How to Resort Outlook Mailboxes

Resorting Outlook 2010, 2013, and 2016 Mailboxes

Resorting Outlook mailboxes in Outlook 2010 and higher is very easy to do, but you should first know why your mailboxes show up in the order they currently do. In these versions of Outlook, the order of your mailboxes is going to match the order in which you added the same mailboxes and PST files into Outlook. Resorting Outlook Mailboxes in these latest versions simply requires you to drag and drop the mailboxes to the order you would like them in.

A warning before starting the drag and drop process: you might want to collapse all of the mailboxes first. This makes only the names of the mailboxes visible and will make it easier to drag and drop without making any mistakes.

When you start resorting Outlook mailboxes, you will notice that as you drag one of the mailboxes around that lines will become visible between the other mailboxes, this indicates the spot it will end up if you drop it there on the line. It’s great that Outlook has made it so simple to resort the mailboxes, since, as you will learn below, it didn’t used to be so easy.

Resorting Outlook 2007 Mailboxes

When using Outlook 2007 and earlier versions you will have less freedom when it comes to resorting Outlook mailboxes. The reason for this isthat in these earlier versions of Outlook the mailboxes are sorted in alphabetical order by default. What does that mean for you? It means that resorting Outlook 2007 Mailboxes requires you to change the name of the mailbox or the pst-file. The thing is that you will NOT be able to resort the default mailbox. This one will stay on top of the list no matter what you try to rename it. If you want to change the name of a pst-file you have to right click on the top-level folder for it and go to Properties > Advanced button > Advanced Tab > Name Field and type in the name you would like to give to your pst-file.

Resorting Mailboxes in Outlook is now done and you have it just the way you need it to look.