Hello everyone,



I am trying to help someone with their issue of having almost 500 Outlook folders (and subfolders) created and now they can't find anything. They are afraid to sort the folders any kind of way for fear of "not being able to find anything anymore". They already are having issues with searching for things because they don't even know what folders have already been created at this point.

Does anyone have any best practices for someone that has an overabundance of Outlook folders and wants to find a solution to simplifying their folders?

The moment to reorganize the old folder system may have passed long ago. Reorganizing thousand, tens of thousands, or hundreds of thousands of messages would be a long, painful slog.


If the folder system is that chaotic, my temptation would be to archive everything. After confirming the folders and messages have been moved, delete all folders and subfolders in the main mailbox. And then start from scratch. But this time, begin with a plan. What categories make the most sense for email folders? Then stick to the plan -- to the extent that it's possible to do so!



Old messages can still be searched for in the Archives. But hopefully after a few months or years, the most relevant messages will be contained in the new, nicely organized, main mailbox.