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How to Create, Add & Customize Priority Fields in Outlook

Add a column using the Field Chooser option

5 min. read

Updated onOctober 4, 2023

updated onOctober 4, 2023

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Key notes

To determine the urgency of an assigned task on Outlook, you can use the inbuilt priority levels (High, Normal, and Low), color tags, due date, and the status field.

However, if you want to add more details, you need to create a custom priority field in Outlook, which requires a few extra steps.

In this comprehensive guide, we will explain the step-by-step instructions to create & add custom priorities, along with the steps on how to customize priorities in Outlook.

What are priority fields in Outlook?

In Outlook, the priority field shows the level of importance assigned to a task, email, or other items, which indicates if you can delay the task or should handle it immediately.

Adding tags, including relevant info in the subject field for a task, will further help you sort the to-do list and help attend to the high-priority items first.

The default priority settings have three options,High,Medium, andLow, which are not always enough, especially when you are working in a team wherein members might have varying interpretations of priorities.

Also, customizing the priority field can help you adapt Outlook task management, thereby personalizing the workflow.

For further personalization, you can customize theOutlook Quick Access toolbarso that you can access all the frequently used options right in front of you, which makes using the app easier than ever.

How do I create a custom field in Outlook?

1. Create a custom field

You can create as many columns as you like to streamline the task list further but if you add too many, things will get complicated.

2. Enable Allow in-cell editing to define the priority

If you want to prioritize your emails from a sender and ensure all of them deliver to your Inbox, you must know how towhitelist an email in Outlook.

How can I use custom priority fields?

Adding custom priority fields can help you personalize the tasks per your preferences, enhancing productivity and increasing clarity & efficiency.

Here are a few ways which can help further understand how it is useful:

What are the best practices to follow for custom priority fields on Outlook?

For better Outlook task management, you first need to understand the context of the tasks in a project, then add an appropriate custom priority field.

Furthermore, to use the feature effectively, here are a few tips you must keep in mind:

How do I set custom priority in Outlook tasks?

You can right-click the column header bar on the Taskslist, chooseField Chooser, add a new column, name it and define the field types accordingly.

Once it is created, you can drag and drop the column to the Task list to add it to the column header. Next, you can mention the priority according to urgency or other preferences.

So, this is how you can create a custom priority field in Outlook to label the tasks as per the context, time sensitivity, risk involved, and more.

If you find theOutlook indexing is slowand want to fix it, we suggest you check out this guide to speed up indexing in Outlook on Windows 11.

Please feel free to give us any information, tips, and your experience with the subject in the comments section below.

How to Create, Add & Customize Priority Fields in Outlook#

What are priority fields in Outlook?#

How do I create a custom field in Outlook?#

1. Create a custom field#

2. Enable Allow in-cell editing to define the priority#

How can I use custom priority fields?#

What are the best practices to follow for custom priority fields on Outlook?#

How do I set custom priority in Outlook tasks?#