How to Send a High-Priority Email in the Outlook Mobile App

Looking for ways to Send a High-Priority Email in the Outlook Mobile App?

Microsoft Outlook is a popular email client, managing a large portion of the sending, receiving, and formatting of emails that keeps our world running.

It’s available on Mac, Windows, in your web browser, and as an app for both Android and iOS. 

A handy system available in many email clients (including Outlook) is the “High Priority” function. 

This lets you mark specific emails as extra important, both in your own inbox and before you send them to someone else’s.

Of course, anything that makes the slog of daily email admin work easier is appreciated. So, we’re here to help explain this feature and to tell you how you can use it to your advantage!

In this article, we’ll cover:

• What a high-priority email in Outlook is
• How to send high-priority emails in the Outlook mobile app
• How to send them in the desktop forms of Outlook
• How to mark your own emails as high priority automatically.

Let’s get started!

What is a High Priority Email in Outlook?

The High Priority feature is included in most major email clients in the modern day. Outlook is no exception; it allows you to mark selected emails in your inbox as important before you send them to someone else.

When an email is flagged as important, it will gain a handy red exclamation mark next to its subject line when it’s displayed. This makes it easy to find among the other emails in your inbox, and clearly signals its urgency.

You can also sort your email inbox by importance, bringing all of these marked emails to the top.

The biggest benefit of this system is that it allows urgent mail to be singled out from the rest. This is especially useful in professional environments where deadlines are always creeping forward and quick communication with others is crucial.

It should be noted that if the recipient of your important email doesn’t use Outlook, then the important email may be displayed differently in their inbox.

Email clients all have their own ways of denoting importance. In some cases, they don’t show important emails differently at all. 

However, if you’re in an organization where everyone uses an Outlook account, you can be confident that your important email will be marked with that little red exclamation mark!

How to Send High-Priority Email in the Outlook Mobile App

Unfortunately, there is no way to send a high-priority email in the Outlook mobile app.

We know, we know – it would be a really handy feature to have access to on the go, but it hasn’t been implemented by Microsoft yet.

High-priority emails will still be visible in mobile app versions of Outlook, but there isn’t any way to send an important email from your phone. Doing so is only possible through the desktop versions of Outlook.

How to Send High Priority Email in Outlook for Desktop

If you’re in a desktop version of Outlook, however, sending high-priority mail is super easy!

This is pretty great for those panicked moments when you need to get someone making progress on a task ASAP; a High Priority email in their inbox will definitely catch their eye.

Mac

1. Launch the Outlook desktop client

2. Click the New Message button to start writing a new email. You can find it at the top left corner of the toolbar

3. Fill out your email’s subject, recipient(s), and main body

4. Click the Priority button located to the right of the subject line

5. Choose between High, Normal, and Low priority

6. Send your email!

Windows

1. Launch the Outlook desktop client.

2. Click the New Email or New Message button in the top left corner.

3. Fill out your email’s subject, recipient(s), and main body.

4. Make sure the Message tab is open at the top of the window.

5. Find the Tags section of the Message tab.

6. Click on the High, Normal, or Low importance button.

7. Send your email!

Web

1. Log in to Outlook.com.

2. Click on the New Mail button in the top left corner of your toolbar.

3. Fill in the subject, recipient(s) and main body of your email.

4. In the Message tab, click on the red exclamation mark.

5. Choose between High, Normal and Low priority.

6. Send your email!

Note: There is a way to get access to more detailed importance options before sending your email.

To do this, go to the Message tab in your email window. Then, go to the Tags section and click the small arrow in the bottom right corner of the section.

From here, you’ll have access to a full set of options regarding your email. This includes priority and confidentiality options.

The Priority dropdown will let you choose between High, Normal, and Low priority.

The Confidentiality dropdown will let you choose between Normal, Personal, Private and Confidential.

If you mark your email as Confidential (or anything else other than “Normal” from that menu), a message will be displayed when the recipient is reading your email stating “This email is confidential!”.

How to Mark Received Emails as High Priority Automatically

As well as marking the emails you send as high priority, you can also mark those you receive.

This can be done manually by clicking on the priority button to the left of the subject of the mail in your inbox. 

However, it can also be done automatically by setting up some rules. For instance, you can automatically mark all mail coming from a specific address as important.

This can be super handy for automating your inbox, removing a lot of the busy work that comes with a professional email. It’s also super easy to set up!

Mac

1. Launch the Outlook desktop client.

2. Right-click on the message you wish to mark importance and choose Rules.

3. Click on the Create Rule button.

4. Specify the condition or conditions for the rule. For instance, you could choose to include all emails received from your boss’s email address.

5. Open the Do The Following dropdown menu and choose Mark With Importance.

6. Set the priority level to high.

7. Click Save.

Windows

1. Launch the Outlook desktop client.

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2. Go to the Home tab and click the Rules button.

3. Click on Manage Rules & Alerts.

4. Create a new rule by clicking on the New Rule button.

5. Choose to start from a blank rule.

6. Select the Apply Rule On Messages I Receive button and click Next.

7. Specify the condition for your rule, such as emails sent from a specific address.

8. Click Finish.

Web

1. Log in to Outlook.com.

2. Click on the Settings gear icon.

3. Find the View All Outlook Settings button at the bottom of the menu.

4. Navigate to the Mail section.

5. Find the Rules menu.

6. Add a new rule.

7. Name the rule and add at least one condition.

8. Click on the Select an Action dropdown menu and choose Mark With Importance.

9. Choose between High, Normal and Low.

10. Click Save.

Now, whenever the condition you set is met by an incoming email, it will be automatically marked as high priority.

This tool is great for all types of uses. You can even set up a rule that marks all emails containing a certain keyword (like the name of that super important client!) as a high priority. 

The Bottom Line

In the end, it’s a little disappointing that sending high-priority mail isn’t possible in any of the Outlook apps.

The feature is a really handy one that you’ll soon find you can’t live without once you get used to it. It helps cut down on the endless sorting of emails that many of us dread every morning.