Quick Step "Move" Function not working on new Outlook

Question

Our organisation has a Microsoft 365 account.  I was using quick step on the new outlook to "Mark as read" and "Move" to a specific folder with no issue. About a day or two ago, my quick step (that was working perfectly) was greyed out and I could no longer use the quick step. I tried to delete and recreate the step many time. I created a few other that are still working and noticed as soon as I add the move step, it does not work.

Answer 1

Hello @John-George Gittins,  

Thank you for posting your valuable question on Microsoft Q&A forum.   

Based on your description, I performed testing in my environment and reviewed related documentation. Here are the key observations: 

• When a Quick Step includes “Move to > Always ask for folder”, it appears greyed out in both the new Outlook for Windows and Outlook on the Web. 
• Quick Steps configured with a specific folder continue to work as expected. 
• This aligns with the explanation shared in the discussion: Problems with Quick Steps in Outlook New | Microsoft Community Hub  -> Quick Steps are disabled when an action cannot be applied to the currently selected email. In this case, dynamic folder selection within Quick Steps is not currently fully supported. 
• It also likely relates to the fact that the new Outlook provides a Move feature in the toolbar, which already supports dynamic folder selection. 

Here are some options you can consider for your scenario: 

Use the Move button for flexible folder selection: 

• Select the email(s) you want to move. 
• Click Move in the toolbar. 
• Choose a folder from the dropdown or type the folder name in the search box. You can also create a new folder here. 

• (Optional) Pin frequently used folders by clicking the pin icon next to the folder name for quicker access. 

Create Quick Steps for commonly used folders:  For example: “Mark as Read > Move to Project A.” 

While Quick Step functionality may evolve in future updates, the Move button currently provides the efficient alternative for dynamic folder selection. 

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If you’d like this feature improved in future releases, I recommend submitting feedback and upvoting existing requests on the Outlook Feedback Portal: Outlook · Community. The Product Team is in-charge of the feedback site, and they are constantly checking the comments and feedback from our customer. Many features have been developed or improved based on users' comment.    

After submitting your request, you can share the link here so others can upvote and help bring more attention to it. Microsoft prioritizes changes based on user impact and feedback volume. 

In the meantime, you can check Microsoft 365 Roadmap for updating features in the future. I will also forward your feedback to the appropriate team for further consideration.        

Please note that Q&A forum moderators do not have access to backend systems or the ability to change app behavior directly. Our role is to assist based on available documentation and guidance from Microsoft based on our knowledge.     

We genuinely appreciate your feedback and share your goal of making Outlook better and more user-friendly. 

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Answer 2

I’m experiencing the same issue—Quick Steps were working fine a few days ago, but since December 9th, they have stopped functioning.

The suggested solution of moving files to a folder without Quick Steps is not a viable workaround, as the purpose of Quick Steps is to perform multiple actions at once.

Could you please investigate this issue and provide a proper resolution? Let me know if you need any additional details from my side.

Thank you for your support.

Answer 3

Same issue here, very annoying as I used this quick step all the time to organize my mailbox. I agree with Andreas, the proposed workaround is not usefull as it requires multiple steps and actions and is by that missing the purpose of a Quick Step indeed.

Answer 4

Hi all,

I am having the same issue as well.

The benefit of the quick step is not only in terms of productivity, that you save time, by making less steps in less time, but from a user experience point of view with the quick step functionality, you could use only one hand to move mails on certain folders simply by using the keyboard.

@Tamara-Hu and microsoft team, have you ever thought that not all people around the world have 2 hands?

Using the "move" button that is on the ribbon menu allows user to make more steps, hence loose productivity and you are obliged to use the mouse, you cannot use the keyboard.I kindly ask you and your team to reconsider this non performing functionality that is inactive since the beginning of this week 50 (2025).

Thank you.

Sincerely,

A