Organizing Your Email with Color

Have you ever wished that you knew which of your many emails were being sent just to you and nobody else? (If it's sent just to you, then there's a real good chance somebody is waiting on you to respond. If it's sent to lots of people, they may or may not be waiting on you for a response.) If so, there is a way to flag those emails with color. Here's the idea: Messages that are sent where you are the only recipient can be shown in RED (or any color you choose) while messages that go to more than one person are shown in BLACK. Here's how to do it:

• When you are in your Outlook Inbox, click on the "Organize" button on your toolbar.
• When you see the menu pop down, choose the "Using Colors" link on the left side of the menu.
• The second bullet says: Show messages sent only to me in ..." Click on the drop down arrow and choose a color.
• Then click the "turn on" button.
• Close the Organize window by clicking on the X.
• The messages sent only to you should now appear in the color you chose.

You can also mark emails from a certain sender with color as well. It works with addresses within and outside of the state email network. Here's how:

• When you are in your Outlook Inbox, click on the "Organize" button on your toolbar.
• When you see the menu pop down, choose the "Using Colors" link on the left side of the menu.
• The first bullet says: Color messages from or sent to (select "from" in the drop down box), then in the next space, type the person's name (last name, then a comma, then a space, then their first name. Ex. Whitmer, Paula) then select the color.
• Next, click on the "Apply color" button. You should then get a message next to that button that says "Done!" Check your Inbox and see if it worked.
• If the person is not in your Contacts list, then you can actually type in their email address in the spot for the name. If you've received at least one message from them that you still have, you can select that message and it will automatically insert their name. It works either way.

(Thanks to Paula Whitmer, for this week's tech tip directions!)