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Overview
Focused Inbox separates your inbox into two tabs—Focused and Other. Your most important email messages are on the Focused tab while the rest remain easily accessible—but out of the way—on the Other tab.
To create an inbox that "feels right" to you, the system takes into account emails and contacts with whom you interact, and filters out noisy sources like automatically generated or bulk email. The more you use it, the better it gets.
- How to: Use Focused Inbox to reduce visual clutter
- Task: By following these instructions, you can reduce the number of emails you see in your inbox
- Before you begin. Do you often find yourself searching your inbox for important emails?
- Table of Contents:
Instructions
Focused Inbox for New Outlook for Windows
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Open new Outlook.

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Select View > View Settings
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In Mail > Layout, select the account you want to apply the settings to.
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Select Save if you made any changes.
When Focused Inbox is turned on, Focused and Other tabs display at the top of your mailbox. You’ll be informed about email flowing to Other, and you can switch between tabs any time to take a quick look.
Focused Inbox for Classic Outlook for Windows
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In classic Outlook, select the View tab.
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Select Show Focused Inbox.
The Focused and Other tabs will appear at the top of your mailbox. You’ll be informed about email flowing to Other, and you can switch between tabs any time to take a quick look.

Change how your messages get organized in classic Outlook
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From your inbox, select the Focused or Other tab, and then right-click the message you want to move.
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If you're moving from Focused to Other, select Move to Other if you want only the selected message moved. Select Always Move to Other if you want all future messages from the sender to be delivered to the Other tab.
If you're moving from Other to Focused, select Move to Focused if you want only the selected message moved. Select Always Move to Focused if you want all future messages from the sender to be delivered to the Focused tab.

Focused Inbox for Outlook for Mac
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Open Outlook for Mac.
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On the View tab, depending on if you want to turn in on or off, select Turn on Focused Inbox or Turn off Focused Inbox.
When it's on, the Focused and Other tabs will appear at the top of your inbox. You’ll be informed about email flowing to Other, and you can switch between tabs any time to take a quick look.
Change how your messages are organized
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From your inbox, select the Focused tab, and then select the message you want to move.
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To move messages to Other: Select Message > Move to Other if you want only the selected message moved. Select Message > Always Move to Other if you want all future messages from the sender to be delivered to the Other tab.
To move messages to Focused: Select Message >Move to Focused if you want only the selected message moved. Select Message > Always Move to Focused if you want all future messages from the sender to be delivered to the Focused tab.
Focused Inbox for Outlook web app
- Log into https://portal.office.com and go to the Outlook app
- At the top of the page, select Settings
> Mail > Layout.
- In the Focused Inbox section, to turn on, select the option to Sort messages into Focused and Other.
- To turn Focused Inbox off, select Don't sort my messages.
- If you made a change, select Save.
- At the top of your mailbox, in the email messages list, select between Focused and Other. You can switch between the tabs any time to take a quick look.
Change how your messages get organized in Outlook on the web
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From your inbox, select the Focused or Other tab, and then right-click the message you want to move.
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If you're moving a single message from Focused to Other, select Move > Move to Other inbox. Select Always move to Other inbox if you want all future messages from the sender to be delivered to the Other tab.
If you're moving a single message from Other to Focused, select Move > Move to Focused inbox. Select Always move to Focused inbox if you want all future messages from the sender to be delivered to the Focused tab.
