Sorting emails in new Outlook

Question

I have always used the sorting feature in Outlook, putting flagged emails on top of the list and everything else below by date. How can I get this to work in the new Outlook. It is not helpful at all to see just flagged emails or just all emails. Very frustrating.

Answer 1

Dear @Penny Maraglia,

As a moderator, I do not have the tools to investigate your specific account directly because this is a user-to-user support forum. Our role is limited to providing technical support on reported issues, requests, or ideas. However, I will try my best to support you as clearly as possible.

At this time, the new Outlook for Windows does not support a combined view that automatically keeps flagged messages pinned at the top while still showing all other emails below in date order (the way classic Outlook can).

That said, there are a few practical workarounds you can use to get close to the workflow you want:

Pin the most critical emails/conversations

If your main goal is to keep key items always visible at the top, you can Pin specific messages or conversations so they remain at the top of your message list, and unpin them when you are done.

Add “Flagged messages” to Favorites for one‑click access

While this will not merge flagged and unflagged mail into one combined list, adding Flagged messages to Favorites makes it much faster to switch between your Inbox (sorted by date) and your flagged items without having to search each time.

I completely understand this is not the ideal experience, and I appreciate your patience while Microsoft continues improving the new Outlook. If you would like, you can raise a feedback so this specific “flagged on top + rest by date” capability is formally captured as a feature request.

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Answer 2

In new Outlook for Windows, sorting and filtering are more limited than in classic Outlook and do not currently support a combined sort of “flagged on top, then everything else by date” in a single view.

Available options in new Outlook:

1. Sort the entire list (all messages) by one field
   • In the message list, select Filter at the top.
   • Choose a single sort option such as Date, Importance, From, Size, etc.
   • This applies one sort order to all messages; it does not pin flagged items to the top.
2. Show only flagged messages
   • Use Filter (or the available filter options in the message list) to show only Flagged messages.
   • This gives a focused view of flagged items, but hides unflagged mail instead of placing it below.
3. Use classic Outlook if advanced sorting is required
   • Classic Outlook supports more advanced view customization (including more flexible sorting and column control) than new Outlook.
   • If the combined “flagged on top, then by date” behavior is critical, switching back to classic Outlook is the practical workaround until new Outlook adds equivalent view customization.

At present, new Outlook does not expose the same level of view customization as classic Outlook, so the exact behavior described (flagged first, then all others by date in one continuous list) cannot be replicated directly in new Outlook.

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References:

• Sort email messages in Outlook
• Change how the message list is displayed in Outlook
• Organize your inbox in Outlook for Windows