Level 2 - Finding and Sorting Items
Print this page: Sort Messages (pdf)Sort Messages Using Multiple Criteria
You are already familiar with the easiest way of organizing your Outlook items - sorting them by column header. There are other ways of organizing your Outlook items. Sort criteria are the categories which a list of Outlook items can be sorted. Criteria are usually specified by a field and sort order.When a simple sort arranges the items in an order specified by one field and sorting order, a multiple-criteria sort arranges items based on more than one field. See below for examples of how you might sort your Inbox:
| Sort Type | Example |
|---|---|
| Simple Sort | Sort by sender |
| Two-criteria Sort | Sort by sender, then by date received |
| Three-criteria Sort | Sort by sender, then by date received, then by subject |
- Display the folder where the messages you want to sort are located.
- Display the Cutomize View: Messages dialog box:
- Choose View --> Arrange By -> Custom.
- Or, right-click a column heading and choose Customize Current View.
- Click Sort to open the sort dialog box.
- In the Sort dialog box, from the Sort Items by drop-down
list, select the field to sort by.
Note: If the field you want is not in the sort items by drop-down list, you can use the select available fields from drop-down list to select additional fields.
- Select either the Ascending or Descending sort option.
- From the Then By drop-down list, select the second field to sort by.
- Select either Ascending or Descending sort option.
- If additional sort criteria is desired, repeat steps 6 through 7.
- Click OK to close the Sort dialog box.
- Click OK to close the dialog box and perform the sort.
