Skip to main content

Outlook: change the folder where sent items are stored

As you know, sent email messages are saved into the Sent Items folder automatically. But here we arrange some tricks about how to change the default sent item folder, and save sent email messages into alternative folders in Microsoft Outlook easily.

Change the folder sent items are stored in when you are composing

Change the folder all sent items are stored in automatically

Office Tab - Enable Tabbed Editing and Browsing in Microsoft Office, Making Work a Breeze
Kutools for Outlook - Boost Outlook with 100+ Advanced Features for Superior Efficiency
Boost your Outlook 2021 - 2010 or Outlook 365 with these advanced features. Enjoy a comprehensive 60-day free trial and elevate your email experience!

arrow blue right bubbleChange the folder sent items are stored in when you are composing

When you are composing an email message, you can define an alternative folder where this sending email will be stored in after sending.

Step 1: Click the Save Sent Item to > Other Folder in the More Options group on the Options tab in the Message Window.

Step 2: In the Select Folder dialog box, select and highlight a folder in the Folders: box, and click the OK button.

After you send this email message, its copy will be stored to the folder that you selected in the Step 2 automatically.


arrow blue right bubbleChange the folder all sent items are stored in automatically

In some cases you may want to change the defaulted Sent Item folder, and let all sent email messages are stored in a specified folder automatically. We will guide you to realize it with creating a rule in Outlook.

Before you create a rule, you need to shift to the Mail view with clicking the Mail in the Navigation Pane.

Step 1: Open the Rules and Alerts dialog box:

  1. In Outlook 2010 and 2013, please click the Rules > Manage Rules & Alerts in the Move group on the Home tab.
  2. In Outlook 2007, please click the Tools > Rules and Alerts.

Step 2: In the Rules and Alerts dialog box, click the New Rule button on the E-mail Rules tab.

Step 3: In the Rules Wizard dialog box, select and highlight the Apply rule on messages I send in the Start from o blank rule section, and click the Next button.

Step 4: In the new Rules Wizard dialog box,

  1. Check the through the specified account option in the Step 1: select conditions(s) section.
  2. Click the specified in the Step 2: Edit the rule description section.
  3. In the popping up Account dialog box, select an account in the Account: box and click OK button.
  4. Click the Next button.

Step 5: In the new Rules Wizard dialog box,

  1. Check the move a copy to the specified folder option and stop processing more rules option in the Step 1: select action(s) section.
  2. Click the specified in the Step 2: Edit the rule description section.
  3. In the Rules and Alerts dialog box, select a folder, and click OK button.
  4. Click the Next button.

Step 6: Continue to click the Next buttons and Finish button in the following dialog boxes.

From now on all sent email messages will be saved to the folder you configured in the Step 5 automatically.


Best Office Productivity Tools

Kutools for Outlook - Over 100 Powerful Features to Supercharge Your Outlook

🤖 AI Mail Assistant: Instant pro emails with AI magic--one-click to genius replies, perfect tone, multilingual mastery. Transform emailing effortlessly! ...

📧 Email Automation: Out of Office (Available for POP and IMAP)  /  Schedule Send Emails  /  Auto CC/BCC by Rules When Sending Email  /  Auto Forward (Advanced Rules)   /  Auto Add Greeting   /  Automatically Split Multi-Recipient Emails into Individual Messages ...

📨 Email Management: Easily Recall Emails  /  Block Scam Emails by Subjects and Others  /  Delete Duplicate Emails  /  Advanced Search  /  Consolidate Folders ...

📁 Attachments ProBatch Save  /  Batch Detach  /  Batch Compress  /  Auto Save   /  Auto Detach  /  Auto Compress ...

🌟 Interface Magic: 😊More Pretty and Cool Emojis   /  Boost Your Outlook Productivity with Tabbed Views  /  Minimize Outlook Instead of Closing ...

👍 One-click Wonders: Reply All with Incoming Attachments  /   Anti-Phishing Emails  /  🕘Show Sender's Time Zone ...

👩🏼‍🤝‍👩🏻 Contacts & Calendar: Batch Add Contacts From Selected Emails  /  Split a Contact Group to Individual Groups  /  Remove Birthday Reminders ...

Over 100 Features Await Your Exploration! Click Here to Discover More.

Read More       Free Download      Purchase
 

 

Comments (14)
No ratings yet. Be the first to rate!
This comment was minimized by the moderator on the site
These instructions don't work, at least on Outlook 365.
Note carefully, the rule says, "Move a COPY to the folder..." It says nothing about not storing the original of the mail in the same place it has always done so.
This "feature" of Outlook is filling up the mail accounts of people who don't have unlimited (e.g., Google) mail storage at their server, as it continues to store all sent mail at the server instead of locally on the machine.
This comment was minimized by the moderator on the site
I came across this issue yesterday. Windows 10, Outlook 2016 (16.0.11929.20234) 32-bit, on-premises Exchange 2010, no Cached Exchange Mode, with an image used in the signature. Removing the signature allowed emails to send, but with the signature included we saw “Cannot send this item”.

Another confirmation here that turning on Cached Exchange Mode fixed it.

Glad I spotted this thread!
This comment was minimized by the moderator on the site
I have two inboxes that I use in Outlook 2016. One is my personal account and the other is a shared secondary inbox. I tried to change where the sent messages are being saved into the "Sent Items" folder of the shared secondary inbox. I followed the step by step exactly for the "Change The Folder Sent Items Are Stored In When You Are Composing" - but all it does is show up in my "Outbox" of my personal inbox instead and not the "Sent Items" folder of the secondary inbox which I selected. Anybody have any idea why this might be happening or why it won't work?
This comment was minimized by the moderator on the site
You have no idea how grateful I am for this...after talking with one technician after another, after asking BlueHost for help and of course, getting nothing from Microsoft except that I have to pay for their 'help', this works, even on Outlook 2016.
This comment was minimized by the moderator on the site
Now only if this would also pull emails sent via my iPhone with my account. Those items show up in the default sent items, but I cannot get it copy those over as well. Damn corporate not allowing me to change the retention policy on any default folders.
This comment was minimized by the moderator on the site
You are much better off just disabling automatic saving of messages in the Sent Items folder and then creating a rule that stores a copy of all sent email in the desired folder. 1.File - Options - Mail - Save Messages Un-check the "Save copies of messages in the Sent Items folder" 2.File - Manage Rules and Alerts - Apply Rule on Messages I send 2.1 Don't check anything on the first screen 2.2 Check "move a copy to the specified folder" 2.3 Click on "specified" (at the bottom) and select the folder 2.4 Finish the rule
This comment was minimized by the moderator on the site
Perfect, just what I wanted!
This comment was minimized by the moderator on the site
For some reason, even with the above rule, it still saves a copy to my sent folder even though I specified that it should save to the inbox. Any idea how to turn this function off?
This comment was minimized by the moderator on the site
YOU ARE A GODSEND!!!!! I have been battling this for an entire day...trying to get all of my devices to use the same iMap boxes for filing. You got me through the last hurdle!!!! I am slowly regaining sanity, though I cannot believe this process is what is required to pick which sen box I'd like my Outlook 13 mail to be stored. THANK YOU
This comment was minimized by the moderator on the site
This works great for me. My company implemented a new policy that automatically deletes our sent emails after 60 days, and this works perfectly for me to keep all of my emails in a separate sent folder without the company deleting them. Thanks!
This comment was minimized by the moderator on the site
I would like to use the "save sent item" option and followed the instructions above. But for me this does not work. It seems that this function is not activated. Is there an additional check box to activate? Thank you for any help
There are no comments posted here yet
Load More
Please leave your comments in English
Posting as Guest
×
Rate this post:
0   Characters
Suggested Locations