Make Outlook More Better
Oct 28, 2015

Every job I've had comes with and email account running on Microsoft Exchange. I cannot escape the long grasp of Exchange accounts.

My newest work computer came with Microsoft Outlook (version 15.15) installed on the machine. So I gave it a shot. It was amazing compared to older Microsoft software and I was drawn to the idea of keeping work email and personal email siloed in separate applications.

I quickly found that there was not a keyboard shortcut for moving messages to the Archive folder. This was no good. And Microsoft; WTF. There is a swipe to archive gesture in the mobile version of Outlook so I know you know this is a common action.

I wanted to be able to hit my old trusty Mail.app shortcut ⌘ + control + a to archive messages. I am happy to annouce I have succeeded.

The fix

Part 1: Make the rule

  1. From Outlook select Rules>Edit Rules form the toolbar.
  2. Add a Rule by selecting your account in the left menu under the heading Client Rules and then clicking the + near the bottom of rule list on the right.
  3. Name the rule Archive and set the When a new message arrives: to All messages.

  4. Under Do the following select Move message for the first dropdown and the name of your archive folder for the second dropdown.

    • Note you may need to create an Archive folder before starting this rule making process.
  5. Uncheck the Enabled checkbox so the rule doesn't run all the time without stopping.

Part 2: Make the shortcut

  1. Open System Preferences on your Mac
  2. Select Keyboard
  3. Then choose shortcuts from the tabs at the top.
  4. Next select App Shortcuts from the left list.
  5. Select the + from the bottom of the shortcut list on the right.
  6. From the Application dropdown choose Microsoft Outlook.
  7. For Menu Title type the name of the rule exactly as it appears in the menu. (Use Archive if you are following these notes exactly)
  8. Enter the key command you wish to use to trigger this menu command. I use ⌘ + control + a to match Mail.app.
  9. Click Add and close System Prefrences.

Part 3: Enjoy

  1. Now go back to Outlook and select a message in your Inbox.
  2. Hit that hotkey and the message should move to your Archive folder.

Closing thoughts

This method of adding shortcuts on a Mac works for any item accesible from a menu in any Application. I generally don't add a lot of custom key commands but repetive tasks need automation.

I also added ⌘ + shift + d to Outlook to Send the current draft message to match Mail.app.

Update 2016-02-27

The recent updates to Outlook break any shortcuts set to the Rules menu.