Find or Select a folder by typing its name

I've got quite a large list of folders (with names of customers) in which I sort my emails. Usually, to find a folder to which I want to move an email to, I need to scroll in the Navigation Pane and look for it.

As I already know the name of the folder, is there an easier way to select it? Perhaps similar to selecting a file or folder in Explorer by typing its name?

Find Folder buttonYou can indeed find a folder by typing its name but in order to do this you must first set the focus to your active folder in the Navigation Pane;

  • Mouse method
    Click on your currently selected folder.
  • Keyboard method
    Press SHIFT+F6.
    (depending on your current focus, you may need to press it multiple times)

Once your focus is within the Navigation Pane, simply type the first few letters of the folder name to select it. Your current folder remains the active folder so you can easily move the messages from it to your other folder.

Example

Quickly find and select a folder by typing its name by making the Navigation Pane the active panel in Outlook.

In the example on the left, the Inbox is the active open folder.

To find the Feedback folder, click again on the Inbox folder or use SHIFT+F6 to make the Navigation Pane the active panel and press “f” on your keyboard.

To open the Feedback folder, use the Spacebar or ENTER key.

If you wanted to find the “Funny Forwards” folder, you’ll have to type at least “fu”.

To locate the “Test” folder, you’ll have to type at least “tes”.

These consecutive characters need to be typed in quick succession top be recognized as a single query.

Note: Only currently visible/expanded folders will be found. Collapsed subfolders will not be found. For information about how folders expand/collapse see; Starting Outlook with all folders collapsed/expanded

VBA macro

If you don’t want to keep your folders expanded and actually want to open a specific folder just by typing its name, then this VBA macro from VBOffice will do the trick.

Find a folder by its name via a VBA macro from VBOffice.
Find a folder by its name via a VBA macro from VBOffice.

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