Outlook: Grouping Items
Published on 1st January 2006
Today we are going to look at Outlook again to help you organise your emails and tasks, and perhaps help your time management too.
Let's look at Sent Items for our first example. Normally, Sent Items are listed in date order, and grouped by date too. In our experience it is better to have Sent Items listed by who the email was sent To, because, if you are looking for a message you sent, you'll probably have a better idea who you sent it to rather than when.
Using Field Chooser to Add a Column
- In any view that has a list of items, you can add a field, eg: the TO field to show who the email was sent to.
- Right-click any of the column headings and select Field Chooser from the menu.
- The Field Chooser window will appear. Drag the field you want onto the heading row for the list. A pair of red arrows will show where the new column is going to go.
Sorting by a Column
- Left-click a column heading to sort the list by that column. Clicking the same column a second time will sort the list in reverse.
Grouping by a Column (All versions of Outlook)
- Right-click the column heading and choose GROUP BY THIS FIELD.
- Repeat this for sub-groups
Grouping by a Column (Outlook 2003)
- Use the menu command VIEW - ARRANGE BY - SHOW IN GROUPS.
- Use the menu command VIEW - ARRANGE BY to choose which grouping you want. Sub-groups need to be added by adding to the group by box as shown above.
Showing/Hiding the Group by Box
The group by box (at the top of the list) shows how the items are grouped.
- Right-click a column heading and click GROUP BY BOX.
Removing a Grouping
- In the Group by box at the top of the list, right-click the heading and choose DON'T GROUP BY THIS FIELD.
- Alternatively, drag the heading out of the group by box.
Grouping Tasks
You can group any view that is a list of items - Contacts, Tasks and even the Taskpad that you see from the Calendar.
Grouping Tasks is especially useful for time management purposes.
Time Management With Tasks
- Use Field Chooser to add the Priority column and use that to prioritise your tasks
- Group your Tasks by Due Date and Priority, for example.
- To change a task, you can drag it into a different group. A label will pop-up telling you how it will change. For example, dragging a task into Today's High Priority group will make it High Priority for Today.
Remember you can do this in the Taskpad in the calendar too.