Outlook Intermediate Course: Rules, Search, Templates and an Inbox System

The beginner course got your inbox under control. This course makes it run itself: rules with conditions, exceptions and the right order, search operators and search folders, views that colour what matters, templates and Quick Parts, a category-and-flag system, calendar skills for teams, safe VBA macros for attachments, and Power Automate flows.

Works in classic Outlook for Windows, with notes for the new Outlook and Outlook on the web where they differ. Practice files include a rules planner, a search cheat sheet, ready email templates and a macro module.

Before you start: the Outlook Beginner Course.

1. 1Outlook Intermediate Lesson 1: Rules That Work – Conditions, Exceptions and OrderDesign Outlook rules that don't fight each other: conditions and exceptions, rule order, "stop processing more rules", and server-side vs client-only rules.
2. 2Outlook Intermediate Lesson 2: Search Operators and Search FoldersFind any mail in seconds with from:, hasattachments:, received: and AND/OR/NOT, and save repeated searches as Search Folders that update themselves.
3. 3Outlook Intermediate Lesson 3: Views and Conditional FormattingMake important mail stand out: colour mail from your manager, show attachment size and category columns, group by conversation or sender, and…
4. 4Outlook Intermediate Lesson 4: Templates, Quick Parts and My TemplatesStop retyping the same emails: save .oft templates, insert Quick Parts paragraphs, use My Templates in new Outlook and fill-in placeholders for…
5. 5Outlook Intermediate Lesson 5: Categories, Flags and an Inbox System That LastsSet up a simple system with five colour categories and flag dates, Quick Steps and the daily and weekly routine that keeps…
6. 6Outlook Intermediate Lesson 6: Calendar Skills for TeamsScheduling Assistant and room finder, shared and delegated calendars, time zones for overseas calls, Bookings pages and meeting habits that save time.
7. 7Outlook Intermediate Lesson 7: Safe VBA Macros – Save Attachments, Unread Report, Template RepliesThree Outlook VBA macros that only read and save: save attachments of selected mails with the date in the file name, an…
8. 8Outlook Intermediate Lesson 8: Power Automate Flows for EmailSave invoice attachments to OneDrive automatically, get a Teams message for VIP mail and log orders to Excel with Power Automate cloud…

Next: automate across Office with the Power Automate course.