Helping people with computers... one answer at a time.
Outlook 2010 delivers messages for multiple email accounts into multiple inboxes by default. I'll show you how to set the delivery folder yourself.
Outlook 2010 seems to set up a separate inbox for each email account. I have five accounts! That's five different inboxes that I have to keep looking in. It wasn't that way in previous versions. How do I get it back?
•
If you're using IMAP as your email access protocol, I believe that separate folders are required. However, if this worked for you in previous versions, then you're probably using POP3.
I'm not really sure why, but Outlook 2010 seems to now default to setting up a new inbox for each account you have. Heck, if I read things right, it might even default to setting up a new .pst file for each account.
We should be able to tell Outlook 2010 where to go ... er, I mean, where your email should go.
•
More than one email account
It's becoming more and more common for people to have multiple email accounts. This is particularly true in business, which has always been Outlook's primary target.
In the past, Outlook, like most email programs, would simply deliver all email into a single inbox regardless of which email account received it. If you wanted something different, say different folders for each account, your only option was to use "rules". Rules are instructions that tell Outlook to do something specific with a received message if it meets a particular criteria. For example, a rule might indicate that if a message is received on this account, move it to that folder automatically.
Outlook 2010 seems to have thrown this model upside down, automatically configuring each account to deliver into its own inbox.
While you can use rules again to send all messages into a single folder as they arrive, there's actually a simpler way.
Changing the delivery destination
In Outlook, click the File tab:
If it's not already selected, click the Info tab; then click Account Settings:
In the resulting drop-down list, click on any email account that you wish to modify.
This will bring up the Account Settings dialog box:
Click the E-mail tab, if it's not already selected.
This dialog will include a list of your configured email accounts. You can see that I have only one here.
Click on an email account with a delivery location that you want to change and then click the Change Folder button near the bottom of the dialog.
The Delivery Location dialog will allow you to choose which folder you want email to be delivered in for this account. That folder can be in any currently open .pst file. As you can see, you can also create a new folder or a new .pst file as well.
Click on the single folder where you want all of your email to be delivered; then click OK.
Now, repeat this process for each email account by simply clicking on the account and then the Change Folder button.
When you're all done, click on Close.
Article C4820 - May 15, 2011
Leo A. Notenboom has been playing with computers since he
was required to take a programming class in 1976. An 18 year career as a programmer at Microsoft soon followed.
After "retiring" in 2001, Leo started Ask Leo! in 2003 as a place for answers
to common computer and technical questions. More about Leo.
Hello, Leo! Often, when I look for solutions to problems, I’m directed to your informative websites, and I appreciate your expertise and knowledge! The above mentioned issue fits right into my query. I’m using Outlook 2010 and had to start from scratch again establishing Outlook, since my brand new Dell computer’s hard drive crashed after one week of use. (Unfortunately, I hadn’t performed backups yet, since I was still setting things up.) I have all together four e-mail accounts that I access through Outlook 2010, and all are listed with their subfolders. On my customized Quick Access Toolbar, I have an “Empty Deleted Items” icon that, when clicking it, used to empty ANY of the four e-mail accounts’ “Deleted Items” folders. Now that icon only empties the items of my default e-mail account. Is there a way to change this, so the Empty Deleted Items” icon on the Quick Access Toolbar will include ALL of my e-mail accounts?
Posted by: dirgster at May 29, 2011 8:46 AMI spent hours on this. And, each time I missed the setup DELIVER NEW MESSAGE TO
Posted by: david hidy at June 3, 2011 6:45 PMnew outlook data file (dafault)
existing outlook data file. on the inet email settings page.
I have tried to do this process, but I do not have the "change folder" icon in the account settings. I only have 1 account set up, but I want all emails to go into the outlook data inbox. My settings are IMAP, does this make any difference??
Posted by: birtydo at December 6, 2011 7:01 PMPlease disregard my last comment. I have fixed it, I set up the email address again, but I did it manually and set it up as pop, thanks.
Posted by: birtydo at December 6, 2011 7:09 PM