How to Delete a Folder in Outlook 2013

Brand-new email accounts usually have a handful of folders by default. But if you are a heavy email user with a full inbox, finding the right email can be a chore.

One way to alleviate this problem is to create new folders for your emails, and use rules to automatically sort the messages that arrive in your inbox.

But it’s very easy to start using too many folders, which can add an additional layer of confusion.

If you find that you are in such a situation, then you might be looking for a way to delete a folder. Our tutorial below will show you how to delete a folder in Outlook 2013.

How to Delete a Folder from Microsoft Outlook 2013

The steps in this article were performed in Microsoft Outlook 2013. Note that if you have an IMAP email account set up in Outlook, then the folder structure is linked to your email server.

Deleting the folder in this manner will also delete it from the server, so it will not be accessible if you check your account in a Web browser, or on a separate device like your phone.

Step 1: Open Outlook 2013.

Step 2: Locate the folder that you want to delete in the folder list at the left side of the window. I am going to be deleting the “Redundant Folder” folder.

select the outlook folder that you want to delete

Step 3: Right-click the folder that you want to delete, then select the Delete Folder option.

deleting folders in outlook 2013

Step 4: Click the Yes button to confirm that you wish to move this folder to your Deleted Items folder.

how to delete a folder in outlook 2013

Note that some folders cannot be deleted. These include the Inbox folder, the Sent Items folder, and the Outbox.

Now that you know how to delete a folder in Outlook 2013, you can use these steps to start cleaning up the folder and navigational structure for your email application.

Did you previously set up a rule in Outlook so that certain emails would be filtered to certain locations, but you no longer need that rule? Find out how to delete a rule in Outlook 2013 if messages are being moved to a certain location and you would like that to stop.

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