By default, in the Folder List, in the Navigation Pane (Navigation Pane: The column on the left side of the Outlook window that includes panes such as Shortcuts or Mail and the shortcuts or folders within each pane. Click a folder to show the items in the folder.), Outlook displays folders under Mailbox - e-mail account name for each of the item types: Inbox, Calendar, Contacts, Tasks, Notes, and Journal. It also provides the following folders:

• Drafts    Stores unfinished items you are working on

• Sent Items    Stores copies of items you sent to others

• Deleted Items    Stores temporarily deleted items until you permanently delete or retrieve them

• Outbox    Stores items created offline that you want to send the next time you are online

If you're using a Microsoft Exchange account, your e-mail messages are delivered to the Inbox folder. You can create your own folders to further organize and track Outlook information. To work with all folders, use the Folder List.

Hotmail

If you're using a Hotmail account, the Folder List in the Navigation Pane displays a Hotmail icon with the folders on the Hotmail server beneath it. Your e-mail messages are delivered to the Inbox folder under the Hotmail icon. Use this folder and the other Hotmail folders to view messages or to display sent or deleted messages from the Hotmail server.

POP3

With a POP3 account, the Folder List in the Navigation Pane displays some of the default folders under Personal Folders. Your mail is delivered to the Inbox.

IMAP

With an IMAP account, the Folder List in the Navigation Pane displays some of the default folders under IMAP server name. Mail is delivered to folders on the IMAP server. You subscribe to the Inbox and e-mail messages reside in the Inbox on the IMAP server. Initially, you see only message headers in Outlook; you mark the headers of messages that you want to download to your computer. These messages display in the Folder List, in the Navigation Pane, in the Inbox under the IMAP server name. When you delete an item in the Inbox under IMAP server name, the message is formatted with a strikethrough mark and then you later delete it from the IMAP Server.

Outlook automatically creates a folder labeled Archive Folders after you run AutoArchive to back up your items. Outlook stores the archived items in this folder.

If you create additional data files for organizing items on your own, Outlook adds each data file and its folders to the Folder List in the Navigation Pane under Personal Folders.

The default folders mentioned previously and folders you create in your mailbox on the server, in a Personal Folders (.pst) file (Personal Folders file (.pst): Data file that stores your messages and other items on your computer. You can assign a .pst file to be the default delivery location for e-mail messages. You can use a .pst to organize and back up items for safekeeping.) or an Offline Folders file (Offline Folder file: The file on your hard disk that contains offline folders. The offline folder file has an .ost extension. You can create it automatically when you set up Outlook or when you first make a folder available offline.) (.ost), are private folders that only you can access. However, if you use Outlook with Microsoft Exchange Server, you can share your private mailbox folders with others by assigning them permission to access the folders or by making someone your delegate (delegate: Someone granted permission to open another person's folders, create items, and respond to requests for that person. The person granting delegate permission determines the folders the delegate can access and the changes the delegate can make.).

Public folders are a separate location outside of your own mailbox where you and other Microsoft Exchange users can create and view Outlook items related to a specific subject or project. If your Exchange Server administrator enables public folders, you'll see folders labeled Public Folders in the Folder List in the Navigation Pane. If you have permission, you can open individual public folders to view and add content, and you can set up your own public folders and give other people permission to use them. An item that you open in a public folder appears like the items in your own mailbox.

When you create a Search Folder, you are presented with a number of predesigned options, such as "Mail with attachments" or "Mail from specific people." You can also create your own custom Search Folders, defining specific search criteria that e-mail items must meet to be displayed in the Search Folder. Each Search Folder is a saved search that is kept up-to-date, monitoring all of your folders for any item that matches the search criteria of the Search Folder.