{"id":87298,"date":"2020-10-12T11:00:00","date_gmt":"2020-10-12T08:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/the-best-way-to-organize-your-emails-just-archive-them\/"},"modified":"2020-10-12T11:00:00","modified_gmt":"2020-10-12T08:00:00","slug":"the-best-way-to-organize-your-emails-just-archive-them","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/the-best-way-to-organize-your-emails-just-archive-them\/","title":{"rendered":"#The Best Way to Organize Your Emails: Just Archive Them"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_85 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-custom ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\" style=\"cursor:inherit\">Table of Contents<\/p>\n<label for=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a3dcb0882578\" class=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-label\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/label><input type=\"checkbox\"  id=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a3dcb0882578\" checked aria-label=\"Toggle\" \/><nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/the-best-way-to-organize-your-emails-just-archive-them\/#Why_You_Need_to_Archive_Your_Emails\" >Why You Need to Archive Your Emails<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/the-best-way-to-organize-your-emails-just-archive-them\/#Where_You_Should_Archive_Your_Emails\" >Where You Should Archive Your Emails<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-3\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/the-best-way-to-organize-your-emails-just-archive-them\/#How_to_Archive_Your_Emails_In_Bulk\" >How to Archive Your Emails In Bulk<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-4\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/the-best-way-to-organize-your-emails-just-archive-them\/#How_Many_Emails_Should_You_Archive\" >How Many Emails Should You Archive?<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<p><strong>&#8220;#The Best Way to Organize Your Emails: Just Archive Them&#8221;<\/strong><\/p>\n<div>\n<figure id=\"attachment_416409\" style=\"width: 650px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-416409 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/www.howtogeek.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/ximg_5cef102c0b4df.jpg.pagespeed.gp+jp+jw+pj+ws+js+rj+rp+rw+ri+cp+md.ic.ENEKzB9Nqw.jpg\" alt=\"Email inbox on a laptop\" width=\"650\" height=\"300\" data-credittext=\"one photo\/Shutterstock.com\" data-crediturl=\"https:\/\/www.shutterstock.com\/image-photo\/mail-communication-connection-message-mailing-contacts-662220520\" onload=\"pagespeed.lazyLoadImages.loadIfVisibleAndMaybeBeacon(this);\" onerror=\"this.onerror=null;pagespeed.lazyLoadImages.loadIfVisibleAndMaybeBeacon(this);\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\"><span class=\"imagecredit\"><a rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.shutterstock.com\/image-photo\/mail-communication-connection-message-mailing-contacts-662220520\">one photo\/Shutterstock.com<\/a><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>We recommend using OHIO (Only Handle It Once) to triage your emails. An essential part of OHIO is archiving emails you need to keep\u2014get them out of your inbox! Here\u2019s why archiving is critical\u2014and why you shouldn\u2019t bother with folders.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Why_You_Need_to_Archive_Your_Emails\"><\/span>Why You Need to Archive Your Emails<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>A quick recap from our OHIO article: your inbox is not an archive, a bin, a filing cabinet, or a dumping ground. It\u2019s an inbox!<\/p>\n<p>When you have hundreds or thousands of emails in your inbox, they quickly get buried. Out of sight is out of mind. It\u2019s much harder to find specific emails, it makes your mail client work more slowly (even if you access your email through a browser like Gmail), and it can use up your storage if you use the Outlook or <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/download-scripts-themes-apps\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"9\" title=\"Download Scripts &amp; Themes &amp; Apps\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">App<\/a>le Mail on your phone.<\/p>\n<p>The bottom line: There\u2019s no point keeping all of your emails in your inbox and plenty of good reasons not to.<\/p>\n<p>With that in mind, you need to handle an email (reply to\/forward it, turn it into a task, set up a meeting) and then either delete the email or archive it. Here\u2019s how you should do it.<\/p>\n<p><strong>RELATED:<\/strong> <strong><em>Forget Inbox Zero: Use OHIO to Triage Your Emails Instead<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Where_You_Should_Archive_Your_Emails\"><\/span>Where You Should Archive Your Emails<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>Your emails should go into an Archive folder. They shouldn\u2019t go into one of several hundred carefully organized folders; they should go into one Archive folder.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-415391 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/www.howtogeek.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/x1-Archive.png.pagespeed.gp+jp+jw+pj+ws+js+rj+rp+rw+ri+cp+md.ic.vqxWoaDvbd.png\" alt=\"A single Archive folder\" width=\"195\" height=\"193\" onload=\"pagespeed.lazyLoadImages.loadIfVisibleAndMaybeBeacon(this);\" onerror=\"this.onerror=null;pagespeed.lazyLoadImages.loadIfVisibleAndMaybeBeacon(this);\"\/><\/p>\n<p>That\u2019s quite a bold statement, so a little justification is needed.<\/p>\n<p>Firstly, a hierarchy of folders takes time to set up and maintain, time that would be better spent handling your emails. Secondly, it can take quite a bit of effort to decide where an email should go\u2014does an email from your colleague about why they might miss a project deadline go into the folder for that project? The folder for that person? A lessons-learned folder?\u2014and <a rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.entrepreneur.com\/article\/319838\">decision making is both time-consuming and draining<\/a>. Lastly, it can be maddeningly hard to find emails at a later date when they could be in any one of several folders, and each folder has hundreds of emails.<\/p>\n<p>A single archive makes it easy to move your emails from your inbox because you don\u2019t have to employ any thinking or decision-making resources. You just handle the mail and move it into your archive. It couldn\u2019t be simpler, and when you\u2019re trying to stay on top of a never-ending flow of email, you want your process to be as simple and easy as possible. Every difficulty or irritation is magnified at scale, so something that\u2019s a minor annoyance or time suck for one email will be a huge annoyance and time suck for hundreds of emails.<\/p>\n<p>For some people, this will be a welcome relief to the torture of a folder structure, but some other people will need to breathe into a paper bag at the very thought of losing their painstakingly designed, intricate, logical, <em>beautiful<\/em> folder structure. If that\u2019s you, then, unfortunately, this is going to be hard to swallow.\u00a0We recognize your pain, even while we\u2019re sure the long-term benefits of a single archive will more than compensate for the short-term pain of changing your system<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"How_to_Archive_Your_Emails_In_Bulk\"><\/span>How to Archive Your Emails In Bulk<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>It probably seems evident that to archive your emails you just need to move them into your Archive folder, and you\u2019re right about that. But if you\u2019ve got hundreds or thousands of emails in your inbox then moving them individually will seem pretty daunting. Ideally, you need to find a way to move them in bulk.<\/p>\n<p>If you\u2019re using a client like Microsoft Outlook or Apple Mail, it\u2019s easy to bulk select mail. Click on an email in your inbox, scroll down, press the SHIFT key on your keyboard and select another email. All emails between the first one and the second one will be selected. You can drag and drop them into your archive folder, or use the Archive button. Like the floppy disk icon that\u2019s used to represent Save, there is a standard Archive icon that looks like a traditional cardboard archive box. This is in both Outlook and Apple Mail (both the client applications and the mobile apps) for the Archive button.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-416316 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/www.howtogeek.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/x4-Outlook-Archive-1.png.pagespeed.gp+jp+jw+pj+ws+js+rj+rp+rw+ri+cp+md.ic.DMztKFVDBo.png\" alt=\"The Archive button in the Outlook ribbon\" width=\"328\" height=\"110\" onload=\"pagespeed.lazyLoadImages.loadIfVisibleAndMaybeBeacon(this);\" onerror=\"this.onerror=null;pagespeed.lazyLoadImages.loadIfVisibleAndMaybeBeacon(this);\"\/>\u00a0<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-416315 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/www.howtogeek.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/x4-Apple-Archive-1.png.pagespeed.gp+jp+jw+pj+ws+js+rj+rp+rw+ri+cp+md.ic.DvGZh_EQYX.jpg\" alt=\"The Archive button in Apple Mail\" width=\"328\" height=\"110\" onload=\"pagespeed.lazyLoadImages.loadIfVisibleAndMaybeBeacon(this);\" onerror=\"this.onerror=null;pagespeed.lazyLoadImages.loadIfVisibleAndMaybeBeacon(this);\"\/><\/p>\n<p>If you\u2019re using the Outlook client, you can also create a Quick Step action that marks all the selected emails as read and moves them to the Archive folder with one button click (or keyboard shortcut).<\/p>\n<p>If you\u2019ve decided to start fresh, then you can always select all emails in your inbox by using the Ctrl + A keyboard shortcut (Command + A on a Mac) and archiving them. We can\u2019t tell you if that\u2019s the right thing to do, but you\u2019ll certainly get an empty inbox very quickly.<\/p>\n<p>In a web interface like Gmail, you can select a page at a time by clicking the checkbox at the top of the page.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-415392 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/www.howtogeek.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/x2-Gmail-Select-All-Box.png.pagespeed.gp+jp+jw+pj+ws+js+rj+rp+rw+ri+cp+md.ic.Xy0JAxvRDT.png\" alt=\"The Gmail selection checkbox\" width=\"310\" height=\"312\" onload=\"pagespeed.lazyLoadImages.loadIfVisibleAndMaybeBeacon(this);\" onerror=\"this.onerror=null;pagespeed.lazyLoadImages.loadIfVisibleAndMaybeBeacon(this);\"\/><\/p>\n<p>Once you\u2019ve selected the emails, click Archive to move them.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-415393 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/www.howtogeek.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/x3-Gmail-Archive.png.pagespeed.gp+jp+jw+pj+ws+js+rj+rp+rw+ri+cp+md.ic.4n6881fkSt.png\" alt=\"The Gmail Archive button\" width=\"312\" height=\"232\" onload=\"pagespeed.lazyLoadImages.loadIfVisibleAndMaybeBeacon(this);\" onerror=\"this.onerror=null;pagespeed.lazyLoadImages.loadIfVisibleAndMaybeBeacon(this);\"\/><\/p>\n<p>There\u2019s no keyboard shortcut to select all of the emails in your Gmail inbox (although * + a will select all of the emails on the page) but when you\u2019ve selected all of the emails on the page a message bar will appear above the emails giving you the option to select all the emails in your inbox.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-415396 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/www.howtogeek.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/x5-Select-All-Conversations.png.pagespeed.gp+jp+jw+pj+ws+js+rj+rp+rw+ri+cp+md.ic.C2MTv3p7nq.png\" alt=\"The link to select all emails in your Gmail inbox\" width=\"615\" height=\"75\" onload=\"pagespeed.lazyLoadImages.loadIfVisibleAndMaybeBeacon(this);\" onerror=\"this.onerror=null;pagespeed.lazyLoadImages.loadIfVisibleAndMaybeBeacon(this);\"\/><\/p>\n<p>Click this link to select all of the emails in your inbox. The message bar will change to allow you to cancel the selection.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-415397 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/www.howtogeek.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/x6-All-Conversations-Selected.png.pagespeed.gp+jp+jw+pj+ws+js+rj+rp+rw+ri+cp+md.ic.G3URnpU9rt.png\" alt=\"The link to clear the selection of all emails in your Gmail inbox\" width=\"458\" height=\"63\" onload=\"pagespeed.lazyLoadImages.loadIfVisibleAndMaybeBeacon(this);\" onerror=\"this.onerror=null;pagespeed.lazyLoadImages.loadIfVisibleAndMaybeBeacon(this);\"\/><\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"How_Many_Emails_Should_You_Archive\"><\/span>How Many Emails Should You Archive?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>The number of emails you want to archive at once is really up to you. As we\u2019ve said before, having an empty inbox is at best temporary and at worst almost impossible. You\u2019re not in control of what comes into your inbox, because anyone with your address can send you something. So even if you manage to empty your inbox, it won\u2019t stay empty. That said, it\u2019s not a bad target to aim for because having an empty inbox, even for a short time, definitely takes a bit of pressure off your shoulders. But <em>it will not stay empty<\/em>, which is why managing your email is a process, not a goal. And of course, you don\u2019t have to archive an email if you don\u2019t need to keep it, you can delete it\u2014that\u2019s an excellent option for saving space.<\/p>\n<p>So instead of focusing all your efforts on archiving (or deleting) every single mail in your inbox, focus on achievable targets that will reduce your email stress. Only you know what will reduce your email stress, but example targets are:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>No high priority mail left at the end of the day<\/li>\n<li>No mail more than two working days old in your inbox<\/li>\n<li>No mail from your staff\/manager\/customers (delete as appropriate) at the end of the week<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Work out what email causes you the most stress. Handle and archive (or delete) those emails as a priority.<\/p>\n<p><strong>RELATED:<\/strong> <strong><em>What Is Inbox Zero, and How Can You Achieve It?<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><script>\n setTimeout(function(){\n  !function(f,b,e,v,n,t,s)\n  {if(f.fbq)return;n=f.fbq=function(){n.callMethod?\n  n.callMethod.apply(n,arguments):n.queue.push(arguments)};\n  if(!f._fbq)f._fbq=n;n.push=n;n.loaded=!0;n.version='2.0';\n  n.queue=[];t=b.createElement(e);t.async=!0;\n  t.src=v;s=b.getElementsByTagName(e)[0];\n  s.parentNode.insertBefore(t,s) } (window, document,'script',\n  'https:\/\/connect.facebook.net\/en_US\/fbevents.js');\n   fbq('init', '335401813750447');\n   fbq('track', 'PageView');\n  },3000);\n<\/script><\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">For forums sites go to <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/forum.buradabiliyorum.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Forum.BuradaBiliyorum.Com<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>If you want to read more like this article, you can visit our <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/technology\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Technology category.<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><span style=\"color: black;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.howtogeek.com\/415390\/the-best-way-to-organize-your-emails-just-archive-them\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Source<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;#The Best Way to Organize Your Emails: Just Archive Them&#8221; one photo\/Shutterstock.com We recommend using OHIO (Only Handle It Once) to triage your emails. An essential part of OHIO is archiving emails you need to keep\u2014get them out of your inbox! Here\u2019s why archiving is critical\u2014and why you shouldn\u2019t bother with folders. Why You Need&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":87299,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.howtogeek.com\/thumbcache\/2\/200\/4ad077e8656f25fd396dd0e95bba300d\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/img_5cef102c0b4df.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-87298","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-technology"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/87298","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=87298"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/87298\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/87299"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=87298"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=87298"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=87298"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}