Microsoft 365 - Getting Started with Focused Inbox

Focused Inbox helps you focus on the emails that matter most to you. It separates your inbox into two tabs—Focused and Other. Your most important emails are on the Focused tab while the rest remain easily accessible—but out of the way—on the Other tab. You’ll be informed about email flowing to Other, and you can switch between tabs at any time to take a quick look.

Focused Inbox was first released on Outlook for iOS and Android. All versions of Outlook that receive updates will soon become Focused Inbox capable, including Outlook 2016 for Windows and Mac as well as Outlook on the web and Windows 10. Users will begin seeing this feature in these clients beginning in 2nd quarter of 2017.

Important: To get the latest features/updates, it is recommended that you install the ProPlus/Office 365 Subscription version of Office/Outlook. The Professional Plus version is only receiving security and other necessary updates.

Focused Inbox is not meant to take control of your mail, but rather work with you to prioritize what is important to you. What lands in your Focused Inbox is determined by an understanding of the people you interact with often, and the content of the email itself (e.g., newsletters, machine generated mail, etc.). If you need to fine tune your Focused Inbox, just use the “Move to Focused” or “Move to Other” options.

Active Clutter users will see a prompt inviting you to try Focused Inbox.

After switching, you'll no longer receive less important email in the Clutter folder. Instead, email will be split between the Focused and Other tabs in your inbox. The same algorithm that moved items to the Clutter folder now powers Focused Inbox, meaning that any emails that were set to move to Clutter will now be moved to Other. Any messages already in your Clutter folder will remain there until you decide to delete or move them.

The following are instructions on how to organize your Focused vs Other inbox via Outlook on the Web.

1. From your inbox, select the Focused or Other tab, and then right-click the message you want to move.

2. To move a 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.

3. 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.

 For instructions on how to organize your messages on the Windows or Mac desktop client, please see the “Focused Inbox for Outlook desktop and Outlook on the web clients” link below under “Other resources”.