Have you ever searched for an email from within outlook and wondered which folder that particular email was filed under? Well, I have and it was driving me crazy but I finally figurerd it out! I use Outlook 2007 and all you have to do to find out which folder you filed the email in is this. Search for the email and once you have found it, right-click on the column heading and select “folder” instead of the default “Date” from the list of “Arrange By:” choices. This will arrange the search results by folder. Easy right?
Finding Which Folder An Email Has Been Filed Under From Within Outlook
January 28, 2011 by 27 Comments
Doesn’t work in 2010! 🙁
It does work – you just need to make sure you have a checkmark next to both ‘Folder’ and ‘View in groups’ – otherwise it will arrange them by folder but won’t group them by what folder they’re in.
It worked for me in Outlook 2011 for Mac. Thank you – this was driving me a little nuts.
Same here! Thank you!
Ultimate solution:
Simply move the mouse cursor over the item and the last line of the information shows states: “In Folder xxxxxx”. (xxxxx is the name of the folder of course).
Took me a while but after following the thread above, I still couldn’t “see” the name of the folder until the information was right there in front of me! Duuuhhhhh>
Uhh… NO… it does NOT
Um… yes it does. Mouse over the envelope icon to the left of the subject line and let the rollover thing pop up. If you’re in Outlook 2010, you’ll get the tool tip as described by DOK48
NO… it doesn’t.
the mouse over option works once you do a search for the email. If you scroll your mouse over an email in a folder or the inbox it won’t tell you where it is, because you are in a static location. Simply do a search for the email i.e. Michael Smith – below all items from, to, cc of Michael Smith will appear. You then move your mouse over the email and pause and a floating window will appear telling you what folder its in.
Hope this helps.
Cheers,
Steve
same here, it doesn’t.
Thanks, that worked in Outlook 2013. The envelop is in the top right corner instead of to the left of the subject line but close enough to what you said to make it easy to find. I really appreciate the help!
I was able to search by Folder title in Outlook 2010. However, I have folders within folders. When you search, the folder you find could be a subfolder as mine is that I am looking for. It does not give you the top level folder.
Any ideas?
My issue was usually finding the folder the email was filed in. I have since moved to a simpler filing system based upon Michael Hyatt’s blog post here. I really find it simplier and faster. Hope this helps.
Expand all of your folders and subfolders and look for it.. you probably just clicked and dragged the folder into another folder by accident (I get this call at the help desk about twice a week)
Hi Dane, if they need a little more hand-holding, please tell them the following. First, use the ‘search’ box in Outlook to find the email. This search box will find it, but will unfortunately not tell them where it is, so to find which folder it is in, do the following. Double-click the email to open it, then select the File tab at the top. Then, on the left-hand side, click the Info section. Once they are in ‘Info, they will see a button on the right that says ‘Move Item to a different folder’ – next to this button will be will be the current location of the email!
thanks that worked for me as just hovering above the email didnt show the folder……..this has mad me go crazy so many times in the past, the other way is once you have done the search you can drag them back to your inbox before filing them again but not ideal
I’m using Outlook 2011 for Mac and had that same question when searching for emails as to what folder they were in. My default view is Reading Pane on the right. I found that if I switch to Below or Hidden, and under View:Columns ensure that the Folders column is checked, that will display the folder the email is in. Unfortunately there doesn’t seem to be a way of displaying that info when the Reading Pane is on the right.
Outlook 2010:
On a list of emails that looks at multiple folders, e.g. a search folder, ot a list of related messages, there’s a column called “In Folder”. It shows the sub folder, not the parent. On a list of emails in one specific folder, it’s not there because it’s only the one folder.
If you have an email open, go to the file tab, Info, Under the move to folder option, the current folder is shown.
Hope this helps.
Works like charm. Thanks!
In Outlook 2010, simply open up the email (double click) and go to File. The second button is “Move to Folder” and to the right you will see “Current Folder:…” Hope this helps!
Thanks for this info. Doesn’t seem like an ideal solution. Shouldn’t there be an intuitive easy way to get this info than having to know tricks like this?! WTF
For those who think it doesn’t work, i went back to see what was happening. PLEASE NOTE>>>IMPORTANT!
This only works when you do a search AND SELECT “ALL OUTLOOK ITEMS” in the SCOPE box which shows under the home menu item. Obviously if you are searching in the INBOX folder or any other specified folder, you already know which folder it’s in…..I actually didn’t even think of this until i just moused over and kept getting the word :\”categories” where the folder names show once you are really searching over the entire Outlook mailbox listing…..(Note..Need to search the deleted folder separately as its just not included but can be done if actually in that folder).
What if I want to search in All Subfolders but not All Outlook Items? If I search in All Outlook Items, I’m going to get a lot of unnecessary information from the calendar, tasks, contacts, etc. that I don’t need to sift through. When I search under All Subfolders, I still don’t really know where the email is… just that it’s somewhere under the inbox (or whatever base folder you chose).
The only good way I’ve seen it done is by opening up the email by double clicking on it and going to the File tab. Next to the “Move to Folder”, it should tell you what the current folder is.
Awesome. thanks for you help.
If you have searched and found your ‘lost’ e-mail, you can right click the mail – then choose “Move” and choose a new/correct folder. Easy.
In Outlook 2013, after you find the email by searching for it, open it, Go to File, Info. It will tell you under “Move item to a different folder” where the “current folder” is.
If you open the email and click Shigt+Ctrl+F in the top info bar it will open a dialog that shows where the email is filed.