How to sort tasks by priority in Outlook?

Author: Kelly Last Modified: 2025-04-07

Sometimes, Outlook users may be assigned or create tasks marked as important or lower important. Some users will schedule their work and deal with the important tasks first, so they sort all tasks by priority. Here I will introduce several tricks to easily sort tasks by priority in Microsoft Outlook.

Sort tasks by priority with changing view

Sort tasks by priority with changing arrangement pattern

Sort tasks by priority with custom view

Sort tasks by priority with changing view

It’s quite easy to sort all tasks in a specified folder by priority in Microsoft Outlook 2010 and 2013. You can do it as follows:

Step 1: Shift to the Task view, and click to open a task folder where you will sort by priority.

Step 2: Click "Change View" > "Prioritized" on the "View" tab. See screenshot below:

the screenshot of step about sorting tasks by priority with changing view 1

Note: To reverse the sorting order, you can click the "Reverse Sort" button on the "View" tab in Outlook 2010 and 2013.

Sort tasks by priority with changing arrangement pattern

Actually, you can change the arrangement pattern to sort all tasks in the current folder by priority easily.

Step 1: Shift to the Task view, and click to open a task folder where you will sort by priority.

Step 2: Sort all tasks by priority with:

In Outlook 2010 and 2013, click "Importance" in the "Arrangement" group on the "View" tab.
In Outlook 2007, click "View" > "Arrange By" > "Importance".

the screenshot of step about sorting tasks by priority with changing arrangement pattern 1

Note: To reverse the sorting order, please click the "Reverse Sort" button on the "View" tab in Outlook 2010 and 2013.

Sort tasks by priority with custom view

Of course, you can customize the current folder’s view settings and sort all tasks by priority in Microsoft Outlook easily.

Step 1: Shift to the Task view, and click to open a task folder where you will sort by priority.

Step 2: Click the "View Settings" button on the "View" tab.

the screenshot of step about sorting tasks by priority with custom view 1

Note: In Outlook 2007, click "View" > "Current View" > "Customize Current View".

Step 3: In the popping up Advanced View Settings dialog box, click the "Sort" button.

the screenshot of step about sorting tasks by priority with changing custom view 2

Step 4: In the coming Sort dialog box, click the box below "Sort items by", specify "Priority" from the drop-down list, and check the "Descending" option (or "Ascending" option, depending on your need), then click the "OK" button.