Add a Flag Toolbar: MS Outlook

While it isn't possible to assign categories to the Flags that Outlook provides for flagging e-mail, you can get around this limitation by creating a Flag toolbar.

Creating the Toolbar

• From the Inbox menu, select View | Toolbars | Customize.
   
• Make sure the Toolbars tab is selected, then click New. Give the New toolbar a name, such as Flags.
   
• Click OK.
   
• Click Close.

The new toolbar should display on your screen. It may be difficult to see, but you can later drag it to a more suitable location. You don't need to worry with that now.

Adding the Flag Icons to the Toolbar

Now that you've created the toolbar, you can add the flag icons to the toolbar. You can add as many flags as you want. Before you start though, you should have some idea of what you want each flag to represent (i.e. Red = Important, etc.)

• From the Inbox menu, select View | Toolbar | Customize and click the Commands tab.
   
• In the Commands tab, select Actions under Categories and in the Commands box, select the first flag that you want to add to your toolbar.
   
• Drag the flag to the toolbar you have just created and drop it on the toolbar.
   
• Right-click on the Flag icon on the Flag toolbar and change the name to whatever you decided the Red Flag will indicate (in this case, Important).
   
• Finally, from the drop-down menu, select Image and Text. This assigns the label to the Flag.

Continue to follow the steps outlined above to add Flags to your toolbar. When you are finished, you will have a toolbar that contains the Flags you commonly use and a short description for each one. When you are done, close the Customize dialog box and drag the Flag Toolbar to an appropriate location on the Inbox screen, perhaps where the rest of your toolbars reside.

You may also want to add the Flag Complete icon on your toolbar as well.

You should now have a Flag toolbar that consists of Flags that you have named so that you can tell at a glance what each flag indicates and quickly flag e-mail by clicking the appropriate toolbar button.

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