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Like most people, I spend most of my day staring at Microsoft Outlook. And like most people, I dislike it; I really hate it. I find the entire application ugly, unorganized, and designed in a way that makes it amazingly unproductive. In short, I wish it operated a lot more like gmail.

Last week, after pulling out a few hairs fighting with Outlook, I reached my breaking point. I dove into setting after setting and after a few frustrating hours, I finally got Outlook looking and operating like gmail (sort-of).

I actually like the Outlook gmail-like interface better than the gmail interface, as I find the way it groups conversations to be more visually pleasing and easier to navigate. I have included the below image as an example. All of the emails from “A” are emails I have sent.

On the left is Outlook’s default view, and on the right is my gmail-like interface:

1. The gmail-like view offers some serious benefits, such as:
2. Ability to see all emails related to a specific subject (both inbound and outbound).
3. Quickly see if email threads contained attachments.
4. Quickly delete all emails related to a subject.
5. Quickly mark all emails related to a subject as read (great when coming back from a meeting / training / vacation / etc.).
6. Includes emails in the trash that are not deleted.
7. Better utilization of screen real-estate.

The default view is not all bad however, as it does offer one benfit the gmail-like interface doesn’t; newer emails are never buried. If you look at the gmail-like view above, the two newest emails (sent at 2:23pm) are not at the top of either of the subjects in the gmail-like view. In addition, the Out of Office reply from “N” which is the 4th newest email I have received does not even show up in the gmail-like interface due to the length of the two conversations. Of course I could collapse the conversation and the email would show on-screen, but collapsing the conversation defeats the purpose of having them in conversations (in my opinion).

Now that you have seen what Outlook looks like after it has been gmailified, you might want to try it. To make your Outlook look like gmail, follow the below steps:

1. Create a new “Search Folder” that includes everything.
   • Create the folder.
   • Select Customer Search
   • Do not specify criteria
   • Select your Mailbox as the source.
2. Move the Search Folder to your Favorite Folders. Select it.
3. Right-Click on “Arranged by: Date” and select “Conversation.”
4. Right-Click on “Arranged by: Conversation: and select “Custom.”
5. Change your settings to reflect the below settings:

You should now have an Outlook that looks and acts similar to gmail. Enjoy your new found productivity.