Software & Apps > MS Office How to Move Email Messages in Outlook Move messages to folders and organize your Outlook email By Heinz Tschabitscher Heinz Tschabitscher Writer University of Vienna A former freelance contributor who has reviewed hundreds of email programs and services since 1997. lifewire's editorial guidelines Updated on December 5, 2021 Reviewed by Jon Fisher Reviewed by Jon Fisher Wichita Technical Institute Jonathan Fisher is a CompTIA certified technologist with more than 6 years' experience writing for publications like TechNorms and Help Desk Geek. lifewire's editorial guidelines MS Office Outlook Word Excel Powerpoint Trending Videos Close this video player What to Know Select your message, press Ctrl+Shift+V, and choose where you'd like to move your message.Alternatively, select your message, choose Move in the Home tab, and choose where you'd like to move your message.Also, you can drag and drop messages directly into your desired folder. Keep your messages organized by moving them around, from one Outlook folder to another. Create new Outlook folders for different types or categories of email. Then, move messages to these folders to keep your email organized. Instructions in this article apply to Outlook 2019, 2016, 2013, 2010; and Outlook for Microsoft 365. Move Email Messages in Outlook Using the Keyboard To transfer a message with a handy keyboard shortcut: Select the message you want to move. Or, open the message in the Reading Pane or in a separate window. Press Ctrl+Shift+V. In the Move Items dialog box, press the Down key or the Up key to highlight a folder. Press the Right key to expand folders and show subfolders. Press the Left key to collapse folders. Press a letter key to highlight the first visible folder that starts with that letter. For collapsed hierarchies, Outlook highlights the parent folder. When the target folder is highlighted, select OK or you can tap Tab to jump over to the OK box and press Space to confirm. Move Email Messages in Outlook Using the Ribbon To file one email or a selection of messages quickly in Outlook using the ribbon: Select the message or messages you want to move. Open the email in a separate window or in the Outlook Reading Pane. Go to the Home tab. In the Move group, select Move. A list of recently used folders appears at the top of the list. If the folder you want is in this list, select it. If you have folders with the same name but under different accounts or if several folders in the same account have a subfolder with the same name, go to step 5 to be sure the message moves to the correct folder. To move to a specific folder in a list, select Other Folder. If you regularly move items to a certain folder, set up a handy shortcut for filing to it. In the Move Items dialog box, choose a folder, then select OK. Move Email Messages in Outlook Using Drag and Drop To move an email (or a group of emails) to a different folder using the mouse in Outlook: In the Outlook message list, highlight the email or emails you want to move. Click and hold a highlighted message. Drag the message to the desired folder. If the desired folder is down the list, pause over the edge of the folder list to scroll the list. If the folder list is collapsed, pause over it (while holding the mouse button down) until it expands. If the desired folder is a collapsed subfolder, pause over the parent folder until it expands. When the desired folder is highlighted, release the mouse button. If you accidentally drag messages to the wrong folder, press Ctrl+Z to return the messages to the original folder. Was this page helpful? Thanks for letting us know! Get the Latest Tech News Delivered Every Day Subscribe Tell us why! Other Not enough details Hard to understand Submit