The Clutter feature is no longer available on the latest version of Outlook, but we have many faculty and staff who still use the older Outlook 2016 client.
If you are on the latest version of Office 365 (now called “Microsoft 365”), you have the option of enabling the “Focused Inbox” in Outlook. This is a more subtle approach to the Clutter folder, which has led to some important messages being missed.
If you are using Outlook 2016 and have Clutter enabled, you can either manage the messages that are sent to Clutter or disable the feature entirely. If you upgrade to the latest version of Outlook and Office (Office 365 desktop apps), you will be presented with the option of enabling the Focused Inbox instead. On-campus, university-owned Windows computers that are still running old versions of Microsoft Office will be upgraded to Microsoft 365 Apps (formerly referred to as Office 365 apps) during the July maintenance window on the night of July 21. You can install sooner if you’d like. You can upgrade sooner if you like. How to install Microsoft 365 on a personal or university-owned computer.
Keep important messages from going to the Clutter folder
In Outlook, click on the Clutter folder to see the messages that have been moved there.
You can drag important messages from your Clutter folder to your Inbox.
Moving an email in or out of the Clutter folder will tell the Clutter system what is or isn’t clutter. If you move an email from Clutter to your Inbox, future messages from that sender should go to your Inbox.
How to Disable the Clutter Feature
If you would like to disable Clutter completely, follow the instructions on this Microsoft page.