Tips, tricks, tools, and techniques for Microsoft Office

One of the things I hate about getting so much e-mail is having to sort it into a set of folders. I have over a dozen projects going at any one time, and Outlook has no built-in functionality to help me sort through my inbox and collect all e-mails related to a subject into the same folder. Yes, I can drag and drop a message to the Outlook (or Exchange) folder of my choice, or I could set up a rule, but as you'll see, it's a much clumsier (read: inflexible) approach than what QuickFile offers.

QuickFile learns where I file e-mails for each sender and can, with a quick click, file additional e-mails from that sender in the same folder. If a customer I work with is working with me on two projects, QuickFile presents me with a list of folders I can choose from and highlights the default folder I've selected (see illustration). QuickFile presents a list of folders to choose from when I want to file an e-mail. I double-click the folder name and the e-mail gets filed.

If I'm creating a new message, I can click a button and file the outgoing message to the desired folder and send the mail in one step. (In Outlook 2007, which I used for testing, the button is added to the QuickFile group which is added to Outlook 2007's Ribbon bar during installation.)

If a folder I want to use isn't in the list (because I haven't filed a message in it before), I can use a search feature to find the desired folder, or I can add a folder on the fly. Simple and efficient, just the way I like it.

QuickFile can file messages from your Inbox or any other folder, so it's a good tool for cleaning up existing folders. You can even set up a "general" shortcut which will include any folder you choose no matter who the message comes from (or message recipient is for outgoing mail). Rather than created tasks from an e-mail, I've created a "Things I Have To Do This Week" folder. I can add a general shortcut to this folder, and it will always appear in the folder list (the folder list is the primary display area in the illustration) when I want to file away any message from any sender to that "reminder" folder.

If you've forgotten where a particular folder is that you want to look through, QuickFile offers a "Find&Goto Folders" button on its toolbar so you can quickly search for that folder and then open it to view the e-mails stored there.

Finally, QuickFile can scan your existing e-mail folders and build its associations between sender/receiver and folder based on where e-mails are already sorted.

The vendor offers a full version of QuickFile that's active for 90 days so you can get comfortable with QuickFile. The add-in comes with a short tutorial that will get you familiar with its use, and there are videos on the site that show you QuickFile in action (it's all you'll need to get the hang of the program).

QuickFile is nimble and a genuine time-saver. Currently priced at $39.95 (but due to rise to $69.95 soon), it may be just the time saver you need to segregate your incoming and outgoing messages efficiently based on sender or recipient respectively.

For more information, visit

   http://addins4outlook.com/quickfile/default.asp

-- James E. Powell

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