Automate repetitive tasks with Quick Steps in Outlook

Let's say I conduct monthly reviews of vendor invoices. My normal process is to review the invoices, forward them to our accounting team, and then create a reminder to follow up with the accounting team a week later to confirm the invoices were paid.

Instead of manually forwarding the emails and creating follow-up reminders each month, Quick Steps allows me to do the same thing with fewer clicks. 

1. From the Home ribbon, click Quick Steps. 

2. In the Quick steps window that appears, click New quick step. From here, you have a variety of ways to customize your step:

• Name your quick step. Give your step a clear and concise name, so you can easily understand what it does.

• Choose an action. Indicate what you want to do with the email if the step is applied. You can add multiple action steps. 

Once you're ready, click Save.

The quick step I've created allows me to process the last two steps of my monthly invoice review process (forward email and create a reminder task) with just one click. To apply the step to an email, simply click the Quick Steps caret in your Home ribbon, and choose the step you want to take. (By default, once you add a quick step, its name will appear in your Home ribbon, replacing the default text Quick Steps.)