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In Outlook 2016, is there a way to add a category to a message before sending it? At the moment I send the email, then go into Sent Items and add the category there, but it would be much quicker to be able to add it while composing the email.

Tim
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  • Ah I see, I didn't know the category would be sent as part of the message, but I suppose that makes sense. Thanks. – Tim Mar 07 '16 at 12:12

3 Answers3

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You have two choices.

Via Rules

Since you want to assign the category to your sent items, the easiest is to have a rule set up

  1. Click Rules (in the Move tab under Home tab) -> Manage rule and alerts
  2. New rule
  3. Apply rule on message I send
  4. Next
  5. Consider the logic. How are you assigning? By recipient. If so then check with specific words in the recipients address
  6. In the step 2 box, add the email address by clicking the blue link
  7. Click next
  8. Check
  9. Assign to category category
  10. In the step 2 box, check on the blue link and choose the category
  11. In older versions you'd also have to check stop processing more rules
  12. Click next, name it and finish

Manually for each message you send

When you're composing the email, click on Tags (in the Message tab) and then in the window, there is the option for categories.

Dave
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  • I can't use a rule because my use case is for helping me keep track of emails I need to chase up (I have a search folder set up which uses the category) so it's a case by case basis, but it's useful to know I can do it through the Tags menu. Thanks. – Tim Mar 08 '16 at 16:30
  • @Tim, the last sentence of my post... – Dave Nov 09 '16 at 08:35
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Good question. This can be done when composing an email by clicking on the message options in the bottom right hand corner of the Tags group on the ribbon and then selecting a category:

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boardtc
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  • Isn't this the same as the last sentence of my answer? – Dave Nov 09 '16 at 08:35
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    @Dave yes it is, but I think this answer is clearer for anyone else with the same question as me in the future. Both answers are perfectly valid, so I accepted the one which was most helpful for my specific situation. I hadn't noticed that I hadn't upvoted your answer at the time, I've now done so as it is correct. – Tim Nov 09 '16 at 11:37
  • An additional pro-tip: add the Category search filter button to the Quick Access toolbar, then you can quickly filter to emails per category without switching to the search tab. – tbone May 15 '18 at 19:06
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I found this a while back and it worked in Outlook 2010 and 2013 but I cant seem to get it to work in 2016.

http://superuser.com/questions/194173/in-outlook-2010-can-you-add-categories-to-the-new-email-ribboN

You need to open the "Visual Basic Window" (Alt + F11) Add a Module (Right-click "Modules" Folder > Insert > Module) and copy & paste the below:
Public Sub CategoriesButton()
-- Dim Item As Outlook.MailItem
-- Set Item = Application.ActiveInspector.CurrentItem
-- Item.ShowCategoriesDialog
End Sub
For Outlook 2010
1. Click the "New E-Mail" Button
2. Right Click > Customize Ribbon > Drop Down > Macros > Select "Project1.CategoriesButton" and add to a new group.
3. Rename and Add icons to the button as you wish! 

NOTE: Macros need to be enabled

Click on File-> Outlook options-> select trust center towards the left hand side-> click on trust center settings-> you can see macro settings, under macro settings check the box which says enable all macros.
mic84
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D. Campbell
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