With all the email we get these days, blasting through your emails in Outlook can be a daunting task. Even with folders, you can easily lose track of what emails have appeared where.
By default, Outlook displays the number of unread messages next to some folders and no information at all next to others. If you're striving for inbox zero and need to know exactly how many emails you have floating around, a quick toggle can give you that information.
Open Outlook and make sure your folder list along the left side is expanded. If it isn't, just click the arrow at the top to slide it out. Some folders such as Deleted Items will show their unread count in a bold number by default. To show the total number, right-click a folder and click Properties.
In this dialogue box, simply change the radio button to Show total number of items — you'll be able to tell the difference because any folder showing the total has the number in brackets and isn't bold font.
Unfortunately, you can't change this setting on multiple folders at once, so you'll have to perform this change on each one manually. It only takes a second, so hopefully you don't have too many folders to deal with!
Once you know the number of items in your inbox, you can tell how much email you need to erase, how many tasks are required on your part, or whatever else your unique email setup tells you.
How do you make this setting work for you? If you dare, share how many emails are in your inbox with us!