Adding a Quick Step email in Outlook streamlines repetitive tasks, letting you perform multiple actions with a single click, from moving emails to a specific folder to creating new messages with pre-filled content.
How to Add a Quick Step in Outlook
Quick Steps are powerful tools to automate your email workflow. Here's a step-by-step guide to create a new Quick Step, especially for email-related actions, in the new Outlook experience:
Step-by-Step Guide to Create a New Quick Step
- Access Mail View: First, ensure you are in the Mail view. In the new Outlook interface, select Mail from the navigation pane, typically located on the left side of your screen.
- Open Quick Steps Management: Navigate to the Home tab in the Outlook ribbon. Locate the Quick Steps group. Click the drop-down menu icon (often a small arrow) next to "Quick Steps" and then select Manage Quick Steps.
- Initiate New Quick Step Creation: A "Settings" window will appear, displaying your existing Quick Steps. Under the "Quick steps" section, click the + New quick step button to begin configuring a new automation.
- Name Your Quick Step: A new window will prompt you to name your Quick Step. Choose a descriptive and easy-to-remember name that reflects its function, such as "Move to Project X", "Reply & Delete", or "Create Meeting".
Defining Email Actions for Your Quick Step
Once you've named your Quick Step, you'll need to define the actions it will perform. Quick Steps can combine multiple actions, making them incredibly versatile for email management.
Common Email Quick Step Actions:
- Move to Folder: Instantly move a selected email to a specific folder (e.g., Move to Archive, Move to To-Do).
- Categorize: Assign a color category to an email.
- Mark as Read/Unread: Change the read status of an email.
- Flag Message: Add a follow-up flag with a reminder.
- New Email to: Create a new email addressed to a specific recipient, with a pre-filled subject, and even pre-written text in the body.
- Reply/Reply All: Generate a reply to the sender or all recipients, with optional default text.
- Forward: Forward the selected email to a specific recipient.
- Delete Message: Move the message to the Deleted Items folder.
- Create Task with Attachment: Convert an email into a task, attaching the original email.
- Create Appointment with Attachment: Transform an email into a calendar appointment, attaching the original email.
How to Add Actions:
- After naming your Quick Step, you'll see a section to "Choose an action."
- Click Add action.
- From the drop-down menu, select the desired action (e.g., Move to folder).
- Configure the details for that action (e.g., choose the specific folder).
- To add more actions, click Add another action and repeat the process. Actions will execute in the order they are listed.
- Click Save to finalize your new Quick Step.
Practical Examples of Email Quick Steps
Here are a few popular and highly effective Quick Step examples to enhance your email productivity:
| Quick Step Name | Primary Action(s) | Use Case |
|---|---|---|
| Project X Filing | 1. Move to folder (e.g., "Project X") 2. Mark as Read |
Quickly file away project-related emails after reading them, keeping your inbox clutter-free. |
| Delegate to Team Lead | 1. Forward (to team lead's email) 2. Add subject prefix "FW: [ACTION REQUIRED]" 3. Move to folder ("Delegated") |
Forward tasks/requests to a specific person with a clear subject, then move the original email for tracking. |
| New Client Email | 1. New Email (to client, with CC to manager) 2. Pre-fill subject ("Welcome to Our Service") 3. Pre-fill body (standard welcome message) |
Instantly compose a standard welcome or follow-up email to new clients, ensuring consistency. |
| Reply & Archive | 1. Reply (with standard closing) 2. Move to folder ("Archived Conversations") |
Respond to an email and immediately archive the conversation, reducing manual steps. |
| Convert to Task | 1. Create a task with attachment | Transform an important email into a to-do item in your task list, ensuring it's not forgotten. |
Using Your Quick Steps
Once created, your Quick Steps will appear prominently in the Quick Steps group on the Home tab of your Outlook ribbon. To use a Quick Step:
- For selected emails: Select one or more emails in your inbox, then simply click the desired Quick Step from the ribbon.
- For new emails: Some Quick Steps (like "New Email to...") will directly open a pre-configured draft.
You can also right-click an email and find Quick Steps in the context menu for faster access. For more in-depth information, you can always refer to official Microsoft Support documentation on Quick Steps.
