How to Get Rid of Outlook Subject Prefix “FW” and “RE”? [3 Methods]

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One of the most popular email platforms available today is Microsoft Outlook. With its convenient features, users can edit, forward, and reply to emails, among other things.

Unfortunately, some users find that these features can become a nuisance when the emails contain unnecessary “FW” and “RE” labels in the subject line when you reply or forward the email from Outlook.

Outlook offers some simple ways to get rid of “FW” and “RE” labels, which help users identify each email more quickly.

In this blog post, I will explain a few methods to get rid of “FW” and “RE” labels in the subject line.

Remove subject prefixes “FW” and “RE” from the subject line in Outlook using VBA

VBA codes are designed and customized to accomplish required results, in Microsoft platforms VBA code plays an important role.

Let’s dive in and understand step by step process of how to add VBA code in Outlook and run the code and get favorable results (Remove subject prefixes “FW” and “RE“.)

  • Open the Microsoft Outlook application.
  • Go to Developer Tab Press Visual Basic from the far-left options.
  • Or Use Keyboard Short Alt + F11 to enable the Microsoft Visual Basic for Applications window.
  • Click Insert and select Module from the drop-down options.
  • A blank script appears, now copy and paste the following VBA codes into it.
Click here to Download
Sub Application_ItemSend(ByVal Item As Object, Cancel As Boolean)
    Dim strSubject As String
 
    If InStr(Item.Subject, "RE") > 0 Then
       'If you don't want the prompt,
       'You can remove the MsgBox line and its correspoding "Else … End If" lines.
       If MsgBox("Do you want to remove the prefix 'RE'?", vbYesNo) = vbYes Then
          strSubject = Replace(Item.Subject, "RE:", "", vbTextCompare)
       Else
          strSubject = Item.Subject
       End If
    End If
 
    If InStr(Item.Subject, "FW") > 0 Then
       If MsgBox("Do you want to remove the prefix 'FW'?", vbYesNo) = vbYes Then
          strSubject = Replace(Item.Subject, "FW:", "", vbTextCompare)
       Else
          strSubject = Item.Subject
       End If
    End If
 
    Item.Subject = Trim(strSubject)
    Item.Save
End Sub

You will still see prefixes in the subject line after saving the code, but they will be removed after you send an email.

Remove “FW” and Forward the Email via Quick Steps

Quick Steps in Outlook is a feature that allows you to quickly perform a series of steps on emails.

With Quick Steps, you can quickly perform multiple actions on a single email, such as forwarding emails, flagging emails, and replying, or deleting emails.

You can also create custom Quick Steps to automate a specific set of tasks. So in this scenario, you will learn “how to forward email without adding FW: before the subject in Outlook.“

  • Open Outlook Application
  • Go to the Home tab >> click on quick steps expender.
  • From the bottom click new and select forward from the drop-down menu.
  • A first-time setup dialog box appears >> Click Option from the bottom left corner of the screen.
  • That will take you to the Edit Quick steps Dialog Box.
  1. From the top, first name it, I recommend keeping it Forward to: as it is.
  2. The second is to edit the action, the action must be forward, don’t change or modify
  3. The Third is To, it is given to enter the email address of your recipient, there we have to keep it black because we need to implement quick action for everybody to forward the email.
  4. Next and very importantly you will see FW: and the <subject> is already in the box that means when you forward an e-mail using quick steps the subject of that e-mail is already there and a prefix FW: is also added.
  5. You have to remove FW: from the subject.
  6. Finally, click save, and all set.

Using a received email from the list and then hitting the new quick step in the “Quick Steps” box, a new forwarding message window will appear. Notice that the subject line does not have the “FW” prefix.

Remove “RE” and Reply to the Email via Quick Steps

The above example explains how you can use quick steps to forward the e-mail without FW: in your e-mail message subject, similarly, you can use quicksteps to reply to the e-mail, and the prefix RE: will be removed from the subject.

Let’s understand how you can “Reply email without adding RE: before the subject in Outlook.“

  • Open Outlook Application.
  • Go to the Home tab >> click on Quick Steps expender.
  • From the bottom click new and select forward from the drop-down menu.
  • Edit Quick Step dialog box appears, Click on Add action, and you can customize your inputs there.
  • First Name you step, for instance, “Reply with RE: in Subject.”
  • The second click is on choose an action drop-down list.
  • Select Reply from the drop-down list >> Next step is to click on Show options, which will expand and give you more options to add.
  • Here are numerous options, ignore everything but remove RE: from the subject and hit Finish to close.

In case you need to remove RE: while you reply all, you can set up a new Quick set or add action in the above step up only.

  • Click Add action in the Edit Quick Steps.
  • Repeat the action which was explained in the above example.
  • Click choose an action drop-down list and select Reply All.
  • The next step is to click on Show options, which will expand and give you more options to add.
  • Again, remove RE: from the subject and hit Finish to close.

Now your ‘Reply with RE in Subject‘ is added in Quick steps and you will find it under the Quick step tab.

It consists of two inputs, While Reply or Reply All you click on the Quick steps Reply with RE in Subject, your email will send to your recipient without RE: prefix in your Subject Line.

Remove RE: and FW: from Subject Prefix Manually

Every time you reply or forward an email message, you will get the chance to modify or edit information in your email. It is possible to remove subject prefixes in Outlook manually and not by running a VBA code or using Quick Steps.

It is sometimes painful to remove the subject prefix and most of the time removing FW: or RE: is missed.

Wrap Up

In conclusion, getting rid of “FW” and “RE” in Outlook subject lines is easy. All you have to do is use the “Remove Prefix” feature and Outlook will take care of the rest.

This feature not only makes your emails more organized and professional but also makes it easier to find the email you need in your inbox.

So, if you’re an Outlook user, take advantage of this feature and make your emails look even better.

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