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Changing Folder order in Outlook's Favorites list

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› Outlook › Changing Folder order in Outlook’s Favorites list

Last reviewed on November 16, 2018     2 Comments

Favorites list sort orderI've heard a lot of complaints from frustrated users because Outlook 2013 (and Outlook 2016) keeps changing the sort order of the folders in the Favorites list. The user has the folders arranged in a specific order and Outlook decides to reorder the folders. It's happened to me too, and yes, it's annoying.

With a little trial and error testing, several users discovered the problem seemed to be related to the IMAP folders in the Favorites. They discovered that just leaving the IMAP folders at the bottom of the Favorites list seems to fix the problem, and the remaining folders stay in the desired position.

Opening a new Outlook window should fix it as well. After Outlook opens, right-click on a folder and choose Open in new window. Close the original Outlook window.

If your sort order changed because Outlook crashed and restarted, close Outlook and restart. This always brings back my original sort order.

Changing Folder order in Outlook's Favorites list was last modified: November 16th, 2018 by Diane Poremsky

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About Diane Poremsky

A Microsoft Outlook Most Valuable Professional (MVP) since 1999, Diane is the author of several books, including Outlook 2013 Absolute Beginners Book. She also created video training CDs and online training classes for Microsoft Outlook. You can find her helping people online in Outlook Forums as well as in the Microsoft Answers and TechNet forums.

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Russell Eaton (@guest_219416)
June 14, 2022 12:10 pm
#219416

How can I sort folders alphabetically in Windows 10 (they are already numbered, e.g. 1. Research, 2. Bagels, etc.)? I want to keep the numbering, but see the list alphabetically. Can this be done? It would be too tedious to do this manually, as there are over 200 folders.
Thanks for any help, Russell Eaton

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Diane Poremsky(@diane-poremsky)
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Reply to  Russell Eaton
June 14, 2022 12:40 pm
#219417

You can't sort by the letters - it will always sort by the first character, which is a number. You would need to move the # to the end "Research (1)' or use 'R1. Research' format.

I don't know if a macro could sort them - I'll check - but that will only work for POP / PST and Exchange mailboxes or the Favorites list. The folder list for IMAP accounts is always alphabetical (by first character).

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