How to Use Calendar View to Manage Emails in Outlook

If you’re like many people, you probably navigate Outlook using its typical inbox layout. This familiar setup features a list of email threads along with a navigation panel and an email preview on the side. It’s the conventional way we interact with our emails.

However, if you’re working with classic Outlook, there’s an alternative view that might surprise you. Enter the calendar view, which transforms your inbox into a calendar format, displaying emails chronologically by day.

This view may not be the most practical choice for managing a flood of emails daily, but it offers an interesting perspective for navigating your threads. Each email appears as an entry on the calendar, and you can choose between daily, weekly, or monthly representations.

Here’s how you can switch to calendar view for your emails:

Joel Lee / Foundry

To access the calendar view, navigate to the View tab on the ribbon, select Change view on the left, and then choose Manage views. A new window will pop up. Click the New button, enter your desired name for the view (like “Email Calendar”), choose Day/Week/Month under “Type of view,” and keep it set to All Mail and Post folders. Finally, click OK three times to finalize your settings.

Next, return to the View tab, click Change view once more, and select your new calendar view.

It’s important to note that this feature is currently exclusive to classic Outlook. It’s still uncertain if similar functionality will be available in the new Outlook. However, the new version does offer offline calendar support, which might make it worth the transition.