Outlook Follow Up Flags

Over the next few months, I will be doing a series of blog posts on Outlook e-mail tools to help you become more efficient, organized, and productive when using Outlook. This month I'll focus on Follow Up Flags. These follow up flags are very useful tools to help keep your Inbox organized. Flags can also be used with other Outlook items; they are not just limited to use with e-mail.

Follow Up Flags
I mark many of my e-mails with follow up flags to remind and alert me to follow up on the e-mails. The follow up flag is displayed at the right side of the Folder pane.

To apply a follow up flag, right click on the Flag Status column in the Folder pane. A list of follow up flag options will be displayed. Select the flag from the list of choices. You can also right click anywhere on the e-mail, choose Follow Up from the context-sensitive menu, and select from the list of flag options.

Flags can also be applied when an e-mail is selected in the Folder pane or open. Click on the Follow Up button in the Tags group and select from the list of flag options.

When an e-mail message is flagged, a follow up flag will appear in the Flag Status column (last column) in the Folder pane. Flags are time-sensitive and become darker red as they get closer to the due date. When an e-mail that has been marked with a flag is past the due date, the entire e-mail will be displayed in red in the Folder pane in your Inbox. When an e-mail message has been flagged, a message will also appear in the InfoBar when the message is opened.

Add Reminder
You can add reminders to follow up flags to remind you to take action on an e-mail. When a reminder is set, a reminder window will open at the designated time.

1. Select or open the e-mail on which to add a reminder.
2. Click on the Follow Up button in the Tags group.
3. Click on Add Reminder. The Custom dialog box will open.
4. Click on the Reminder check box and select the date and time for the reminder.
5. Click OK to close the dialog box.

Mark Complete and Clear Flag
After you have taken action on a flagged e-mail, you can mark it as complete. When an item is marked as complete, it will have a check mark in the Flag Status column of the Folder pane. There are numerous ways to mark a flagged item as complete.

• Click on the follow up flag in the Flag Status column in the Folder pane.
• Select or open the e-mail, click on the Follow Up button in the Tags group, and select Mark Complete.
• Right click on the e-mail and choose Follow Up from the context-sensitive menu, and select Mark Complete.

A flag or a check mark can also be removed by following any of the above steps and selecting Clear Flag.

Custom Flags
When you flag an e-mail, it is a flag for you and flags the e-mail in your Inbox. This flag can be customized to have a specific message, start date, end date, and reminder. Use the steps below to create a custom flag for yourself.

1. Select or open the e-mail.
2. Click on the Follow Up button in the Tags group and select Custom. The Custom dialog box will open.
3. In the Flag to area, select from the preset messages or type in a custom message of your own.
4. Set the Start date and Due date as desired. You can set both, either, or neither or these.
5. Click OK to close the dialog box.

You can also create a Flag for Recipients. The flag for a recipient can be customized to have a specific message and a reminder.Use the steps below to create a Flag for Recipient.

1. Open a new e-mail or reply to or forward an existing e-mail.
2. Click on the Follow Up button in the Tags group and select Custom. The Custom dialog box will open.
3. Deselect the Flag for Me check box.
4. Check the Flag for Recipient check box.
5. In the Flag to area, select from the preset messages or type in a custom message of your own.
6. Check the Reminder check box and set a date and time if you want to set a reminder for the recipient.
7. Click OK to close the dialog box.

Set Quick Click
By default when you click on the flag icon in the Flag Status column on an e-mail in the Folder pane, Outlook will flag the message with a No Date flag; this is the Quick Click flag. You can change the Quick Click follow up flag to a different default setting.

1. Click on the Follow Up button in the Tags group and select Set Quick Click. The Set Quick Click dialog box will open.
2. Select the desired Quick Click flag from the drop-down list of options.
3. Click OK to close the dialog box.

Flags and To-Do Items
As mentioned previously, follow up flags are not limited to e-mails. When you create a task, Outlook will by default add a flag to the task dependent upon its due date. If the task has no due date, it will put a No Date flag on it. Contacts can also be flagged.

In the To-Do Bar and the To-Do List (in Tasks), all items marked with a flag will be listed. In the To-Do List, the icon in the left column will help you to distinguish whether the flagged item is an e-mail, task, or contact.

What Coming Up
Over the next few months, I will continue to write this blog series on Outlook e-mail features. Below are some of the topics I'll be covering.

• Categories
• Rules
• Search Folder
• Signatures
• Favorites and Post Items
• Archiving

Have fun using flags!