In classic Outlook for Windows, select the message and press Ctrl+Shift+V. The Move Items dialog opens; pick the folder with the arrow keys or by typing its name, and press Enter.
The new Outlook for Windows does not have a documented keyboard shortcut for moving a message. Microsoft's list of shortcuts for the new Outlook leaves it out, and the documented ways there are the Move button on the ribbon and drag and drop.
Classic Outlook
Microsoft lists Ctrl+Shift+V as "Move message to folder" in classic Outlook. It works on one message or several: select them in the message list first, with Shift or Ctrl and the mouse, or Shift+Down from the keyboard.
In the dialog, move through the folder tree with the arrow keys and press Enter to move the messages to the selected folder.
Classic Outlook also accepts cut and paste for this, as Microsoft's own instructions describe: Ctrl+X on the message, go to the folder, Ctrl+V.
The new Outlook
In the new Outlook the documented routes are:
- The ribbon. Select the message and choose Move in the Move group, then the folder. From the keyboard, press and release Alt to show key tips and follow the letters to Move.
- Drag and drop onto the folder in the folder pane.
- Rules. For mail that always goes to the same place, a rule moves it on arrival and you never touch it.
Why Ctrl+Shift+V does nothing
- You are in the new Outlook. Check the toggle in the top-right corner of Outlook: if it says New Outlook and is switched on, the classic shortcut does not apply.
- The focus is in the message body or a reply. In an open reply, Ctrl+Shift+V is not Move. Close the reply or click the message list first.
- Another program took the shortcut. Clipboard managers and some graphics tools register Ctrl+Shift+V for "paste as plain text". If the dialog never opens, quit such tools one by one and try again.
Make filing faster without a shortcut
- Quick Steps. A Quick Step can move a message to a fixed folder and mark it read in one action, and you can give the Quick Step a key. Our guide to Outlook Quick Steps has examples.
- Recent folders. The Move button lists the folders you used last, so the second time is quicker.
One flick in classic Outlook
RadialDeck is the radial menu for Windows that we make. When Outlook is in front, the same hotkey that opens your usual ring opens an Outlook ring instead. The gallery has a ready-made Move to slice for classic Outlook that presses Ctrl+Shift+V for you and opens the Move Items dialog. Hold the hotkey, flick toward Move to, let go, and pick the folder.
The same ring can hold Mark read, Reply all, Forward and a reply with a prepared text, so the usual handling of a message happens in one place under the pointer. For the new Outlook, where there is no move shortcut, a ring is still useful for the things that do have shortcuts, such as mark as read (Ctrl+Q) and mark as unread (Ctrl+U).
Every Outlook action in the gallery is on the Outlook page.
Quick reference
- Classic Outlook, move: Ctrl+Shift+V, pick the folder, Enter
- Classic Outlook, cut and paste: Ctrl+X, go to the folder, Ctrl+V
- New Outlook: Move on the ribbon or drag and drop; no documented move shortcut
- Every time to the same folder: a rule or a Quick Step
RadialDeck is free for two rings, and Pro adds a ring per program such as the Outlook ring, with a 14-day trial. It is in the Microsoft Store.
Try it in RadialDeck
Free for two rings, with a 14-day trial of everything in Pro. Windows 10 and 11, from the Microsoft Store.
or download the installer (.exe)