How to Make Emails High Priority

Get your emails read quickly by marking them as high priority.

If you're worried that the recipient might not read your emails as quickly as you'd like, you can send them as "high priority" emails. On most Web-based email services and computer email applications, the high priority email will appear in the recipient's inbox with an exclamation mark beside the sender's name and email subject line. This flags the email as important, and might encourage the recipient to open the message before the lower priority emails waiting in his inbox. To send emails as a high priority in Outlook, use the "Options" tool when you create a new message.

Instructions

Set High Priority for Individual Emails

1. Launch Microsoft Outlook.

2. Click the "Mail" icon in the left-hand navigation menu, then select the email account from which you want to send the email message in the list of accounts in the left-hand pane.

3. Choose "New" in the main navigation menu. This opens the New Message dialog box.

4. Type the recipients' email addresses into the "To" and "Cc" input boxes. Enter an email title into the "Subject" input box and type the text for your email message into the main message pane.

5. Locate the "Options" group under the "Message" tab on the message menu ribbon. Click the red "High Importance" exclamation mark icon. This marks the email as high priority. Click the "Send" button to send your high priority email.

Set High Priority for all Emails

1. Launch Microsoft Outlook.

2. Click the "File" tab on the main menu ribbon.

3. Choose "Options" from the context menu, then click "Mail."

4. Select "High" from the "Default Importance Level" drop-down list under "Send Messages." By default, Outlook will now send all new email messages as high priority.

Tips & Warnings

• Changing the priority of email messages doesn't affect the delivery speed of the email, just the way it displays in the recipient's inbox. You can also set an email as low priority by following the same steps and selecting the "Low Importance" downward arrow icon.

• Most email applications allow users to change the priority settings for email messages. The procedure varies depending on the email software or service, but you can usually access this from the "Settings," "Options" or "Tools" menu in the email message.

References

• Microsoft Office: Outlook 2010: Change the Importance Level for a Message

Resources

• Microsoft Office: Outlook 2010 Help and How-to