How to Select Multiple Emails in Any Outlook Version [2024]
Do you have too many emails in your Outlook and are unsure how to handle them? Don’t worry. We’ve got you covered. Keeping your email in check is essential for staying organized, being efficient at work, and boosting overall productivity.
This blog is just what you need. We will show you why selecting multiple emails at once can be valuable and how to do it easily. Whether you’re using the Outlook web app or checking emails from your phone, we’ll give you the simple steps to follow.
Table of Contents:
Why you might need to select multiple emails in Outlook
Selecting multiple emails in Outlook is a handy tool to help you keep your inbox in perfect order, whether for personal use or work. It saves time and lets you organize your emails without much hassle. Here’s why it’s so useful:
- Efficient Organization: You can group similar emails and care for them in one go.
- Time-Saving: Deal with several messages simultaneously instead of one by one.
- Email Cleanup: Easily delete or store old emails you don’t need to see daily.
- Focused Actions: While forwarding emails or marking them, doing it for multiple emails simultaneously makes the procedure a breeze.
- Helps with prioritization: You can mark, flag, or categorize multiple emails together, which helps you focus on what’s important.
- Effective Searching: You can manage search results effectively when looking for something.
- Strategic Handling: If you have several emails of the same type, like updates or notifications, you can manage them all at once.
Read More: How to Recall an Email in Outlook on Any Device
Learning to select multiple emails in Outlook is useful for quickly deleting messages or moving them to organize your inbox better. First, you’ve got to figure out which Outlook you’re using. Is it on the web app, phone, or desktop version?
We’ll review a few ways to select multiple emails in Outlook, regardless of your version.
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Select Multiple Emails in Outlook Desktop App (Windows/Mac)
Choosing multiple emails at once in the Outlook desktop app is easy, with just a few clicks. There’s only one straightforward method that works for both Mac and Windows, as long as you have the updated app:
- Open Outlook and find the folder where your emails are located. Click on the first email you want to select.
Click on the first email you want to select - Hold down the Ctrl key (Command in Mac) in your inbox (or any folder you’re organizing) and click on any other emails you want to include in your selection.
Hold down the Ctrl key - Press and hold the Shift key to select multiple emails in a row. With Shift held down, click on the last email you want to select. This will highlight all the emails between your first and last click.
Press and hold the Shift key
⤷ Outlook 2007 & Outlook 2010
For those of you still rocking the older, legacy versions of Outlook, we’ve got you covered. There’s not much difference between how this feature works in Outlook 2007 vs. 2010 so we’ll keep this short and sweet:
- Click on the first email you want to select and hold the Shift key.
Hold down the Shift key - Now click the last email you want to select. All the emails between them will be selected.
Click on the last email you want to select - Or you can press the Ctrl key and keep on clicking the emails you want to select one by one.
Use Ctrl key | Turner Time
Select Multiple Emails in Outlook Web (or Outlook Beta App)
The most recent version of Outlook released on both Mac and Windows looks really modern and similar to the browser version. There are some slight visual differences, but the steps remain the same. Moreover, the latest Outlook app on Mac is the latest Outlook app on Windows as well, but in beta. Selecting multiple emails in any of these versions is a breeze.
Here is how you can do it:
Method 1: Click-and-Drag selection
- Open the Outlook Beta (latest version on Mac) or go to https://outlook.live.com/ on the web and go to your email folder.
Open Outlook - Click the checkbox next to the first email you want to choose.
Click the checkbox - Do the same for any other emails you want to select.
Click Check boxes - When you finish, all your chosen emails will be highlighted.
Multiple emails selected
Method 2: Use the “Select All” Feature
- Open Outlook and find the “Select All” checkbox present at the top of the email list and click on it.
Click Select All checkbox - Refining selection (Optional): To exclude a mail from your selection, simply uncheck the checkbox next to it.
Refining selection
Select Multiple Emails in Outlook Mobile App (iPhone/Android)
Mobile phones have become our go-to devices for everything, whether personal or business. So, if you are using the Outlook mobile app, here’s how you can select multiple emails:
- Open the Outlook app, go to your inbox, and tap and hold on to any email until you see a checkmark on its left side.
Tap and hold - Tap on any other emails you want to select.
Select other emails - If you want to select many emails fast, swipe down the emails right after the checkmark shows up while still pressing.
Swipe on the emails
Additional Tips & Tricks
Here are some of the quick and expert tips that can enhance your overall experience of using Outlook:
1. Using search filters
Outlook’s search is perfect for finding emails fast. You can use search options like “From,” “To,” “Subject,” and “Attachment” to narrow down your search. You can access it by following steps:
- Click on Search Tools from the Options tab and choose “Advanced Find” from the drop down menu.
Click Advance Find - A new window will open with several search filter options.
Search filters
If you get good at using these search options together with how you select or unselect emails, you can sort through your emails like a pro.
Read More: How to Fix “Outlook Search Not Working” on Windows 11?
2. Keyboard shortcuts for navigation and actions
Outlook has lots of keyboard shortcuts that can make your life easier, like:
- Ctrl + N: Start a new email
- Ctrl + R: Reply to an email
- Ctrl + F: Send an email to someone else
- Ctrl + S: Save a draft of an email
- Ctrl + Q: Mark an email as read
- Ctrl + U: Mark an email as not read
- Ctrl + Shift + G: Put a follow-up flag on an email
3. Utilizing Quick Steps
Quick Steps lets you do common email tasks with just one click. You can set up Quick Steps to move emails to a folder, send emails to certain people, or start a new email to a group. Here’s how to set it up:
- Go to the “Quick Steps” and select “Manage Quick Steps.“
Go to the Quick Steps - Choose “New Quick Step to make or change your Quick Steps.
Choose New Quick Step
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Final Thoughts
Mastering how to select multiple emails in Outlook can transform your email management. From quickly cleaning up your inbox to organizing messages by subject, sender, or priority, selection tricks are helpful. Remember, whether you’re using the web app, desktop, or mobile app, the process is easy and a real-timesaver.
Use click-and-drag for quick selection, Select All for everything in sight, or combine the Shift and Ctrl keys for precise control. Keep these methods in mind, and you’ll easily navigate your emails. Keep this guide bookmarked, and you’ll never feel overwhelmed by your inbox again.
FAQs
Yes, in a web browser, click on the first email and press “Ctrl + A” to select all. For desktop or mobile apps, use Shift, select the first and last emails, and right-click for further actions.
It’s recommended to delete less than 5,000 emails at a time to prevent Outlook from malfunctioning. For larger quantities, delete in smaller batches or use the web browser version.
Use the search bar, type “from” followed by the person’s name or email address, and Outlook will filter and display all emails from that sender.