Create Folders in Windows Live Mail or Outlook Express

Email & Messaging

My Windows Mail Inbox attracts tons of emails — messages of all kinds. It's a veritable chaos.

Fortunately, I can set up all kinds of folders in Windows Live Mail, Windows Mail and Outlook Express, too — folders to sort and organize the messages in.

Create Folders to Organize Mail in Windows Live Mail, Windows Mail or Outlook Express

To create a folder in Windows Live Mail, Windows Mail or Outlook Express:

Go to your Inbox.
In Windows Live Mail 2011:
- Open the Folders tab in the ribbon.
- Click New folder
In Windows Live Mail 2009 and earlier, Windows Mail and Outlook Express:
- Select File | Folder | Create new folder… (or File | Folder | New…) from the menu.
Enter the name of the folder you want to create under Folder name:.
Highlight the folder that you want to put the new folder in under Select the folder in which to create the new folder.
- Folders can be nested in Windows Live Mail, Windows Mail and Outlook Express, so you can put the new folder under any other folder.
- To create a top-level folder, highlight Local Folders.
Click OK.

Sort the List of Folders

If you created have more than a handful of folders in Windows Live Mail, Windows Mail or Outlook Express, you may want to sort them by priority.

Make Windows Live Mail, Windows Mail or Outlook Express File Automatically with Filters

Of course, you don't have to move all incoming mail to the appropriate folder by hand. It's easy to set up filters for that job in Windows Live Mail, Windows Mail or Outlook Express.