How to create a folder to organize emails by date range in Outlook?

In this tutorial, I will introduce two methods to organize emails by date range with folders in Outlook for better efficiency.

Create a search folder to automatically organize emails by dynamic date range

Move emails of specific date range to a folder in Outlook

Create a search folder to automatically organize emails by dynamic date range

A search folder enables you to view emails by dynamic date range easily. For example, you can always view all emails received in the current month in one search folder, which means the folder will show all emails received in November if it is November, and show all emails received in December if it is December, so that you don’t need to always create a new folder for a new month.

1. On the Folder tab, in the New group, click on New Search Folder.

2. In the pop-up New Search Folder dialog, please do as follows:

1) Under Select a Search Folder, in the Custom list, select Create a custom Search Folder.
2) Under Customize Search Folder, click on Choose to specify the criteria.

3. In the pop-up Custom Search Folder dialog box, name the folder in the input box and then click on Criteria.

4. In the Search Folder Criteria dialog, please do as follows:

1) Shift to Advanced tab.
2) Click on Field > Date/Time fields > Received. Or you can just type in “Received” in the input box under Field.
3) Select the desired date range you want from the Condition drop-down list. For example, I want all messages received this month to be in the search folder, so I will select This Month. You can also select Between and then enter, e.g. “2022/11/1 and 2022/12/1” if you don’t want the date range to be dynamic. Note that the start date is included, while the end date is excluded.
4) Click on Add to List.
5) Click on OK.

5. Click OK in the Custom Search Folder dialog box. Now, a search folder is created under Search Folders, containing the email messages that meet the conditions.

Move emails of specific date range to a folder in Outlook

With the search folder, you can view the messages easily in a folder. However, the messages are not actually moved to the folder, but keep staying in the Inbox. If you want to move the messages of, say, November, to a specific folder, please do as follows:

1. Right-click on the email account for which you will create a folder to organize emails, select New folder from the right-clicking menu, and name the folder.

2. In your Inbox folder, select any one of the email messages.

3. On the Home tab, in the Move group, click on Rules > Create Rule.

4. In the pop-up Create Rule dialog box, click on Advanced Options.

5. In the pop-up Rules Wizard dialog box, please do as follows:

1) Check the box next to received in a specific date span.
2) Click the underlined in a specific date span in the Step 2 box.
3) Check both After and Before boxes, and select the corresponding dates.
4) Click OK to go back to the Rules Wizard window.
5) Click Next.

6. In the next Rules Wizard, please do as follows:

1) Check the box next to move it to specific folder.
2) Click the underlined specific in the Step 2 box.
3) Select the folder to which you will move the emails that are received in the date span you set.
4) Click OK to go back to the Rules Wizard window.
5) Click Next.

7. In the next Rules Wizard where to set exceptions, click on Next without selecting any options.

8. In the last Rules Wizard dialog, name the rule in Step 1, check both options in Step 2, and finally click on Finish.

Now, the existing emails that are received in the specific date range will be moved to the folder you just created. And the upcoming email messages will also go to the folder directly if they are received in the date range you set.

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