If you’re using multiple folders along with Message Rules to automatically direct messages to the appropriate folders upon arrival, you probably have a set of folders that you regularly check for new messages. As such, you might want to consider making these folders easier to monitor by taking advantage of the Favorite Folders feature.

To access Favorite Folders; click the Mail button in the Navigation Pane. The Navigation Pane splits into two sections displaying the Favorite Folders Pane on top of the All Mail Folders Pane. By default, Outlook populates Favorite Folders with virtual copies of a set of standard folders and some of the default Search Folders, but you can remove them and add your own set consisting of the folders that you check frequently.

To remove default folders from the Favorite Folders Pane, right-click the folder and select Remove From Favorite Folders. To add a folder, right-click the folder and select Add To Favorite Folders. Whenever you add or remove a folder, the original folder remains intact in the All Mail Folders pane.

After you’ve added your folders to the Favorite Folders pane, you can organize them in any order you want simply by dragging a folder to a new position.