Manage Flagged Email Effectively in Outlook

Display Flagged Email

Managing flagged email effectively in Outlook starts with displaying the flagged email so that you can manage them more easily. Use the Outlook sort function, enable views of Task Bar or MyDay and create Search Folder to see all your flags in one view. Ideally sort your view by due date.

Here are four recommendations for displaying Flagged Email in Outlook

Sort the Inbox

Change the the sort in the inbox to “Flag Status”, “Flag Due Date” or “Flag Start Date” to see the flagged email in your inbox.

Create a Search Folder and Add to Favorites

Right click on Search Folder, click create Search Folder and select “Flagged for Follow up” . Then, right click on the Search Folder and click “Add to Favorites” in the Folder list.

Enable Task Bar (Classic Outlook) or My Day (New Outlook)

Go to View in the Menu bar and enable Task Bar or MyDay. To view flagged emails in My Day, click on the “To Do” Tab at the top and select “Flagged Emails” from the drop down menu.

Enable Task Bar (Classic Outlook) or “My Day” (New Outlook) in the Calendar

Go to View in the menu bar select “Task Bar.” In New Outlook “My Day” must be enabled in the email view to display in the Calendar.

Managing Flagged Email

For the flag function in Outlook to be successful it is important to manage the flags regularly. Review each flagged email under the TODAY heading. Is this a flagged email item that has been completed? If so, mark the flag complete. If it is not completed today, then right click on the Flag and change the due date.

By flagging email messages, you can track responses to messages that you send. You can also make sure that you follow up on messages that you receive. In either case, you can include a reminder alert. We recommend to always using a date to help prioritize action-based emails.

NOTE: If you flag on the mobile phone, the flag will show up on the desktop as NO DATE. We only recommend keeping the flag tagged as NO DATE if the action is on hold and there is no reminder or due date known at that time.

Best Practices for Flagging Email

To Assign a Date to a Flag: Right click on the flag icon to show menu options of due date. Choose Custom to select a specific date and/or add a reminder.
To Mark a Flag Complete: Once an email is completed, right click again and mark the email “Complete” this will add a green checkmark next to the email and then it can be filed or deleted. Once an email is marked Complete you will not see it viewed in the Task Bar.
Set Reminders: In Classic Outlook you can set a reminder by right clicking on the Flag in the email and you will see “Add Reminder. In New Outlook, you must set the reminder by going to the flagged email in the “My Day” Task Bar and right clicking on the flagged email.
When, finished, then focus on the flagged emails for Today and mark complete when you are done!

Cleaning Up Flags Recommendations

If you have a lot of flags, create a Search Folder for flagged Emails. This will scan all of your email in every folder for flagged emails and display them in a folder.
Change the Sort initial by “Date of Conversation”
Go to the older flagged emails and decide what to do with the flags. First clean up the outdated flags and either mark complete or remove the flag.
- Note: If you need to remove flags from multiple old emails, then click on an email, then hold the shift key and select another email in the list. To select emails out of order in the list, use the CTRL key and select the emails. Right Click on the Flag to display the Flag menu and select edit the flag: Complete, Remove, Change Due Date, etc.
Then, review the more current flagged emails and either assign or update the due dates by right clicking on the flag and selecting a date.