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Clutter - An Email Management Feature in Microsoft Office 365

Clutter is an option in Microsoft’s Office 365 email designed to help manage email overload by moving “lower priority” email messages from the Inbox folder to a new folder named “Clutter”. The Clutter feature is automatically turned on in Office 365 and, if used regularly, it can reduce the number of emails in your Inbox. However, to be effective, you need to train Clutter to know which emails you wish to have moved to the Clutter folder and which you want to remain in your Inbox.

Help Clutter Work More Effectively 

Over time Clutter adapts to your preferences as it records your choices and uses that information to identify similar messages in the future. But you can help Clutter learn your choices faster by doing the following:

  • If you see a message that was sent to Clutter by mistake, move it from the Clutter folder to your Inbox.
  • If you see a low priority email in your Inbox, move it to the Clutter folder.

You can examine the Clutter folder anytime, or once you're satisfied that Clutter has a good understanding of your email preferences, you can wait for a weekly email summary of what went into Clutter.

Turn Clutter Off

You can turn Clutter off anytime in Office 365.

  1. Follow the steps at the beginning of this document to sign in to Office 365. Then, go to Settings Settings icon.  > Options >Mail > Automatic processing > Clutter.

  2. Select Don't separate items identified as Clutter, and then select Save icon. Save.

NOTE: The Clutter folder remains in Outlook after you turn off Clutter feature.

Turn Clutter On

Clutter is turned on by default, but if you've turned it off, use these steps to turn it back on. 

  1. Sign in to Office 365 at: https://www.csun.edu/it/webmail
  2. Go to Settings Settings icon.  > Options.
  3. On the left nav bar, go to Mail > Automatic processing > Clutter.
  4. Select Separate items identified as Clutter, and then select Save icon. Save.

NOTE: If you're using the Light version of Outlook on the web, you can access messages in your Clutter folder, but not turn Clutter on or off. Turn off the Light version of Outlook on the web in Options > Outlook on the web version and clear the Use the light version of Outlook on the web checkbox. Your changes will take effect the next time you sign in.

Who Do I Contact For Help?

If you have any questions, please contact the IT Help Center