How Outlook Sorts Emails with RE: in the Subject
Question details
The user wants to understand or change how Outlook sorts emails by subject, specifically concerning the inclusion of the 'RE:' reply prefix in alphabetical sorting.
- Product
- Microsoft Outlook
- Device & OS
- not provided
- Scenario
- Sorting and organizing messages in the email inbox by the Subject column.
- Observed behavior
- When messages are sorted by Subject, Outlook includes the 'RE:' prefix as part of the text field, meaning all replied emails are alphabetically grouped together under 'R'.
Verify that your current Outlook view is set to sort by 'Subject' so you can see exactly how the 'RE:' prefix alters the alphabetical arrangement of your inbox.
Use Conversation View Instead of Subject Sorting
Since Outlook cannot natively ignore the 'RE:' prefix when sorting alphabetically, switching to Conversation View is the best way to group related email threads together naturally.
Conversation View ignores alphabetical sorting rules and instead relies on the hidden message IDs to thread replies. This ensures that all emails belonging to the same discussion stay grouped, regardless of whether they have 'RE:' or 'FW:' added to the subject line.
Open your Outlook inbox and click on the 'View' tab located in the top ribbon menu.
Locate the 'Messages' group and check the box labeled 'Show as Conversations'.
A prompt will appear asking where to apply the setting. Select either 'All mailboxes' or 'This folder' based on your organizational preference.
Submit Feedback for a Prefix-Exclusion Feature
Because ignoring 'RE:' in standard subject sorting is not currently supported, you can request this specific feature directly from Microsoft.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Can I force Outlook to ignore the 'RE:' prefix when sorting emails?
Currently, Outlook does not offer a native setting to strip or ignore the 'RE:' prefix. The system treats the entire subject line, including the prefix, as literal text for alphabetical sorting.
Why are my replied emails scattered instead of grouped by their original subject?
If you are sorting your inbox alphabetically by the Subject column, any email beginning with 'RE:' is automatically grouped under the letter 'R', rather than the starting letter of the original subject topic. Using Conversation View circumvents this issue.
Where can I request Microsoft to change this sorting behavior?
You can submit or upvote feature requests directly on the official Microsoft Feedback Portal for Outlook. This helps the development team prioritize user-requested changes in future updates.
