Forum Discussion
Focused Inbox for Contacts Only
I have been searching for an idea listing to have the option of configuring the focused inbox to show only email from contacts and the Other show everything else. I get an enormous number of unsolicited emails into my focused inbox. I have spent hours trying to "always move them to other", but that is not effective, efficient or user friendly. I'd rather add to my contact the emails that I have agreed to receive. My important emails are getting lost in all the clutter.
In New Outlook, you can choose Strict mail handling under the Junk email settings and Trust Email from my contacts.
Be careful; you may miss important messages.
If you find this information helpful, please mark it as the best response, which will assist others with the same question.
/Teresa
#traccreations4e 7/1/2024
In New Outlook, you can choose Strict mail handling under the Junk email settings and Trust Email from my contacts.
Be careful; you may miss important messages.
If you find this information helpful, please mark it as the best response, which will assist others with the same question.
/Teresa
#traccreations4e 7/1/2024- Thank you for this suggestion. I may try it, but as you warn, may miss important messages.
Thank you for shownig the new filtering feature, but I think your warning needs to be stronger! If some messages got lost in JUNK, they (and I) might just drown.
I can't use your New-Outlook setting for pushing everything to JUNK, because I still get several or many emails that I must react to every day: Two-factor authentications, and appointment reminders from my doctors and such. Since my JUNK is already one of my most active folders, I don't want to wait for Outlook to look through there for me.
Since the balance of email is unchosen, it seems easier to promote the ones you probably want (mail from contacts),while having Outlook push some to JUNK some to OTHER. I would pull the Contacts to a safe folder for perusing. This result would have me scan the much smaller "FOCUS" box for the occasional two-factor or reminder. Also, I often find myself talking to someone new who wants to send me info or a quote right now, and I have to be able to access that without stoppping the conversation while I search. (Especially given reent MS365 performance nowadays!)
My first hope was to claim the contact emails and to leave hundreds of "stranger emails" behind. Basically dragging the good stuff to safety and leaving behind the things I DON'T want.
Maybe the new Outlook will offer a way to accomplish this.
Thanks for your attention.
For your scenario, Microsoft does not have the functionality to create a rule based on all your Contacts that moves emails to the Other tab. You can consider using the Sweep Command.
Once an approved contact sends an email, right-click on the email.
Select the Sweep command from the ribbon, and choose to Move all messages from the Inbox folder and any future messages to a folder of your choice.This way, you can move all relevant messages to the rightful folder.
However, there is one catch: The rules run once per day.The sweep command may assist you in 80/20% of the time.
I hope this helps.
Teresa #traccreations 8/5/2024
- Could you add one last email rule , after specific rules have xecuted, and
say roughly: "if sender is in contacts move to contact_inbox"
Then, the remaining messages in inbox would be your clutter.
Might work. : -)- They are already in the inbox. I have tried rules to even change the color of senders from our own domain. Rules are shotty and don't work very often for some reason. Way back in the day, LOL, when Outlook was simpler, I guess, these types of color coding worked. Now they don't.
