Outlook: rules, folders, search folders and shared mailboxes
For people who manage a lot of email in Microsoft Outlook, their own or a team's: coordinators, assistants, finance and support staff. It builds on 'Microsoft 365 everyday', which introduces rules and shared mailboxes in a few lines; take that first if Outlook is new to you. You'll choose between folders, rules and Search Folders; write rules with the right conditions, actions, exceptions and order; find mail with Search Folders and search operators instead of moving it; work in a shared mailbox (opening it, sending and replying from the shared address, searching it); and troubleshoot setups that misfile or hide mail. Grounded in Microsoft Support documentation for new Outlook for Windows, classic Outlook and Outlook on the web; menus differ between versions, and your administrator's settings and your organisation's email policy come first. Ends with a supervisor-graded inbox set-up.
- Level
- Beginner
- Length
- About 80 minutes
- Contents
- 5 lessons · final exam
- Status
- Published · updated 10 Oct 2026
Skills you'll practise
- Choose folders, rules or search folders to organise mail for a given need
- Write an Outlook rule with the right condition, action, exception and order, including Stop processing more rules
- Create search folders and use search operators to find messages without moving them
- Work in a shared mailbox: open it, send and reply from the shared address, and search it
- Troubleshoot a rule or folder setup that misfiles, hides or loses mail
Course outline
- 1.Choose folders, rules or search folders to organise mailLesson · 12 min
- 2.Write an Outlook rule with the right condition, action, exception and orderLesson · 16 min
- 3.Create search folders and use search operators to find messagesLesson · 14 min
- 4.Work in a shared mailboxLesson · 14 min
- 5.Troubleshoot a rule or folder setup that misfiles, hides or loses mailLesson · 10 min
- 6.Outlook: rules, folders, search folders and shared mailboxes: knowledge checkKnowledge check · 14 questions
- 7.Outlook: rules, folders, search folders and shared mailboxes: practical exerciseKnowledge check · 1 question
- 8.Final exam10 questions · passing it completes the course, so people who already know the material can test out
Sources it draws on
The lessons and questions are written from these references, so learners can go back to the original.
- Microsoft Support: Manage email messages by using rules in Outlook
- Microsoft Support: Stop processing more rules in Outlook
- Microsoft Support: Create a folder or subfolder in Outlook
- Microsoft Support: Use Search Folders to find messages or other Outlook items
- Microsoft Support: How to search in Outlook
- Microsoft Support: Open and use a shared mailbox in Outlook
See it with your own jobs and topics
Tell us about your team and we'll walk you through setup, from choosing jobs to your first skills check.