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Sorting Messages in a Folder

You can sort your messages by various aspects: the date you received them, who you received them from, or their subject. You can sort messages in a couple of ways: using the View menu or using the column headers.

When you first view a folder’s contents, the messages are automatically sorted in descending order by the date they were sent with the most recent messages at the top (hence, the newest ones first).

Messages sorted by descending dateEnlarge

A column header appears at the top of each column, displaying the title of the column. The sort order arrow appears on the selected column header, pointing in the direction that column is sorted: down for descending, up for ascending.

Down arrow indicating a sort based on descending date

You can sort the messages in any column by clicking the column header. Click once to sort the messages in descending order; click it again to sort them in ascending order.

Up arrow indicating a sort based on ascending date

 

Here’s How

To sort messages using the View menu:

  1. Open a folder. (Remind me how.)

  2. Click View and choose a sorting option.

    Choose a sorting option from the View menu.

 

To sort messages using a column header:

  1. Open a folder. (Remind me how.)

  2. Click the Date column header.

    Click the column header to change the sort order.

  3. The direction of the arrow changes, and the contents of the folder are restored in ascending order, so the most recent message appears at the bottom of the list.

    Messages sorted by ascending dateEnlarge

  4. To sort the messages by the data in a different column, click the desired column header. For example, click From to sort by the senders of the messages.

    Click another column header.

    The sort order arrow appears on the selected column header, and the contents of the folder are restored based on this column’s data. The sort order (that is, ascending or descending) remains the same as it was on the last column—ascending in this case.

    Messages sorted by senderEnlarge

 

What’s Next

If you want messages automatically sorted into different folders as they arrive in your account, try AT&T Mail’s filtering feature. The Sorting Messages Into Folders tutorial shows you how.

Note: For now, there’s no option in AT&T Mail to permanently change the default sort order.

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Words to Know

  • Ascending order: from smallest to largest; for alphabetical sorting, from A to Z; for date sorting, from oldest to most recent.
  • Descending order: from largest to smallest; for alphabetical sorting, from Z to A; for date sorting, from most recent to oldest.
  • Folder: a container that holds individual elements specific to the context; for example, email messages in AT&T Mail or bookmarks in the Bookmarks Sidebar module.