Patent ID: 8131806

Claim:
A method comprising: integrating, by a processor, a message extraction and consolidation program with a messaging program, the messaging program receiving email messages and storing the email messages in a storage device as stored email messages; responsive to an activation of a single command button on a graphical user interface, activating, by the processor, the message extraction and consolidation program; responsive to activating the message extraction and consolidation program, displaying, by the processor, message headers, each of the message headers representing a corresponding email message in the stored email messages; responsive to displaying the message headers, receiving a selection of one of the message headers; responsive to receiving the selection of the one of the message headers, identifying, by the processor, a first stored email message of the stored email messages corresponding to the selection as an active message; responsive to identifying the first stored email message as the active message, comparing, by the processor, a first property of the active message to properties of each of the stored email messages; responsive to determining a match between the first property and a second property of a second stored email message of the stored email messages, identifying, by the processor, the second stored email message as a related email message; responsive to identifying second stored email message as the related email message, identifying, by the processor, a first section of the related email message that is duplicative of a second section of the related email message; identifying, by the processor, a third section of the related email message that is not duplicative of any sections of the related email message; creating a consolidated email message comprising the first section and the third section; and storing the consolidated email message in a storage device or displaying the consolidated email message on an output device.