10 Useful Tips Every Microsoft Outlook User Should Know
Outlook is one of the best Gmail alternatives for most users . Microsoft’s email service is free and has many features that Gmail lacks. At the same time, there are some common features you’ll likely need if you’re switching from Gmail—they’re just not enabled by default. I’ve been using Outlook for over a decade, and these are the best life hacks I’ve discovered while sorting through my email.
Disable image loading to prevent email tracking by dubious companies.
Companies and organizations often use pixel tracking to see if you’ve opened their emails. Each email contains a hidden tracking pixel that sends a read receipt to the sender when opened. Outlook’s default settings protect you from the worst, but you should take a few extra steps to protect your account. Go to Outlook.com and sign in to your account. Click the gear icon in the upper-right corner to open Settings. Now go to Mail > Spam . Under Security Options, select “Block attachments, images, and links from anyone not on my list of safe senders and domains.”
Please note that this may not be suitable for everyone, as it requires manual verification of email senders. However, from a security perspective, it is the best tool for protecting against email tracking, phishing, and scams. You can also go to Outlook Settings > Mail > Layout and select “Don’t show sender images” to add an additional layer of privacy protection. Similarly, you can go to the “Message Handling” tab on the same settings page and uncheck “For shopping-related messages, show the sender’s logo and related links in the message header.”
Use the Safe Senders feature to prevent legitimate Outlook emails from being sent to spam.
Outlook has a “Safe Senders” feature that allows you to add people to your trusted contacts list. Emails from these people will be kept out of spam and won’t be subject to restrictions like blocked links or attachments—perfect for those using the method described above. You can use this feature to ensure important emails, like bank statements or payslips from your employer, never end up in spam. To get started, go to Outlook Settings > Mail > Junk Email > Add Safe Sender . You can also select the “Safe Mailing Lists” tab to add mailing lists to your Safe Senders list. This is great for emails from your favorite publications or security-related emails from your company.
Run automatic mailbox cleanup to delete emails every 24 hours.
One of Outlook’s best features is the “Sweep” feature. It automatically checks your inbox for emails from specific senders and, based on your instructions, manages the clutter. For example, my bank sends me an email about every credit card transaction. At one point, I had over 150 unread emails I didn’t need. So, I used the “Sweep” feature to save transaction emails from the last 10 days and archive the rest. To set it up, select any email in your inbox, then click the “Home” tab at the top of the page in Outlook desktop or web apps. Select “Sweep,” and you’ll see a pop-up asking what to do with emails from that sender. There are four options:
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Move all messages from the Inbox
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Move all messages from your Inbox, as well as all future messages.
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Always save the most recent message and move the rest out of your inbox.
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Always move messages older than 10 days from your Inbox.
There’s also a drop-down menu to choose where you want to move these messages. I usually choose one of the last two options above and move the remaining messages to the Archive or Deleted Items folder. I’ve been using this feature for a couple of years now, and it works flawlessly in the background. If you ever want to change or remove the purge rules, go to Outlook Settings > Mail > Purge .
Set up gestures to delete emails with a single swipe.
The Outlook mobile app supports gestures for quickly sorting emails without having to open each one manually. You can swipe left or right to archive, delete, or report messages. However, you can customize these gestures to suit your needs. Go to Outlook settings in the mobile app and select “Email” > “Swipe Options.” On this page, choose what happens when you swipe right or left. Useful options include delete, archive, flag/unflag, mark as read/unread, snooze, and read and archive.
In the Outlook desktop and web apps, go to Outlook Settings > Mail > Customize Actions . Here you can customize swipe gestures (for laptops with a touchscreen) and quick actions—the buttons that appear beneath each email in your inbox. I used this to replace the “Pin” button with “Archive,” as I never pin emails to my inbox. You can select up to four actions for each email.
Disable Copilot AI and block Microsoft’s data collection.
In the Outlook mobile, desktop, and web apps, go to Settings > Copilot and disable the “Enable Copilot” option . This will disable almost all AI features in the apps. Also, go to Outlook Settings > Mail > Smart Suggestions and disable the “Show suggested replies” option .
Microsoft also collects a lot of data and enables artificial intelligence services in your Outlook account. If you want to disable this, go to Outlook Settings > Mail > Privacy & Data > Privacy Settings . Disable all the options on this page to turn off optional diagnostic data collection, prevent Microsoft from analyzing your emails for “related experiences,” and disable online content related to emails in your mailbox. You can also select “Delete history” to clear your search history in Outlook. While you’re at it, go to Mail > Compose & Reply and disable Microsoft Edge autocomplete . When enabled, Microsoft Edge will use information from your Outlook mailbox for autocomplete, specifically flight information. This feature may be useful for those who use Edge frequently, but is of little use to those who don’t.
Use this hidden menu to unsubscribe from spam emails in bulk.
While researching this article, I discovered a hidden bulk unsubscribe feature in Outlook. This feature displays all the subscriptions in your inbox and allows you to unsubscribe from them all without opening a single email. To try it out, go to Outlook Settings > Mail > Subscriptions . Click the “Unsubscribe” button next to any of the lists, and Outlook will do the rest for you.
Switch to Gmail keyboard shortcuts to speed up email processing.
I’ve never been a big fan of Outlook’s keyboard shortcuts. For example, “Ctrl-N” opens a new email in Outlook. In Gmail, it’s “C.” While Ctrl-N is a more familiar shortcut, it’s not as fast as using a single press. The good news is that you can use Gmail keyboard shortcuts in Outlook and save yourself a lot of time. I like this because most people have Gmail as their primary email account, and now you don’t have to remember two sets of email shortcuts. To set this up, go to Outlook Settings > General > Ease of Access > Keyboard Shortcuts . Select Gmail , and you’re good to go. Google has listed all the Gmail keyboard shortcuts here if you need a refresher.
Use Quick Steps to mark emails as read and archive them with one click.
I mark emails as read and archive them quite often, and I set up a one-click workflow using Outlook’s Quick Steps feature. You can do this too by going to Outlook Settings > Mail > Quick Steps . Give your Quick Step a name, select an action, such as “Mark as Read,” and click “Add Another Action.” Now you can select “Move to” and then “Archive.” On the same page, you can add a keyboard shortcut for this action and click “Save.” This is a basic example of what you can do with Quick Steps. You can customize any multi-step workflow to suit your needs, including categorizing emails, converting emails to tasks, or disabling conversation notifications, among other things.
Set up an undo send feature to prevent accidental sending of incomplete emails.
If you’ve ever regretted sending an email immediately after hitting “Send,” you’re not alone. Gmail has an undo send feature enabled, but Outlook doesn’t. You’ll need to enable it manually in Outlook Settings > Mail > Compose & Reply > Undo Send . Use the slider to set a timer from 0 to 30 seconds—that’s how long you have to stop an email where you misspelled your name. (Goes without saying.)
Set up Outlook email filters to highlight messages sent directly to you.
In Outlook, you can use the rules feature to filter messages that include you in the Cc or Bcc fields. This way, you can focus on messages addressed directly to you and move the rest to another folder. To do this, go to Outlook Preferences > Mail > Rules and select Add New Rule . Name the rule and select the condition “I’m not on the To line .” In the Actions field, select Move to and select a folder. Select Stop processing rules to avoid future conflicts and click Save . Now, all messages that include you in the Cc or Bcc fields will be moved to the new folder, leaving only direct messages in your Inbox.