won't let you favorite categories and as far as I can tell, shortcuts don't work to speed the archiving/folder organizing process. For my personal use this is still a very helpful video.
Did that for me and it works extremely well. So glad to have it done. But did one figure out how to use this system also on IOS Outlook app? I can't find out how to access the emails categorized in my archive folder.... :(
@@JeffSu That’s true, It requires to remember something of the email I categorized as e.g., follow up. But I found out that searching for the category name works fine, although being much more effort than on desktop.
Hey Jeff! Love you content - you used to have a similar tutorial for Gmail that I'd saved. I just got a new email account & was hoping to find that tutorial...looks the link I have has that video as private. Where would I be able to find that tutorial? - thanks in advance for your help, you've helped my productivity game so much! 🙏
Thank you for this incredible video! I do have one question though: is there ever a time you delete certain emails rather than moving them into the archive? What is the benefit of archiving an email rather than simply deleting it, and if the sole benefit is to be able to access it again, how is that different from the "Read Through" option?
Thank you, Jeff! Any tips for when you send out a brand new email to someone, but want to ensure you follow-up to confirm your request was completed? I am going to give your Inbox zero tips a try as I am having one heck of a time trying to manage email + Teams + action items from meetings (which we're in ALL day) + Confluence action items + Jira action items. So many systems to manage 🙂 Would appreciate any tips you have to manage all the systems and manage action items you receive throughout the day from all the systems.
Watched the gmail version of this a while ago and literally just came to revisit it. Saw in the description that another one is in the works. Genuinely looking forward to it. Your targeted tutorials provide as much value to me as Ali Abdaal provides to you. Request / kind constructive feedback, (and Ali does it too); some of the step by step videos posted have a much faster tempo than others making them harder to follow and digest than others. I imagine it's a by-product of high intelligence. This specific video is perfectly fine but from what I remember, I think the recent Notion video might have fallen victim to it. (Context: I know my handle might not imply it, but I'm a millenial so not a complete noob for cloud based workflow)
@@JeffSu was on vacation for 3 weeks to India. The good thing...I fully disconnected. The bad...came back to a shit ton of emails. Hence, figured I'd follow up. Any updates as to when the updated Gmail version of this will be coming out?
Jeff - love your content! Did you move inbox Zero for Gmail to your paid courses? Trying to find a link to send a friend that I was talking your content up to
Short answer: Yes Long answer - Gmail went through a major upgrade this year so the previous workflow is now outdated. 😅 Since Gmail will never stop evolving (which is a good thing) and to make sure you're getting the absolute most out of your email, I host live workshops for my Workspace Academy students where we'll dive into the freshest inbox management strategies together. You can find out more about it here: academy.jeffsu.org/workspace-academy?
I was so excited to see the title of the video. But then got sad 😞. I use offline Outlook Inbox, which is way different then what outlook web is. I already used your Gmail inbox zero method and simply love it. Can you do something for people like us using offline Outlook. Please🙏
Where do you save mail with important passwords and invoices? Do you label them seperate and what label do you give them or just somewhere in your 'Archive' and just search for it if you need it? Thanks 👌🙂. Great videos, seems like a lot of work!!!! 🙌😬
Can anyone recommend a video that explains the steps for the paid version of outlook? Settings look very different... Thanks! I followed the steps in the free version but the changed settings are not "passed through" to the paid version unfortunately.
Someone please tell Microsoft to fix the drawbacks 😛
TIMESTAMPS
00:00 Inbox Zero for Outlook
00:18 Benefits of Inbox Zero
00:45 Microsoft Outlook Settings
03:03 Categories for Inbox Zero
04:51 Daily Workflow Example
08:21 How to Apply to Your Own Inbox
08:33 Microsoft Outlook Drawbacks
They aren't drawbacks as much as you don't know how to do it the MS way. I find Outlook way better than Gmail.
Have you used service called SaneBox?
To archive all emails in the inbox, you can create a temporary rule to run on the inbox
@@anshulnarula738 yea. He didn't quite explain what rules were correctly.
@@madwhitehatter You're probably right Scott! I've only seriously used Outlook for less than a year unfortunately 🥲. Do you have any tips for me?
💡just create a rule call it "archive" -> conditions = "apply to all messages" -> action = "move to" "archive". This will move all your mails automatically to archive, later just delete the rule and your inbox is 0. Hope this helps!
This is awesome! Thanks for sharing!!
Real MVP I did this took about 2 hours but it works
@@malmonte Awesome!!!
Thank you so much for sharing its work perfectly.
Worked like a charm!
I LITERALLY LOVE YOU. I'm using the Inbox Zero method for Gmail for months now and I never had my inbox so organized and clean. I need to use Outlook too for work but I was always so confused because I never used it, it's less intuitive to me. So this video will be a game changer for sure. So thank you in advance, I'm going to watch and follow the steps this evening!
No worries Alessia, hope you enjoy this workflow!
(p.s. feel free to share the love with your colleagues 😉)
Literally 🙏🏽
@@AlexaThinks Hahaha no problem my friends!!
@jeffsu quick question. I like the use of categories versus folders. It’s more effective as you label and archive together. Creating quick steps to reduce all the actions to one click is a real time saver as well. However only issue is see is that on Outlook for iOS and iPad you cannot see categories this have to either search for the email or trawl through your archive folder 😢
@@spirosfatouros6900 yea the mobile apps are lacking 😭
I did your Inbox zero for gmail, it’s been the biggest help! Now I’m back to sort out my Outlook. Thank you so much for all the time and effort you’ve put in to keeping us sane 🙌🏽🧘🏽♀️
No problem at all, glad you found this helpful 😁
You use Gmail AND outlook?
@@santiagomeza1599 Sure why not
Why can't I find the Inbox Zero for Gmail? :( @@JeffSu
@JeffSu, it looks like you made the Gmail videos for Inbox Zero private. Are there any plans to make them Public again in the future?
You're a hero! I loved the inbox zero workflow at my old company that used Gmail. Last year switched to a new company that used Outlook and tried many methods to get as close as possible but they were so clunky. I literally gasped when I saw this video, thank you!!
So what do you think Megan? 😁
@@JeffSu It's awesome!
I stumbled upon your video on "Inbox Zero for Outlook - Step by Step Guide" and I must say it was incredibly helpful! Your step-by-step approach made it easy for me to follow along and apply the techniques you shared.
As someone who often struggles with email overload, I found your tips and tricks to be practical and effective. I especially appreciated how you explained the rationale behind each step, which helped me understand the principles of inbox zero better.
Thank you for taking the time to create this video and share your knowledge with us. Your efforts are greatly appreciated, and I look forward to implementing your suggestions in my daily routine. Keep up the excellent work!
That's great to hear my friend! Thank you!! 😁
@@JeffSu i dont see the video called "Inbox Zero for Outlook - Step by Step Guide". where can i watch it?
Loved this! I have to use outlook for work. To get around combing through sent to move a message to waiting, I auto bcc myself and have a rule to send those emails to the waiting folder. For emails I don’t need to wait on, I remove myself from bcc. Pretty easy.
That's a GREAT tip Veronica!
Hi! @Veronica! How do you auto bcc yourself? I've tried so many times and I keep doing it manually for every email! 😢
Inbox Zero change my life!
I use it with Gmail and I recommended to my colleagues. Now I can share this with my friends that use outlook too.
Thank you very much, Jeff! 🙌
Woohooo thanks Juan! Let me know what your friends say 😁
Another issue is that categories don't work at all on iOS so if you want to use the same system on your iPhone, a workaround is to use folders instead of categories. It works the same, just use "V" to move an email to a folder.
Great point, thanks for sharing Steve!
@@JeffSu Yes, I found this out after applying your Gmail inbox zero tutorial to my Outlook. As Steve suggested, I made the categories into folders. I then changed my swipe actions on my iPhone's Outlook app. I swiped right to mark it as unread. I swiped left to move to the desired folder.
This helps me out in the morning, as I can quickly organize my inbox before I head into the office. I still use categories when I get to my desktop. For example, instead of a "Waiting" folder, I have a "Delegate" folder. When I arrive at work, I can categorize who I have assigned the request to after I have forwarded the email.
@@alexbrunner_Tucker_USA That makes a lot of sense! Thanks for sharing Alex!
Nice suggestion! Also this works for the desktop app since you can't have categories as favorites.
Well done! Nice that you acknolwedge the drawbacks as no system is peefect.
Just telling the truth 😁
I have three email ids that I need to check on daily basis. I have achieved zero inbox by achiveing your video. Thank you so much. Another two more email ids to go.
Woohooo congrats! Let me know when you finish all 3!
I asked for more Microsoft and Office based tips and you delivered - nice work dude!
I listen to feedback! 😁
Thank you for a brilliant video. I have implemented this today and will try it out. Expecting a lot from it - but I am sure that it will help me a lot.
Tip: @6:53 : press C and then choose category with the arrow keys instead - much much faster than to type to search for the category.
Good point!
it is incredible how much you are essential and minimalistic! I used for 1 year the inbox zero method in gmail… unfortunatly… the migration catastrophy to outlook destroyed the hard work and the Atomic Habit. I’m struggling woth Outlook. One suggestion to speed up the process you can assign shortcut to the quick rules of categorization.
Bye
Wait so are you still using Outlook haha
I'm so happy You did that video. I have to use Outlook at my new job and feel so bad for my inbox, and here you are !!!!🙌
Now you don't have to feel bad anymore 😁
@jeffsu I am here exactly thank you so much for this and all your videos!
@@majhical You're very welcome Vivek!!
Great video, thank you - from someone who uses Gmail for personal email and Outlook for work :)
No problem! Hopefully you are able to achieve inbox zero with Outlook now too!
What I do is create folders and favourite them, and create rules to automatically move emails to these folders once it hit my conditions. Really productive and automated.
Great idea! Thanks for sharing 😁
Great video! I recognize the problem with filters from gmail not quite working in Outlook. As a solution I created folders with action, waiting and read through instead of categories filters. Then as a bonus I created a rule in Outlook that all emails that come from my own email address in the bcc, that they automatically go to the folder waiting on read with a reminder for 3 days. This is a faster way for me than moving separately .
Hopefully this tip will help you or one of your subscribers 🙏
Your video about zero inbox for gmail has helped me a lot to structure my work email and private email. this has enabled me to make significant strides in my personal life and career. Because of this structure I am in control of my mailboxes in a corporate job. Thanks for sharing!
Thanks for sharing! Sorry I'm not sure I understand, what do you mean by "filters from gmail not quite working in Outlook"?
@@JeffSu Around 1.40 minutes you will show how to create categories in Outlook that correspond to the labels in Gmail, action, waiting and read through. With Outlook in the app or in the browser version, I noticed that the categories function does not work well, as it does in Gmail. As a work around I use folders called action, pending and read through in Outlook instead of categories. I thought I understood around 09:40 minutes or at least in part 4 that Outlook has a few draw backs. I think the folder structure instead of category labels has a possible solution for this, as you also indicate around minus 10.12. Accidentally looked over it. Good video, I was able to apply some new settings in my own set up. Thanks for sharing and kind regards from the Netherlands 🙏
@@chekresh1 Ahhhh got it, thanks for getting back to me!
Hi, great tip! But how did you add the “BCC” rule? I can only choose CC when I try to make that rule, and not BCC.
@@andersstensgaard8362 Are you using Outlook for the web or the app?
To make your e-mail workflow even faster, I stop using category when I realized there is more action, but I use folder to place email with shortcut V to move (naming folders : follow up/Reading/Read through)
It’s save the action to move from the inbox and doesn’t require to archive at this step 😊
(thanks Jeff, and Microsoft need to do take action to change their system, Google is way more ergonomic to use)
A guys trying to survive on Outlook .. 🎉
Hahaha great point! Thanks my friend!
@@JeffSu Thanks for the video !
I don't know quite why but I just don't get along / like outlook on the web so use the desktop client and am also using Tokyo By Bicycle's method of folders, I have
To Do
To Read
Waiting
@@CunningQuestion That sounds like a totally awesome workflow Andrew!
Hey, this was a great idea and one I just implemented. It lets me keep my categories for several projects I manage in tact with no need to add then subtract additional categories for Follow up, Waiting and Read.
@@scottd1342 Awesome to hear Scott!
Using your method now for about half a year with Outlook Web App. BIG THANK YOU! It changed everything, and I enjoy a nice work-life balance now. It has a relaxing effect on me to know that the Inbox is empty, and the next steps are planned (Follow-Up, waiting...).
No problem! That's what I love to hear 😁
Great video Jeff! I've just spent the first hour of my day implementing this. Shoutout to a comment I read about using a rule to move emails to archive, I had 14k emails in the inbox to start!
That comment was 👌🏻! And glad to hear you got to 0 😁
Hi Jeff, just a note on how this could be improved, using 'Quick Steps' to categorise and move emails, or uncategorised and move to archive.
Wait what's quick steps? 🤯
@@JeffSu check the top ribbon when you open an email. You can create “quick steps” that perform multiple actions at once. So you could create a shortcut that will archive AND add your chosen category, or categorise and move to a folder, for examples
@@mikejaydavies Oh wow, had no idea this was a thing, thanks Michael and Evan!
@@JeffSu I also use Quick Steps for Inbox Zero - it works *almost* as easily as the Gmail workflow! With Quick Steps you use CTRL + SHIFT + # (1-10) to categorize and move emails, but the drawback (for my setup at least) is that you’d be limited to 10 categories.
@@superstarblue1 Quick question: Is quick steps limited to the paid version of Outlook and/or the app? I can't find it on Outlook for the Web
I agree with you on why outlook hasn’t given us the option to select all! It drives me nuts. 😅
I know right???
... and the same to this day
Hey Jeff!
I really really love your content and I appreciate your work. It just makes my work 10x easier.
I love how you create your videos. Can you please make a tutorial on how you edit your videos. It'll be great help to make a presentation video.
I'll probably do a video like that later this year! Thanks Yaseen 😁
@@JeffSu Thank you very much Jeff. I've sent you additional information on Instagram.
I hope you got it.
Jeff, the video came on such good timing --- I just recently moved to a new company that doesn't use Gmail but Outlook instead. I need to re-learn stuff including inbox zero for the Outlook app, this helps immensely. Thanks for the video!
You're very welcome! And congrats on the new role!
I think you can ctrate an auto archive property for your main inbox and it would auto archive older emails. That would be one way to get most of the emails out of your inbox to archive.
Yes another viewer mentioned I could create a rule to archive everything. Thanks for sharing Geet!!
Literally just implemented your Gmail version in this weekend to reach inbox zero (which I did!) and was hoping to figure out the same structure for Outlook. Perfect tiiming!
Must be fate Ajit 😁
This was fantastic!! Outlook makes things a bit clunky from the Mac app but online worked great for setting it up. Thanks Jeff!!
Glad to hear it!! 😁
Could you please make a video for setting up inbox zero on Apple Mail? Love your vids! 🙏🏼
I don't use Apple Mail but I might if I ever start!
@@JeffSu in that case I would recommend using Apple Mail!
Hey Jeff! This is amazing. You saved my life since I moved job and had to switch to using outlook. 😢 In your GMail video tutorial, you showed us how to automatically archive the accepted email from calendar invitation. I wonder if we can set up something similar to that in outlook.
Aw man, I'm sorry you had to switch to Outlook from Gmail haha
Yes you just need to identify a "keyword" within the accepted email and create a rule around it!
Thank you, I’ve watched this video multiple times and setup my email like this. On the desktop app, i use quicksteps to follow your steps on the web version. I’m excited and I think this is going to work well for my adhd too.
Glad to hear it!!
Like most people, I really dislike Outlook, and use something else. Currently my favorite is Spark email for my MacBook Pro (also main email app for iPhone and IPad Pro). I’d love to see this modified for Spark. Great overall ideas here though. Especially like the GTD approach integrated in here. Thanks! 😎👍
Thanks for sharing!! I've never tried Spark (I've heard of it), might give it a try
I second Spark! It’s been a great email client so far but would love to see how this is modified to adapt to the platform!
Great job, use outlook for work and didn't know about those initial settings ...yes makes searching emails confusing when seeing those top results.. now I can turn that off 😀
I know right? I really don't understand why this feature even exists
Jeff, I love your approach. This setup has helped me regain control of my inbox. Question, I don’t believe Outlook mobile has categories available. How do you manage your inbox on the move? Have you found a work around? Thank you! Keep up the great content!
Unfortunately not yet! I don't use Outlook mobile app at all haha
Ya, it’s one of the most requested features for outlook for iOS
@@HalfwayHikes interesting!
You can use folders instead of categories, as other viewers pointed out. Just setup three new folders as sub-folders of the inbox. Call them the same as shown in the video. Clear the inbox using the "V" key in order to move e-mails to the designated folder. Once the e-mail has no use for the folder anymore, just use the "E" key to archive. That should work also on the mobile or the tablet.
Damn you Jeff! I put so much time into adapting your last Gmail video to Outlook for you to come out with this video and do it so much better! Please stop being so talented... 😄
You're very very welcome! 😁
Hi Jeff, thank you for making an Outlook version! The "categories" and workflow is SUPER helpful. However, among many drawbacks of Outlook, one of my biggest frustration so far is that the desktop app doesn't seem to display "categories" on the sidebar as it would once you marked as favourite. I tried going to the settings in the desktop app but couldn't fix it, I might miss something tho. If anyone knows how to change that, please let me know. Thanks!
Yea other viewers said the same thing :(. I really wish Microsoft would maintain feature parity across their platforms 😂
The way I solved this on desktop app is setup a search folder and pick categorised mail then I get a view similar to gmail seeing multiple categories at once.
@@dharbert wait what’s a search folder
@@JeffSuonly available on Desktop 😅
@@rivobie 😭
You're a savior! I used the Gmail setup last year and it has made everything so easy and clean. Love your content
Woohooo! I guess you don't need to adopt this for Outlook then?
@@JeffSu Not yet though :v My primary e-mail account is with Gmail. If I ever switch to Outlook I'll surely see this video again
@@Broadsword223 got it
Thanks for the video, like to try it out. But I have different opinion on the 3rd drawback, because of slightly different way for pre-category. When it’s pre-category, it’s usually not important right now, but needed or may be needed later. So I actually don’t need to see them now in inbox, save my time to acknowledge it. Especially newsletters, for me I rarely read them, it’s great they disappear automatically in my inbox by using folder. For trips, there are always somewhere else for example calendar trigger me to follow up any reservations email, so I can go into that category only the day when it’s the time.
Great points my friend!
OMG thank you so much for this!! I have been procrastinating on organising my work email (only available on Outlook) for a while because I just can't find a system as good as your inbox 0 for Gmail which has helped me greatly! It's like you can read minds :P
Who says I can't Jessica?
Perfect!!! Great info. Now if I could just have all my different businesses emails go to one spot. Baby steps!
Yes! 1 step at a time!
After seeing the categories you made in gmail, I tried to do it in outlook and I couldn't and now you publish this video that helped me a lot, Thank you very much Jeff. Hug from Portugal
Hahaha no worries! You're very welcome Tommy 😁
YESS! THANKS THANKS! THIS WAS FASTER THEN WHAT I THOGHT ! I still remember when I asked you in the gmail one if you had one for outlook and you did it! THIS DESERVES A BIG LIKE!
Hahahaha thank you and I'm glad you enjoyed this one Carlos! 😁
That's a common question when using Microsoft products: WHY MICROSOFT?!
I just set up my inbox 0 in outlook, I had some issues with categories because it also affects the calendar (I didn't remind that, and only edited the names of the categories and when I was to check if the categories were empty it was full of the calendar events 🤣 I think I fix it but let's see) I am happy to finally apply inbox 0 in outlook, thank you for the video
You're welcome! Are you using the web or desktop app version?
@@JeffSu the web version 🤓 (I don't like the design of the desktop app)
@@saraiitrecruiter7993 Gotcha!
Hi Jeff. Just recently came across your content - love it! I subscribed immediately. Two questions:
1. How many folders/labels/categories do you maintain?
2. If you’re on a mailing list, do you just pre sort them into folders?
1. Around 10
2. Nah, just a newsletter folder
I used gmail in my previous job for 5 years and I’ve been using outlook for 1.5 years now at new company and I still hate it. It’s so inefficient to archive emails and sometimes rules didn’t work and my company server delete emails regularly that are not archived so I have to manually move emails to category folders all the time.
And I have multiple clients, there are multiple projects going on so I need to archive those emails in each client’s folders and sub folders. MS doesn’t provide filtering entity’s email address why thoooooo! I’ll think about how I can apply this method in my case, but looks convenient! Thank you Jeff!
Dam that sounds rough! Especially how your company's IT department deletes emails regularly???
Let me know if you find this workflow helpful!
Can you do a video on setup quick steps to send emails on the web version of outlook. I have them on the desktop but can find it on the web version to start new emails. And love your video I just did this to me email at work an it has helped me so much.
I don't the web version of Outlook has quick steps though 😅
Hi there! regarding the pre-tag/folder issue you could set up a rule to 1) categorise email(s) according to xyz, b) add another action: move to folder, perhaps add an exception rule and leave them unread while still having the category as a favourite. e.g. newsletters, JIRA-Spam wont clutter up your inbox, you still have the unread-counter in the favourites AND have all categorised mails in a folder, too. i use this to keep 120+ jira mails at bay while only being interested in 2-4 per day.
i haven't worked with the second method but it COULD be applied for a reading-pane-similar-inbox. set up a 'working inbox folder and rules for senders with categories etc and change the importance to high/medium/low by rule, and always move these mails into the working inbox-folder. then sort that folder by importance. since you're setting your own importance by rules, others understanding of what is important for them won't become your to-do immediately. And any new email that is not addressed by the rules can be added to an existing or new rule, or whatever makes sense for it.
all the best, please keep those videos coming they are a great way to unwind, find valuable and actionable information that is made ready to be DONE and implemented and not watched only thinking "yeah, not gonna administrate myself to death, keep your 25.099,08 tools to note a single task"
apologies if my ideas have been mentioned already, i only skimmed the most recent comments. xoxo from Austria
Great video! Not sure if it's a new thing, but you can filter the emails in the inbox by categories so that you can view them in the main inbox. This way, you don't have to click into the category individually.
Oh wait I didn't know this, how do you do this?
When you are in your inbox view, there is the "Filter" button on top. Clicking on that reveals the "Sort" option, which will let you sort by categories. This way, when you categorize an email, it will appear almost like in Gmail.@@JeffSu
Also, I don't need to put in a number in front of the category, because I can rearrange them however I want. I can also remove them from the Favorites completely if I wanted to but still use the Categories in my Inbox. I'd guess that Outlook did put out some good updates in the meantime.
In the Inbox View, there is the "Filter" button up top. Clicking on it reveals the Option "Sort" which lets you select "Category". This way it almost works the same as in Gmail.@@JeffSu
Nice! This works great! @@user-mg8yj8kr2t
My favorite session of all time! I was waiting for it long time ago.. Thanks Sit!
Now you got it Amine! Hope you found this helpful 😁
I'm at a company migrating away from google workspace to microsoft for a variety of reasons, so I found this video very helpful!
the lack of pre-categorizing is annoying... I'm wondering if there isn't a way you could set up a Rule? for example you could set up a contact for each category (name the contact 01, 02, 03) where you add +01, +02, and +03 to your username in the address. then just BCC those addresses on your email, and set up rules to pre-categorize them. Might seem clunky at first but I'm sure you'd get the hang of it, and i like it more than putting a keyword into the email itself or subject line
That definitely works!
@@JeffSu followup question - why is the Google inbox zero video set to private 😱
I finally switched to protonmail as my daily driver, and having inbox zero feels godly
Do you use the free or paid version?
Excellent just totally excellent, now I gotta wait till morning to do this. Literally HUGS!,
Woohoo let me know how it goes 😁
I needed this! Any ideas how to get this working in the Outlook Mobile app and the desktop version of Outlook?
The features aren't there for the mobile app. The workflow is the same for desktop version (even though you can't favorite the categories, you can use the folders instead)
Saved my workflow yet again man! I know it's limiting vs the gmail workflow. But is still is really good. I also took it a step further and added my PARA method Resources & Projects as Folders & areas as additional categories. This makes the same info in my notion workflow as in the outlook workflow!
Thinking about trying to program some quick actions to forward an email to my notion GTD workflow whenever I assign the Do Next Category 🤔🤔
Thanks man!
Oh that's SUCH a great tip Gavin! Adding PARA as folders...did you add them as categories within Gmail as well?
@@JeffSu I them as labels actually. Gmail is nice because you can have something with multiple labels. So you can tag it “do next” and also “project xyz”!
In outlook I decided to use folders instead!
@@gavinscott-miller1553 😅 Oops that's embarrassing, I meant labels in Gmail. Dam I hope none of my colleagues saw that.
So taking that 1 step further, do you literally have Projects, Areas, Resources, Archived as labels? Or do you have Projects - Project A, Projects - Project B, etc.?
@@JeffSu I have a main projects “folder” or label. And then “project a” “project b” etc. areas the same. I just use the built in features for archive. So I didn’t need to make a folder for that.
@@gavinscott-miller1553 ahhhhh gotcha, thanks for letting me know Gavin! That makes a ton of sense!
Jeff's self-promotion at 3:31, also at 5:22.
So back to Outlook, I have to use this 2000s-style, old-school email app at my workplace. And one thing is unacceptable, I found sometimes people have replied to me, but I don't get any notifications........
Whatttttttt, who self-promoted, I just heard it's a GREAT newsletter to subscribe to.... 😏
self-promoted x 3
@@janicexu95 😇
His is a good method. I personally use a Watch List folder to do the same thing as your Read Through category.
Thanks for sharing Matthew! So do you move stuff to the "Watch List" folder to come to later?
@Jeff Su My pleasure Jeff. I really enjoy your videos.
I use the Watch List folder for conference invites that is still a few months out, agendas to upcoming meetings, announcements that I may need to reference from time to time, etc. I manage the folder quite closely so that it doesn't get too full, but ultimately it tends to be reference materials.
OMG - I always hated keyboard shortcuts (don't know why 🤷🏻♂) but after doing all these steps my inbox have never been that good! Now I have a better way to focus on my mails, poking colleagues and discard everything else.
Will your next video be --> How to annoy your colleagues to answer emails? hah!
Good video as always, I feel you connect with real life examples that personally, I can relate too.. Keep it up 🙂
Thank you so much Danny! 😁
Thank you for the video. I love the concept, but until I can categorize emails on the mobile app, I will continue with folders.
Yea I have no idea why Microsoft doesn't have feature parity across platforms 😅
Thank you for doing this. I had just done my gmail according to your steps and then I saw this. Perfect since outlook is my main email. Thank you!
Glad to hear it Jason! Do you use the Web version or Desktop App?
@@JeffSu - I use desktop, web app, and iPhone app. Each has pros and cons. I travel a lot and during that time I only have access to mobile app. It’s missing some key features. For example, Microsoft has been VERY slow to bring things like categories (labels) to iOS app. Which is weird because gmail iOS app is able to show labels on emails. Microsoft isn’t communicative about plans unfortunately.
@@HalfwayHikes 🥲
@@JeffSu - on a side note, Proton Mail supports labels on both web and mobile apps. So it works with the zero inbox very well. As good or better than the Gmail mobile app (at least on iPhone).
I only use proton mail for security related emails, so there’s not much work there. Still, it further shows just how slow Microsoft is in implementing basic features across the ecosystem. They keep promising “one outlook” or now it’s call New Outlook.
My prayers have been answered! Thanks for the video Jeff 😁
I've actually gotten pretty good at keeping my work inbox clean but I'll be seeing where I can incorporate these tips into my Outlook next Monday!
Let me know on Tuesday how it goes Andrea 😁
Will do!
@Jeff Su Update, I got an Inbox Zero workflow for my Outlook now! I mainly use the desktop app though, so what I did was I just added subfolders under Inbox and named them [01], [02], and [03] with the proper headings
@@Andrea_Dong Nice!!! So do you "Move" emails to those folders after reading them? (instead of categorizing)
I actually haven't tried the "Move to" option in Outlook yet but i would assume the principle is similar 🤔 I mainly just drag and drop
Hi @jeffsu, love your videos and have used the Gmail version for many years. My new org uses classic (as do many others) - I don't know how much of an audience this has, but I wanted to make a formal request and suggestion to show how this might best work in that version. This workflow is invaluable to me, and I am completely lost. Kind Regard!
Will do soon!
I added my outlook mail to my gmail account because of the limitations you mention. The drawback is that it syncs the incoming mail every 30 min.but worth it
Hahaha yea Gmail features are pretty awesome!
This is an absolute GAME CHANGER in my handling of email in outlook... What baffles me is that there doesn't seem to be a way of using the same shortcuts and functionality in the full desktop Outlook client... 🤷🏻♂
Yea it's so weird! Idk why Microsoft does that
@JeffSu for Outlook for Mac, it’s better to work with saved searches per category, since your are not able to pin categories as favorites. And than create custom App shortcuts for outlook for each category. After that you have almost the same Gmail workflow. Categorize mail in the inbox via shortcut, archive it and access it later within the saved search. Apply the same shortcut again and it disappears from the saved search.
Thank you very much Jeff for sharing your Inbox zero hack. I am a big fan!!
No problem!
I use the Outlook app in Windows, and not the web version. Most of these doesn't work in that option. Can you please make one for the Outlook app. This is very helpful.
It's basically the same. You will just use folders instead of categories
@@JeffSu Thanks a lot. I really liked the colored categories options. Unfortunately, I cannot add in under favorites when using the Outlook App. Ill try the folder idea.
Jeff, I completely agree with the downsides you've pointed out about some resources of Outlook.
I wonder why Microsoft takes so much longer to improve one of its products, and when it is released we see that they insist on keeping some aspects not productive enough!
P.S.: I use Outlook a lot at work, but for this reason many features are disabled, so it's difficult to customize some resources...
Super curious: Which features are disabled??
@@JeffSu The one that gets me really upset is actually from One Drive, when I want to send a link of a document or a folder to someone out of my company via Outlook and I find out that the person won't be able to receive it because the IT blocks sharing links from One Drive to externals... 😵
@@cassioalexan wait WHAT 😂
Been waiting for the outlook version, you are an absolute hero.
Let me know what you think if you end up adopting this Juan 😁
was waiting for this exactly for 4 months! thank you
It's here now Karam 😁
I think we can add the outlook account in ios mail app and get few more things done.
That's a great point haha!
I use folders instead of categories in Outlook because the mobile app has a "move to" swipe option, but not a "categorise" swipe option. Once I'm finished with an email thread it gets moved to the archive folder, which is the equivalent of removing the category.
That's a good point!
I also considering the same idea, since I haven’t found out how to show categories on iPhone. No chance to add to favorites as on PC
By watching your videos I'm really amazed how I am eager to learn Gmail more than outlook. I have a gmail account however I have never used like what you show in your videos let's say 1% of that. And this outlook video has given me new insights. Will surely try to implement and let you know later.
Glad to hear it, let me know how it goes!!
Great Video. The downside is while using the Outlook app for Macbook, It does not show the categories on favorites on the left. Also, the keyboard shortcuts sometimes work using the computer, but with an external keyboard, they do not... Microsoft + Apple mixture not working.
Yea that kinda sucks :(
I thought this day would never cum. (for outlook) Priceless content as always, Jeff.
Hope your outlook is at 0 now too!
So helpful, i used this workflow for gmail, i started at a new company that uses Outlook and VOILA, ther you were to help me out!! Thanks.
Anytime David!
@@JeffSu I would love if Outlook could add the mutiple inbox feature. I´m not liking the back and forth to the categories. Thanks.
@@molinajuan I know right
This is so helpful. Thank you! I have an inbox zero for the first time in probably decades!
Woohhooo congrats!!!
Thanks you so much Jeff ! I beg you to do the same for apple mail !
Keep on the good work
I'm not sure Apple mail has the same functionalities though 😅
@@JeffSu True, that's almost impossible to use after implementing this kind of workflow for personal and profesional use ! I wish there was a way to have an equivalent in the apple ecosystem.
What do you do with emails that might be useful in the future, for example, for a project you're working on that you may or may not need to refer back to?
You gotta make the decision to either archive (trust in yourself you won't need it) or snooze it
Thanks for the vid. I use it for several weeks and works fine. Does anyone have tips to prioritize treatment mails inside a category ? Thanks
What's treatment mails?
@@JeffSu Thanks for your reply. I have too many emails in certain categories, so I'd like to have a system for prioritizing or setting processing dates for these emails.
I think I have a similar question. Maybe you can use the snooze button to push the lower priority tasks out? Alternatively, you may need a separate task system for tracking all of your tasks.
Pretty good! Just implimented it remotely while I was sick and it worked perfectly! The power of your presentation can make it through the muddled mind haha
I would say an extra category would be filter, especially those that might come through at the end of the day or things have changed and you are no longer a part of that group.
Not going to lie Matthew, I look forward to seeing your name pop up in the comments since I always learn something new from you 😁
First of all, hope you're feeling better. Secondly, sorry what do you mean by adding a "Filter" category?
@@JeffSu Thank you for the kind words and the well wishes. Let's hope it is only pneumonia and nothing worse.
As far as a filter tag, this would be handy for those massive email chains that usually lead to nowhere or are just for information for most of the people on the thread.
The main thing I do is create a CC folder and reroute all my CCs and BCCs out of my inbox so I know who is looking for my attention first. Generally, anyone who CCs me into a conversation is merely doing so because they don't know how to deal with the other people on the thread and wants to tag me in for some reason.
The rule for me is check the CC folder twice a day: at the beginning of the day and at the end of the day.
If anyone wants me to comment on an email, they'll find me and talk to me first.
The filter tag then would be the way to flag those constant emails that sadly waste time and effort due to clogging up inboxes. If you know someone is constantly adding you in because they want "to include everyone," then the filter tag is your test field.
If they don't come running into your office constantly asking about any CC or BCC emails you haven't answered over a 30 day period, then they go into the CC folder immediately after the 30 day period. This also allows you to have a candid conversation with that person regarding their abuse of the CC options.
@@MatthewEaton “reroute all my CCs and BCCs out of my inbox” ahhhh got it, that makes sense!
@@JeffSu The one thing you can measure the people who CC or BCC you into the conversation is if they distill and give follow up requests. Most of the time it is a high level conversation that takes forever to have pertinent information to the people in the chain.
If your manager or the person who starts the CC process tells you everything in a distilled manner and gives you what you need to do next, then they are thinking on a broader scope.
Not everyone needs to be in on the email thread about the company grab a$$ party that happens every other Octolday and it would make the C Suite sad if no one was into grab a$$.
Sadly, I received those emails constantly from my last employer.
@@MatthewEaton Makes sense! My manager says a litmus test to see whether an email is important or not is if that person follows up with a message within 24 hours
Thanks Jeff. This is so helpful. How do I display categories in outlook's sidebar ? it works on the outlook web however, when i switch to the outlook desktop version, I couldn't find it working.
Yea....for some reason Microsoft doesn't have feature parity between platforms (lol)
@@JeffSu No worries. Thanks Jeff
I think this is my new fav video all time! I have tried so hard to do it on native, but after seeing this I think im switching over to the browser!
Glad to hear it Luis! I'm curious - Why didn't the native app work for you?
@@JeffSu Since I saw your Gmail video months ago I tried my best to replicate it. In the native app, you cant have a category be a favorite. The workaround is to tie categories to folders and then favorite those folders. But if you label it you then have to have rule sets to move it, and its not as easy to just label and archive because the same email cant sit in two place. I accidently lost some emails this way.
The other workaround was to categorize and then arrange by category in your main inbox (achieving the rest) to sort of give that same 4 inbox view in your main inbox similar to your gmail video via compression, but then you lose the ability to compress emails by conversation and you end up having to retag emails on the same thread.
Happy to share the views with you via email since im leaving that app behind and relying on the browser version because of your great video!
@@luispreciado4204 Ahhhhh gotcha, thanks for getting back to me Luis!
Great video. Unfortunately Outlook for the Mac does not have the option to add categories to the side bar.
Microsoft - Why? 😂
I'm using Outlook OTW just fine with a Mac. It's a "web app" Jeff is using and not a desktop app.
Very good tip. I just started testing out the new outlook and did not like it but this will definitely help a bunch. Will slowly transition to this workflow as I see lots of values and it also fits my needs. Thanks again!
Let me know how it goes!
I really liked this video. Unfortunately many of the setting changes i could not find on the desktop app or the office 365 web version. Any recommendations?
Use folders instead of categories 😁
I have been waiting for this video! Thanks so much, Jeff!
You're very welcome! Let me know what you think if you end up using it!
@@JeffSu I can use it on the web in this way which is helpful and awesome. However, for work, and for speed of an app rather than in a browser, I have to use the Office360 version of Outlook and this is even more clunky. It won't let you favorite categories and as far as I can tell, shortcuts don't work to speed the archiving/folder organizing process.
For my personal use this is still a very helpful video.
@@AkKnowledge gotcha
Thank you so much, Jeff! This will really help me in the meantime but as next steps, can you tell my company to move to Gmail? 😇
Sure, send me the CEO's email. I'll personally call them up 😏
Did that for me and it works extremely well. So glad to have it done. But did one figure out how to use this system also on IOS Outlook app? I can't find out how to access the emails categorized in my archive folder.... :(
You can search for all archived emails :)
@@JeffSu That’s true, It requires to remember something of the email I categorized as e.g., follow up. But I found out that searching for the category name works fine, although being much more effort than on desktop.
Is there anyway to show the categories in outlook for mac os? I can't seem to get it to show on navigation pane.
Yea that's the main reason I use the Web version
Only on the web app
Hey Jeff! Love you content - you used to have a similar tutorial for Gmail that I'd saved. I just got a new email account & was hoping to find that tutorial...looks the link I have has that video as private. Where would I be able to find that tutorial? - thanks in advance for your help, you've helped my productivity game so much! 🙏
It's outdated now :(
@@JeffSu bummer! Hope to see that 2.0 version soon! 🙏
Would be interested in your thoughts on same strategy for Microsoft Mobile version as I work between desktop & mobile version throughout the day.
I personally don't work on emails on mobile since I am way more productive with a keyboard
Thank you for this incredible video! I do have one question though: is there ever a time you delete certain emails rather than moving them into the archive? What is the benefit of archiving an email rather than simply deleting it, and if the sole benefit is to be able to access it again, how is that different from the "Read Through" option?
Nope, cuz I might want to refer back to them at some point
Thank you, Jeff! Any tips for when you send out a brand new email to someone, but want to ensure you follow-up to confirm your request was completed? I am going to give your Inbox zero tips a try as I am having one heck of a time trying to manage email + Teams + action items from meetings (which we're in ALL day) + Confluence action items + Jira action items. So many systems to manage 🙂 Would appreciate any tips you have to manage all the systems and manage action items you receive throughout the day from all the systems.
Add it to waiting category and you have to follow up yourself (since your ass is on the line)
I wanted this video for the longest time, thank you Jeff!
Now you got it AJ 😁
So useful and helpful! This is going to change my email workflow BIG TIME! Thank you so much!
You're very welcome!
Watched the gmail version of this a while ago and literally just came to revisit it. Saw in the description that another one is in the works. Genuinely looking forward to it. Your targeted tutorials provide as much value to me as Ali Abdaal provides to you. Request / kind constructive feedback, (and Ali does it too); some of the step by step videos posted have a much faster tempo than others making them harder to follow and digest than others. I imagine it's a by-product of high intelligence. This specific video is perfectly fine but from what I remember, I think the recent Notion video might have fallen victim to it. (Context: I know my handle might not imply it, but I'm a millenial so not a complete noob for cloud based workflow)
where is the gmail version of this
Hopefully coming soon
@@JeffSu was on vacation for 3 weeks to India. The good thing...I fully disconnected. The bad...came back to a shit ton of emails. Hence, figured I'd follow up. Any updates as to when the updated Gmail version of this will be coming out?
Hi Jeff, Love your videos. I tried it is working. Thanks 😄
That's what I love to hear 😁
Jeff - love your content! Did you move inbox Zero for Gmail to your paid courses? Trying to find a link to send a friend that I was talking your content up to
Short answer: Yes
Long answer -
Gmail went through a major upgrade this year so the previous workflow is now outdated. 😅
Since Gmail will never stop evolving (which is a good thing) and to make sure you're getting the absolute most out of your email, I host live workshops for my Workspace Academy students where we'll dive into the freshest inbox management strategies together.
You can find out more about it here: academy.jeffsu.org/workspace-academy?
I was so excited to see the title of the video. But then got sad 😞. I use offline Outlook Inbox, which is way different then what outlook web is. I already used your Gmail inbox zero method and simply love it. Can you do something for people like us using offline Outlook. Please🙏
Do you mind the desktop client app Amit? (Because you can't use Outlook offline 😅)
@@JeffSu 😁Oops I meant desktop client app. I am a finance guy. Not a tech one. Sorry to confuse!
Where do you save mail with important passwords and invoices? Do you label them seperate and what label do you give them or just somewhere in your 'Archive' and just search for it if you need it? Thanks 👌🙂. Great videos, seems like a lot of work!!!! 🙌😬
I don't have emails with important passwords 😂. For invoices I would label them with "Records"
Can anyone recommend a video that explains the steps for the paid version of outlook? Settings look very different... Thanks!
I followed the steps in the free version but the changed settings are not "passed through" to the paid version unfortunately.
I only use the free version :(