Rob Woodgate
Rob Woodgate
Writer

Rob Woodgate is a writer and IT consultant with nearly 20 years of experience across the private and public sectors. He’s also worked as a trainer, technical support person, delivery manager, system administrator, and in other roles that involve getting people and technology to work together. Read more.

There are probably actions you regularly perform in Outlook, such as deleting, archiving, and marking things as read. Here’s how to use Quick Action buttons to add one-click options that appear over every email to perform each action.

You’ve probably seen Quick Action buttons in Outlook already but never really took much notice of them. They appear when your cursor is hovering over an email. By default, the buttons show the Follow Up flag and the Delete bin icons.

If you click one of the buttons, it performs the named action. In this case, marking the email to be followed up or moving it to the Deleted Items folder. You can change the Quick Action buttons to any of the following five actions:

• Archive
• Delete
• Move
• Flag/ Clear Flag (this is the Follow Up flag)
• Mark as Read/Unread

To change the buttons, click Home > Follow Up. Next, in the menu that appears, select the “Set Quick Actions” option.

This will bring up the Quick Actions panel.

Select the options you want to be displayed in the two Quick Action slots using the dropdowns and then click “OK.”

The Delete action will always be available no matter which options you choose, so really, you can choose any two Quick Actions plus the Delete option. In this example, we’ve chosen “Archive” and “Mark as Read/Unread” which display next to the Delete option.

You can also choose Delete plus one other Quick Action from the dropdown if you don’t want quick access to other actions.

A really useful feature is the ability to select multiple emails and then apply the Quick Action to all of them at once. Select the messages you want to apply the Quick Action to, hover over any one of the emails, and then select the Quick Action.

All of the selected emails will have the Quick Action applied to them. This is a quick and simple way to make managing your emails just a little bit less work.

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Rob Woodgate
Rob Woodgate is a writer and IT consultant with nearly 20 years of experience across the private and public sectors. He’s also worked as a trainer, technical support person, delivery manager, system administrator, and in other roles that involve getting people and technology to work together.
Read Full Bio »

Quick Steps apply multiple actions at the same time to email messages. This helps you quickly manage your mailbox. For example, if you frequently move messages to a specific folder, you can use a Quick Step to move the message in one click. Or, if you forward messages to your manager or peers, a one-click Quick Step can simplify the task.

or

The Quick Steps included with Outlook can be customized. You can also create your own to make a Quick Steps gallery of mail actions that you take most often.

Note: Quick Steps cannot be undone using a menu command or with a keyboard shortcut like Ctrl+Z. This is because Quick Steps can contain actions such as Permanently Delete that are not able to be undone.

Default Quick Steps

You can customize any of the default Quick Steps. When you use some Quick Steps for the first time, you are prompted to configure them. For example, if you want a Quick Step to move messages to a certain folder, you must specify the folder before you can use the Quick Step.

Default Quick Steps in Outlook include the following:

Moves the selected message to a mail folder that you specify and marks the message as read.

Forwards the message to your manager. If your organization uses Microsoft Exchange Server or Microsoft 365, your manager’s name is detected in the Global Address List and inserted in the To box, or you can specify the recipient.

Forwards the message to others in your team. If your organization uses Microsoft Exchange Server or Microsoft 365, your team members names are detected in the Global Address List and inserted in the To box.

Moves the message to a specified mail folder, marks the message complete, and then marks it as read.

Opens a reply to the selected message, and then deletes the original message.

Create your own Quick Step to execute any sequence of commands, name it, and then apply an icon to help you identify it.

To configure or change existing Quick Steps, do the following:

In Mail, select Home.

In the Quick Steps group, select the More arrow at the side of the Quick Steps box to open Manage Quick Steps.

In the Quick Step box, select the Quick Step that you want to change, and then select Edit.

Under Actions, change or add the actions that you want this Quick Step to do.

If you want, in the Shortcut key box, select a keyboard shortcut that you want to assign to that Quick Step.

If you want to change the icon for a Quick Step, select the icon next to the Name box, select an icon, and then select OK.

Create a Quick Step

In Mail, select Home.

In the Quick Steps group, in the Quick Steps gallery, select the Create New Quick Step.

In the Name box, type a name for the new Quick Step.

Select the icon button next to the Name box, select an icon, and then select OK.

Under Actions, choose an action that you want the Quick Step to do. Select Add Action for any additional actions.

To create a keyboard shortcut, in the Shortcut key box, select the keyboard shortcut that you want to assign.

Note: New Quick Steps appear at the top of the gallery on the Home tab in the Quick Steps group. Although changed Quick Steps keep the same location in the gallery, you can rearrange them in Manage Quick Steps.

I sometimes have a bit of a “trigger finger” and worry that I might hit the Delete icon by mistake. Also, as Outlook on the Desktop doesn’t support the Pin feature, I don’t use that either.

Can I somehow disable some of these Quick Action icons and assign other commands to them like Archive or Move?

The Quick Actions icons that appear when hovering on an email in Outlook on the Web (OWA) can help you to triage your emails more quickly but can also work against you when you hit the wrong command.

You can indeed disable them if you don’t want to use them or customize them so they perform another action (although your choice is very limited).

When hovering on a message in Outlook on the Web, the Quick Actions will become available above the time/date of a message.

Layout Options

To disable or alter the action for any of the Quick Actions, you can do so in the Layout section of the Options page;

1. Click on the Gear icon in the top right corner (left from your own profile image).
2. Open the Settings page:
   • Microsoft 365 Exchange Online
     Text link at the bottom: View all Outlook settings-> Mail-> Customize actions
   • Outlook.com
     Text link at the bottom: View all Outlook settings-> Mail-> Customize actions
   • Exchange 2016 and Exchange 2019
     Options
3. In the Options’ Navigation Pane on the left choose:

Microsoft 365 Exchange Online
Mail-> Customize actions

Exchange 2016 and Exchange 2019
Options

• Delete
• Mark as read or unread
• Flag
• Archive
• Move to Folder
• Pin
• Nothing

Now when you hover on your email, you should see the commands you have picked or no command when you’ve selected “Nothing”.

This week we continue our series on automating Outlook using it’s built in Quick-Steps feature. I will show you how to use Quick-Steps to add buttons to your Ribbon that will let you file emails to any folder at the click of a button.

For example, you may want to create Quick-Steps to folders for your currently active projects.

Scenario

I have a few folders to which I often need to file emails to. For example, I have a Reading folder to which I read non-important emails that I want to keep for (leisure or research) reading later. I also have a folder called Keep for Now for emails that are important for the moment (e.g. an email about a golf tournament in the next few weeks).

I have created Quick-Steps for both so that I can move emails to both folder quickly.

Step-by Step: Creating the Quick-Step

Click Quick-Step on the Home tab of the Outlook ribbon.

Click New Quick Step – Move to Folder

Type in an easy to remember name for this Quick Step in the Name box

Tick the Move to folder checkbox

Select the folder to move to in the list

Untick Mark as read checkbox

Now that you Quick-Step Is saved, let’s use it

Step-by Step: Using the Quick-Step

Click on the email that you wish to apply the Quick Step to (in this case the email that I want to move)

Click Quick Step on the Ribbon and then click on the appropriate Quick Step from the list.

Summary

Quick-Steps are a great way to file emails if most of your emails go into a few folders only. However if you have many folders, you may want to try a more complete solution for filing your emails such as QuickFile for Outlook.

If you send the same email to the same people frequently, create a Quick Step instead of starting from scratch each time.

More about Windows

Let’s suppose you send a daily report to the same group of people, selecting all the recipients manually, every day. You could create a template email in Microsoft Outlook, but the setup is a bit of work. You can get the same impact by creating a Quick Step instead, which is much simpler than the template route.

Quick Step’s basic New Email opens a new blank message, which is really no better than clicking New Email on the Home tab. You can customize the step by adding the recipients and then calling up the Quick Step instead of creating the new email each day from scratch.

As convenient and easy as Quick Steps are, they won’t always be adequate. When a Quick Step isn’t enough, try combining a template with a macro. To learn how to do this, read Combine Outlook templates with macros to eliminate repetitive tasks.

I’ll show you how the Quick Step feature can help you work more efficiently by creating a step that automatically populates the To, Cc, and Bcc controls. Using this Quick Step, you can add a text message, attach a file, and send without manually adding the recipients.

I’m using Office 365 (desktop) on a Windows 10 64-bit system. There’s no demonstration file because you won’t need one. This feature isn’t supported by the online version.

How to create a Quick Step

Choose Create New from the Quick Steps gallery. This opens the Edit Quick Step dialog.

Give the Quick Step a meaningful name (e.g., Daily Marketing Update).

From the Action dropdown, choose New Message because the task is sending an email message.

The dialog displays a To field. Enter the appropriate recipients. This feature supports the AutoComplete list you’re familiar with, so finding recipients is easy.

To display the Cc and Bcc fields, click Show Options and then click the Add Cc and Add Bcc links (Figure A).

Enter the Cc and Bcc recipients.

If you’d like to use a shortcut key, choose one from the Shortcut key dropdown–I chose Ctrl+Shift+3.

Figure A

Add recipient emails to the To, Cc, and Bcc fields.

Figure B shows the new Quick Step in the gallery. Simply click it (or use the shortcut key if you assigned one in step 7) to open the new email message, addressed and ready for you to add a message, attach a report if necessary, and then send.

Figure B

Outlook adds the new Quick Step to the gallery.

If a signature is available, Outlook will attach it to the outgoing email. Outlook will send the message from your default account; if you have multiple accounts, you can’t choose another account. If you have disabled Outlook’s automated send feature, you must remember to manually send the message. Most people don’t disable this option, so this behavior shouldn’t affect too many folks. It’s a simple solution, but what happens when you need to add a recipient?

How to edit the Quick Step

Let’s suppose one of the recipients leaves the marketing department, and you need to remove that person from your Quick Step. Follow these simple steps.

Click the Quick Step group’s dialog launcher to open the Manage Quick Steps dialog.

Select the Daily Marketing Update item in the Quick Step list to the left.

Open the appropriate control, select the email address, and press Delete.

You’d use the same routine to add a new recipient, though you add instead of delete an address.

More options for Quick Steps

There are two other options to the right of Edit: Duplicate and Delete. The Delete option is self-explanatory, but you might wonder why you’d want to duplicate a Quick Step. You can create a duplicate and customize it, which is quicker than creating one from scratch. Below the Quick Step list, you can use the arrows to move steps within the gallery. This is convenient when you use one or two steps more frequently than the others.

The different types of Quick Steps in Outlook

Because we are working with a specific example, I didn’t cover the different types of Quick Steps–we chose Create New and went right to work. Here is information about different types of Quick Steps.

Move to ?: This option allows you to quickly move a message to a specific folder, which you’ll supply the first time only.

To Manager: Use this to forward a copy of the selected message to your manager, which you’ll supply the first time only.

Team Email: Create a blank message to your team members. You might not be using the Team feature, but if you want to use it, the feature isn’t enabled, so you’ll need to talk to your Exchange administrator.

Done: Mark a message as read and complete and send it to a specified folder, which you’ll supply the first time only.

Reply & Delete: Open a blank reply to the current message and then delete the message after you send the reply. This is handy and efficient, but it takes a while to develop the habit of using it.

Our example is a simple solution to a common problem, but the Quick Step feature offers a lot of options and actions that you’ll want to explore.

Send me your Microsoft Office questions

I answer readers’ questions when I can, but there’s no guarantee. Don’t send files unless requested; initial requests for help that arrive with attached files will be deleted unread. You can send screenshots of your data to help clarify your question. When contacting me, be as specific as possible. For example, “Please troubleshoot my workbook and fix what’s wrong” probably won’t get a response, but “Can you tell me why this formula isn’t returning the expected results?” might. Please mention the app and version that you’re using. I’m not reimbursed by TechRepublic for my time or expertise when helping readers, nor do I ask for a fee from readers I help. You can contact me at [email protected]

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The Quick Access Toolbar is a customizable toolbar that contains a set of commands that are accessible with just one click and is independent of the tab on the ribbon that is currently displayed. You can move the Quick Access Toolbar from one of the two possible locations, and you can add buttons that represent commands to the Quick Access Toolbar for easy access.

You can add commands you use the most (ie: print, bcc) to the appropriate Quick Access Toolbar in Outlook. All you need to you is click the down arrow on the very top of the window you are on above the Outlook ribbon as shown below.

For Example, to add the print command to the toolbar just click the down arrow and choose Print as shown below. This will add the print icon to the toolbar which can then be used from anywhere that you are in Outlook.

Now the toolbar will look like this with the print icon added.

You can also click your right mouse button on any command you find on the ribbon or menu and choose Add to Quick Access Toolbar to add it.

Showing the Quick Access Toolbar below the ribbon – To display the Quick Access toolbar below the ribbon instead of above click the down arrow and then choose Show Below the Ribbon.

The Toolbar will now display below the ribbon as shown below.

Adding Other Commands to the Toolbar

To add other commands or commands not shown on the ribbon to the Toolbar, choose More Commands from the dropdown and navigate through the different drop downs in the following dialog box, highlight the command you want to add and click Add. Once you have added all the commands you want to the Toolbar click ok. All the commands you chose will now show up on the Quick Access Toolbar.

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• Customize actions on your messages in Outlook.com

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Customize actions. At the top of the page, select Settings > View all Outlook settings. Select Mail > Customize actions. Go to the type of actions you want to add. Select the check boxes for the actions you want. They’ll appear in the example as you select them.

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Aug 01, 2019 · Connectors are available in the Connectors tab. Release Notes. Currently, you can only configure connectors from Outlook on the web, or Outlook 2016 or later on Windows, but you can view information posted by Connectors to your Group or inbox in multiple clients such as Outlook on the web, Outlook 2016 or later, and the Office365 Groups Mobile app.

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Oct 07, 2015 · Firstly open the message from Sent Items, to avoid confusions on Recieved emails. Its under Message Tab->Move Section -> Click Actions and then click Recall This Message. To customize it you need to open the message and then rt click ‘Message’ -> Customize the ribbon.

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Nov 22, 2015 · Action Items in Outlook. In the Office 365 Exchange Admin Centre there are several default apps that can be turned on in Outlook by your administrator such as Action Items, Bing Maps, Suggested Meetings or Unsubscribe. These apps can help to streamline your daily workflow and save you time.

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Dec 23, 2019 · If you click one of the buttons, it performs the named action. In this case, marking the email to be followed up or moving it to the Deleted Items folder. You can change the Quick Action buttons to any of the following five actions: Archive; Delete; Move; Flag/ Clear Flag (this is the Follow Up flag) Mark as Read/Unread

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Jan 07, 2019 · Outlook 2013: Action Items . One of the new features in Outlook 2013 is the . Action Items. bar at the top of the message window. Depending on the . Add-ins (Apps) you have installed/enabled, a suggested action may be triggered by the context of your email message. Two default Add-ins are . Bing Maps and Action Items. If an address is detected, click Bing …

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In Outlook 2007, click the File > New > Mail Message. Step 2: Click the Outlook Item button in the Include group on the Insert tab in Outlook 2010 / 2013, and in Outlook 2007 click the Attach Item button. Step 3: In the Insert Item dialog box, Select the Tasks item in the Look in: box;

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In prior versions of Outlook, you often had to switch from the Calendar to Inbox to Tasks to see all of your action items. In Outlook, all of your action items are displayed in the To-Do Bar on the right edge of the Outlook window, regardless of where you created the action item. The To -Do Bar is available in every Outlook

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Some Outlook users may require to change the location of Quick Access Toolbar in the Ribbon. It’s very easy to deploy the QAT location. Just click the Arrow button in the Quick Access Toolbar > Show Below the Ribbon. Then the Quick Access Toolbar is moved from the very top of Ribbon to the bottom of Ribbon. See screen shot below:

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Outlook 2013: Action Items One of the new features in Outlook 2013 is the Action Items bar at the top of the message window. Depending on the Add-ins (Apps) you have installed/enabled, a suggested action may be triggered by the context of your email message.

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By default, the buttons show the Follow Up flag and the Delete bin icons. If you click one of the buttons, it performs the named action. In this case, marking the email to be followed up or moving it to the Deleted Items folder. You can change the Quick Action buttons to any of the following five actions:

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There is no ‘Action’ drop-down tab in my Outlook either. Any suggestion how to have the recall option?

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You can add many actions, or just a few. Some actions are selected by default, but you can clear them if you prefer. At the top of the page, select Settings > View all Outlook settings. Select Mail > Customize actions. Go to the type of actions you want to add.

The Quick Access toolbar is a row of small icons that is displayed at the top-left corner of the window in Outlook 2013. This toolbar provides one-click access to many of the features that you might use frequently in Outlook 2013.

However, you may also find that you accidentally click some of those buttons when you don’t mean to. That location can lead to misclicks, which can be frustrating if it happens to you with some regularity. Fortunately Outlook 2013 has an option that allows you to move the Quick Access Toolbar below the ribbon. This has the effect of leaving the toolbar in an accessible location, but placing it somewhere that you might be less likely to click it by accident.

How to Change the Location of the Quick Access Toolbar in Microsoft Outlook 2013

The steps in this article will show you how to move the location of the Quick Access Toolbar in Outlook 2013. If you have not changed this location before, then this toolbar should be at the top-left of the window. Following the steps in the tutorial below will move the Quick Access Toolbar below the ribbon.

Step 1: Open Outlook 2013.

Step 2: Click the File tab at the top-left corner of the window.

Step 3: Click the Options button in the column at the left side of the window.

Step 4: Click the Quick Access Toolbar option in the left column of the Outlook Options window.

Step 5: Check the box to the left of Show Quick Access Toolbar below the Ribbon. Click the OK button at the bottom of the window to apply the change.

Do you need Outlook 2013 to check for new email messages either more or less frequently? Learn how to change send and receive frequency in Outlook 2013 to set the check for as often as you would like.

Matthew Burleigh has been writing tech tutorials since 2008. His writing has appeared on dozens of different websites and been read over 50 million times.

After receiving his Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Computer Science he spent several years working in IT management for small businesses. However, he now works full time writing content online and creating websites.

His main writing topics include iPhones, Microsoft Office, Google Apps, Android, and Photoshop, but he has also written about many other tech topics as well.

How to configure the Quick Access Toolbar settings in Outlook?

Do you know all your custom Quick Access Toolbar settings are saved as independent files? Have you tried to move the Quick Access Toolbar to other location? Or just hide the whole Ribbon including the Quick Access Toolbar? In this article, I will describe the detailed methods to configure the Quick Access Toolbar settings in Outlook 2010 and 2013.

• Auto CC/BCC by rules when sending email; Auto Forward Multiple Emails by rules; Auto Reply without exchange server, and more automatic features.
• BCC Warning – show message when you try to reply all if your mail address is in the BCC list; Remind When Missing Attachments , and more remind features.
• Reply (All) With All Attachments in the mail conversation; Reply Many Emails at once; Auto Add Greeting when reply; Auto Add Date&Time into subject.
• Attachment Tools : Auto Detach, Compress All, Rename All, Auto Save All. Quick Report , Count Selected Mails, Remove Duplicate Mails and Contacts.
• More than 100 advanced features will solve most of your problems in Outlook 2010-2019 and 365. Full features 60-day free trial.

Get the Quick Access Toolbar file location

When we customize the Quick Access Toolbar in Outlook, it will generate files for the custom settings and save them in your computer automatically. And you can get the QAT file location easily with following method.

Open a folder, paste the following path into the Address box, and press the Enter key.

C:\Users\%username%\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Office

xxxx.qat file; if you are using Outlook 2010 and 2013, the qat files are shown as xxxx.officeUI ;

(3) There will be many qat files in the destination folder if you have customized the Quick Access Toolbar in many windows, such as messages composing window, message reading windows, appointment windows, etc.

Change the Quick Access Toolbar location in Ribbon

Some Outlook users may require to change the location of Quick Access Toolbar in the Ribbon. It’s very easy to deploy the QAT location.
Just click the Arrow button Show / Hide Quick Access Toolbar

Sometimes, the whole Ribbon including the Quick Access Toolbar disappears from the Outlook 2013 interface, and make you annoyed to search for commands.

Show hidden Ribbon including Quick Access Toolbar: just click the Ribbon Display Options button at the top-right corner of Outlook interface > Show Tabs and Commands.

Hide Ribbon including Quick Access Toolbar: if you do not want to show the Ribbon and Quick Access Toolbar in the Outlook interface, just click the Ribbon Display Options button at the top-right corner > Auto-hide Ribbon.