How to Retain Mail Permenantly

Mail in your ‘Inbox’ and ‘Sent Items’ older than 365 days will automatically be moved to a ‘Deleted Items’ folder. Mail that you wish to keep permanently must be in a folder that you have created directly under your mailbox itself, or a sub-folder of a folder directly under the mailbox, NOT under your ‘Inbox’ or ‘Sent Items’ or a sub-folder of either one. A good practice is to move messages to be retained indefinitely from out of the ‘Inbox’ and ‘Sent Items’ folders into alternate folders periodically before they are moved to ‘Deleted Items’. However, you may move your mail from ‘Deleted Items’ into other folders at any time up until 30 days from when it is placed into ‘Deleted Items’. After 30 days in the ‘Deleted Item’s folder, messages are automatically removed. If you do not want to keep your mail, you may dispose of it manually or simply allow it to be deleted automatically.

In the example below, a new folder is created for indefinite retention called ‘Retain Permanently’. Follow the instructions below in order to create your ‘Retain Permanently’ folder. If desired, you may include sub-folders within the ‘Retain Permanently’ folder, (for example: one folder for Inbox mail and one for Sent.)

Note: The instructions below are provided to organize mail before it defaults into the ‘Deleted Items’ folder.

 

Creating a Folder
Step 1:
To create a folder, including the ‘Retain Permanently’ folder, it must be located in the root ‘Mailbox’, NOT under your ‘Inbox’.
Open Outlook and select the root mailbox as shown below.

 

Step 2:
Click the ‘Folder’ tab and click ‘New Folder’, as shown below, or right-click on the root name and click ‘New Folder’.
create new

(Image below represents a right-click to create a new folder)
New folder RC

Step 3:
The ‘Create New Folder’ window opens. Enter a name for the new folder, ie: Retain Permanently, in the ‘Name’ text box.
Ensure that the root mailbox is selected in this new window and click ‘OK’.
name RP folder

Step 4:
The ‘Retain Permanently’ folder that was just created is now under the root mailbox as shown below. Repeat the ‘Create New Folder’
procedure to create subfolders as needed, ie: a folder for Inbox items and one for Sent.
do it again for more

(Image below represents a right-click to create a new sub-folder within Retain Permanently)
subfolder Inbox

Step 5:
Once again, the ‘Create New Window’ opens. Repeat procedures for naming and saving the new folder in the desired location.
From Inbox folder

(Image below represents new sub-folders created within Retain Permanently)
both folders

 

Creating Quick Steps & Shortcut Keys to Move Mail

Outlook 2010 includes new features called ‘Quick Steps’. Quick Steps are action shortcuts that help manage your mailbox quickly. A single click can
perform a variety of actions. For the purpose of these instructions, a Quick Step to move contents from one folder to another is provided.

Step 1:
From the ‘Home’ tab, click ‘Create New’ from the ‘Quick Steps’ area as shown below.
new quickstep

Step 2:
The ‘Edit Quick Step’ window opens. Enter a name for the Quick Step shortcut in the text box provided then click ‘Choose an Action’
that will be performed when the Quick Step is clicked. Select ‘Move to Folder’ for this particular set of instructions.
name quick step

Step 3:
Click ‘Choose Folder’ and then click ‘From Inbox’ to select the name of the folder designating where the ‘Move to Folder’ action
takes place. You can select from the available folders as shown below or through the ‘Other Folder’ options.
choose inbox

(Image below represents the ‘Other Folder’ option:
Click in the following order: ‘Choose Folder’, ‘Other Folder’, ‘From Inbox’ and ‘OK’)
other folder qkstp

Step 4:
Optional – you can also designate a keyboard shortcut key.
Click ‘Finish’ to complete creating the Quick Step.
optional shortcut key

Outlook 2010 comes with several default Quick Step actions. Additionally, Quick Steps can be created or modified as needed.
Click here for additional information on Quick Steps.

Moving Mail into Folders

Mail can be moved in the following ways:

(Image below represents the ‘Preview’ Screen.)
preview screen

To Move Incoming Mail at the ‘Preview’ screen using Drag and Drop option
Step 1:
Click Inbox and then Click the message in the Mail Notification column to be moved.

Step 2:
Click-Hold-and Drag the message to the desired folder.

 

To Move Incoming Mail at the ‘Preview’ screen using Move to Folder option
Step 1:
Click Inbox and then Click the message in the Mail Notification column to be moved.

Step 2:
Right-click on the message to access the drop-down menu as shown below. Hover mouse over Move to generate the fly-out menu.

Step 3:
Click ‘From Inbox’ from the ‘Move’ fly-out menu.

 

To Move Incoming Mail at the ‘Preview’ screen using a Quick Step.
Step 1:
Click Inbox and then Click the message in the Mail Notification column to be moved.

Step 2:
Click on the’Retain-Inbox’ Quick Step created earlier.

 

To Move Incoming Mail at the ‘Message’ screen using Move to Folder option.
Step 1:
Click Inbox and then double-click the selected message in the Mail Notification column. The message will open in the ‘Message’ tab.

Step 2:
Click ‘Move’ to access the drop-down menu as shown below.

Step 3:
Click ‘From Inbox’ from the ‘Move’ drop-down menu.
message move

 

To Move Incoming Mail at the ‘Message’ screen using Quick Step option.
Step 1:
Select Inbox and then double-click the selected message in the Mail Notification column. The message will open in the ‘Message’ tab.

Step 2:
Click on the ‘Retain-Inbox ‘Quick Step (or keyboard shortcut key if applicable) created earlier.
move message qkstp

 

(Moved mail will appear as shown below.)
moved