“Color Categories”

Before I go any further with the subject of E-mail categorization, I want to first talk about the different “Color categories”, and why we use them.

 

We have had this “color category” option since “Outlook 2007”. This option gives us a quick, visual option for adjusting items and making them distinguishable making it is much easier to find information about items in a project.

 

For example, you want to give a party where there is going to be eating and dancing. You have a number of tasks to accomplish, such as, sending a number of e-mails, and a host of other items on the agenda.

 

When we differentiate the various tasks by using various colors for each category, it will be much easier to find items that are correlated, in the current project.

 

Before you assign a color, it must be included in the list of “Color categories”. By default, there are a number of “Color categories” that are pre-defined.

When you are assigning a default color category to an item for the first time, you will be asked to rename the category. In the dialog box that opens, you can change the color of the category and / or select a shortcut key combination.

When you set a shortcut key combination, you can assign a “Color category” to an item in your “Inbox”, or any other message list, with a single click.

 

We have the option of changing the name, color and xxxxx of a category. We can also modify or delete it at any time.

Select the “All Categories” option from the drop down list that opens after you click on the “Categorize” button. The “Color categories” dialog box opens.

Select the “Color category” that you want to assign, from the dialog box that is open and next click on one of the several option buttons found on the right side of the dialog box.

 

E-mail categorization:

Just like all other items in “Outlook”, we can also assign a category to an e-mail (color).

To place an e-mail in a particular category, click on the “Categorize” (1) button, and select a category from the drop-down menu that opens. Another way is to click on the “Quick Click Category” icon which is to the right of the message (2), next to the flag icon.

 

In the first case, a drop-down menu with a list of the various categories is opened, and in the second case, the default category is assigned to the selected message.

 

Earlier, I mentioned how we customize categories. I will now explain the way we change the default settings of a category. Just click on the “Follow up” button present in the “Task” tab, and select the “Set Quick Click” option from the drop-down menu.

This opens a small window where you set the default category using the down arrow key to select the category and then click on the OK button.

You also have the option to assign multiple categories to an e-mail.

To delete categories, select the “Clear All Categories” option from the drop-down menu.

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