The fastest way to group emails in Outlook

Outlook groups emails by using the Group By feature, which sorts your messages into collapsible sections based on a field you choose — sender, date, subject line, or size. To group emails, open any folder, click the View tab at the top, then select Group By and pick what you want to group by. Outlook immediately reorganizes your inbox into labeled sections you can expand or collapse.

The grouping stays active until you turn it off. If you switch folders or close Outlook, the grouping persists for that folder the next time you open it. You can change what you're grouping by at any time by clicking Group By again and selecting a different field.

Key Takeaways

  • Click the View tab, then Group By, and choose a field like sender, date, or subject to instantly reorganize your inbox into collapsible sections.
  • Grouping by date shows all emails from today, yesterday, last week, and earlier in separate blocks, making it easy to find recent messages.
  • Grouping by sender collects all emails from each person into one section, useful for tracking conversations with specific contacts.
  • You can group by multiple fields at once — for example, by sender first, then by date within each sender's section.
  • Grouping is a view setting only and does not move, delete, or change your emails.

Grouping by date to find recent emails

Grouping by date is the most common grouping method because it separates your inbox into time-based sections: Today, Yesterday, This Week, Last Week, Older, and so on. This layout makes it fast to find emails from a specific time period without scrolling through your entire inbox.

To group by date, click View > Group By > Date. Outlook collapses older sections by default, so you see only recent emails at first. Click the arrow next to any date range to expand it and see all messages from that period. This is especially useful if you receive dozens of emails daily and need to focus on what arrived recently.

Grouping by sender to track conversations with specific people

Grouping by sender collects all emails from each person into one expandable section, sorted alphabetically by the sender's name. This layout is helpful when you're managing multiple ongoing conversations and want to see all messages from one contact in one place without searching.

Click View > Group By > From to group by sender. Each person's name appears as a header with a count of how many emails you have from them. Click the arrow next to a name to expand and see all their messages in order. If you receive emails from a distribution list or shared mailbox, those appear as a single group too.

Grouping by subject line or other fields

You can also group by subject line, which bundles all emails with the same subject together — useful for tracking project threads or support tickets. Click View > Group By > Subject to see this layout.

Other grouping options include Size (to find large attachments), Flag Status (to separate flagged from unflagged emails), Categories (if you've assigned color categories to emails), and Importance (to separate high-priority from normal messages). The Group By menu shows all available fields for the folder you're viewing.

Grouping by multiple fields at once

Outlook lets you group by two or even three fields simultaneously, creating nested sections. For example, you can group by sender first, then by date within each sender's section, so you see all emails from one person organized by when they arrived.

To add a second grouping level, click View > Group By > Group By (Again) or look for an option labeled something like Then By. The exact wording varies depending on your Outlook version. Each grouping level adds another layer of collapsible sections. You can remove a grouping level by clicking Group By and selecting None for that level.

Turning off grouping and returning to your normal list

To stop grouping and return to your standard email list, click View > Group By > None. Outlook removes all grouping sections and displays emails in their default order — usually newest first.

If you've set up multiple grouping levels and want to remove only one, click View > Group By and select None next to the specific level you want to turn off. The other grouping levels stay active.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does grouping move or delete my emails?

No. Grouping is only a view setting — it changes how Outlook displays your emails on screen but does not move, copy, delete, or modify them. Your emails stay in the same folder and in the same order in Outlook's database. If you turn off grouping, all your emails are still there.

Can I group emails in a search results folder?

Yes. You can group search results the same way you group a regular folder. Click View > Group By and choose your grouping field. The search results reorganize into groups based on your selection.

What if the Group By option is grayed out?

The Group By option may be unavailable in certain folder types, such as the Search Folders category or some shared mailboxes. Try switching to a standard folder like your Inbox or a custom folder you created. If grouping is still grayed out, your Outlook version or folder permissions may not support it.

Will my grouping settings stay if I close Outlook?

Yes. Outlook remembers your grouping settings for each folder. If you group your Inbox by date and close Outlook, the next time you open your Inbox it will still be grouped by date. Grouping settings are folder-specific, so your Sent folder can have different grouping than your Inbox.

Can I group by a custom field I created?

Yes, if you've created custom fields in Outlook. Click View > Group By and scroll through the list — custom fields appear at the bottom. Select the custom field name to group by it. Custom fields work the same way as built-in fields.