Email rules
Outlook allows you to create rules in order to automatically sort, file or respond to your messages. You can create rules to tell Outlook how to handle emails which meet certain conditions, such as those which have a specific word or phrase in the message subject or body, or emails which are marked with a particular category, or ones which are sent to or from certain people.
There is a quick process for creating simple rules based on the properties of the message which is selected when you create the rule. If the quick rule doesn’t include the combination of instructions that you want, you can go into the rules wizard to create an advanced rule which is more refined.
When you have created a rule, you can choose to switch it on or off either manually or automatically so it is only applied at certain times.
Outlook rules which are created in the Outlook client do not always transfer to the Outlook Web App, so you may have to create rules in the web app to ensure they are consistently applied.
Creating quick rules
Quick rules are created based on the properties of one of the messages already in your inbox. When applied, they pick out all new messages which are of the same type and perform the same action on each.
Move rules
Move rules move messages from your inbox to one of your other folders automatically. They apply to messages which come from a particular sender or are sent to a particular recipient. For example, you might want emails from students taking a particular course to go into a folder designated for that course.
To create a quick rule to move messages to a folder:
• Select a message to base your rule on by clicking on it
• Click the rules button on the home tab of the ribbon
• From the menu, choose the rule which selects the messages you want to move
• In the dialogue box, click on the folder which will hold these messages
• Click OK
The message rule will then examine all the messages in your inbox and move those which meet the move rule’s condition. If you have several messages meeting this condition this may take a few minutes.
To create a quick move rule, click on a message
which meets the condition you want in the rule Click the rules button
Suggested move rules will appear in the menu – choose one
Custom quick rules
If you want your rule to be more sophisticated than a move rule, or to select messages based on conditions other than the sender or recipient, you can create a custom quick rule. A custom quick rule allows you to select from a limited range of conditions to create a rule rather than using the full range of possible options.
As with move rules, the options available for the conditions depend on the message you select before creating the rule.
To create a custom quick rule:
• Select a message on which to base your rule by clicking on it
• Click on the rules button on the home tab of the ribbon
• Choose create rule from the menu
• Tick boxes to select conditions to dictate which messages the rule will apply for
• Tick boxes to choose an action – this is what will happen to the message when the rule is applied
• Click OK – this opens a warning dialogue box
• Tick the box to run the rule on existing messages
• Leave the box unticked for only new messages to be affected by the rule
• Click
OK
Click on the folder to which your messages will be moved
Click OK to run your rule
The rule may take a few minutes to run on existing messages – it will also be applied when new messages arrive
Quick rule options
There are a few different options for conditions and actions for quick rules.
Options for conditions:
Option Behaviour
Messages from the sender of the message you selected
The rule will apply to messages from the same sender as the selected message
Subject contains a certain word Click the box to type in a word – messages where the subject contains your word will have the rule applied to them
Sent to Choose from the recipients of the selected message (including yourself) – the rule will applied to the selected recipient
Options for actions:
Option Behaviour
Display in the new item alert window
When rules matching your conditions arrive, a pop-up window will appear to alert you of the message
Play a selected sound Makes a noise when new messages which your rule applies to arrive
Move the item to folder You can pick a folder within your mailbox for messages to be moved into, as you would with a move rule
To create a custom quick rule, click the rules button
Choose create rule from the menu
You can click here and type a keyword for the rule to look for in each message subject
Click select folder to choose a folder into which the rule will move messages
If you need more possibilities, click advanced options to open the rules wizard Choose what
action the rule will perform using these tick boxes
Set conditions for when this rule will apply using these tick boxes
If you have clicked select folder,
choose a folder by clicking on it
Click OK to confirm which folder you want your messages to move into
When you are happy with your conditions and actions, click OK
Creating advanced rules
If the quick rules are not sophisticated enough for your purposes, you can create far more refined rules using the rules wizard.
To open the rules wizard:
• Click on the rules button on the home tab of the ribbon
• Choose manage rules and alerts from the menu – this opens the rules and alerts dialogue box
• Click the new rule button – this opens the rules wizard
Setting up a rule using a template
The first screen of the rules wizard offers you several options for templates to make the process of creating your rule faster. If you decide that none of the templates suit what you want to do with your rule, you can opt to enter all the conditions and actions for your rule manually by choosing one of the start from a blank rule options at the bottom of the templates section.
Tick this box to apply the rule to messages already in your mailbox – otherwise it will only be applied to new messages you receive
Click OK to implement your new rule
To open the rules wizard, click the rules button and choose manage rules and alerts from the menu
Click the new rule button to open the rules wizard
To use a template:
• Select the template that best suits what you want the rule to do
• In the panel at the bottom, click on any words in blue to adjust the template
• Fill in the required information in the dialogue box
• Click OK
• Check that the rule is correct in the bottom panel
• Click next
You will then have the opportunity to manually add more conditions if you want to.
This is the rules wizard – it helps
you to create customised rules These templates will put
some conditions and actions in place to start you off – you can then manually adjust or add conditions if you wish
If none of the templates fit what you want to do, choose a start from a blank rule option and move straight to manually adding
Each template will fill in parts of the rule description for you
Click on the words underlined in blue to
customise the template – this will open a dialogue box
The dialogue box will vary according to the type of condition you are adjusting
Here we should type in text to search for and click Add
This adds the text to the search list
When you are happy with the search list, click OK
If you have to specify a folder, select the folder by clicking on it
Click OK to use the selected folder
When the rule description for the template is complete, click next to manually add further conditions
When you close the dialogue box, the rule description will be updated to show your changes
Manually adding conditions
If you need more refinement for your rule than is offered by the template, or you have opted not to use the templates, you can manually add conditions for your rule. Extra conditions are set from the second screen of the rules wizard. Any conditions which you created from a template will already be ticked and show up in the rule description when you get to the second screen.
To add a condition:
• Tick the box for the type of condition you want to add
• Click on a blue-underlined word in the rule description
• Enter the details required into the dialogue box
• Click OK
• Repeat until all your conditions are entered
• Click next
You will then have the opportunity to add actions to your rule.
The second screen of the rules wizard allows you to set extra conditions for your rule
Tick boxes to add more conditions to your rule – untick the boxes to remove them
Any extra conditions will appear here – click on the blue-underlined words to fill in the details
Adding actions to your rule
Once you have set the conditions for your rule, Outlook will know which messages to select. You will then need to tell it which actions to perform. Some of the actions may already be filled in by the template if you have used one.
To add actions to the rule:
• Tick the box next to the action you wish the rule to perform
• Click on any blue words that appear in the rule description
• Fill in the details in the dialogue box which appears – this will vary according to the type of action
• Click OK
• Repeat if necessary to add further actions
You will then have the opportunity to add exceptions to your rule.
To enter dates, type into the box or click the arrow and choose from the calendar
In the dialogue box, enter the details necessary for your condition
Click OK to update the condition
Check the rule description is correct
Click next to add actions to your rule
Choose which actions the rule will perform on messages which meet the conditions
Click to customise any of the words
underlined in blue in the rule description
Tick to add any categories to be applied by your rule
Click OK to return to the rules wizard Different dialogue boxes may
appear according to the action you have chosen – this one is to add categories
Categories which are selected but not ticked will not be applied
Adding exceptions to your rules
Whilst your rule may now pick out a group of messages to which it will apply, you can also select from within that group messages to which it will not apply. You do this by adding exceptions to the rule.
To add an exception:
• Tick the box next to the exception which suits your need
• Click on any blue words that appear in the rule description
• Fill in the details in the dialogue box which appears – these vary according to the type of exception
• Click OK
• Repeat if necessary to add further exceptions You will then be able to name and apply your rule.
Check the rule description is correct
Click next to add exceptions to your rule
Exceptions exclude certain messages from your rule
Tick boxes to select exceptions
Click on the blue writing to fill in the details of your exception
Fill in the details in the dialogue box
Click OK when you have added what you needed to
Check that the rule description matches what you want the rule to do
Click next
Finishing your rule
To finish your rule you will need to give it a name, and decide whether to run it on existing or new messages, or to keep it turned off until you want to apply it.
To finish your rule:
• Type in a name for the rule
• Choose the setup rule options by ticking the appropriate boxes:
- Choose run this rule now to apply the rule to existing messages - Choose turn on this rule to apply it to new messages you receive
• Check for the last time that the rule description is correct
• Click finish
You will see a warning that the rule is client-only. This means it will only run when you have Outlook open on the computer at which you created the rule. Click OK to dismiss the rule.
Check that your rule is ticked to show it is active, and then click OK to close the rules and alerts dialogue box.
Type a name for your rule – or accept the one Outlook suggests
Tick this box to run the rule on existing messages
Tick this box to run the rule on new messages
Check the rule description is correct
Click finish to complete the rule
Click OK to acknowledge the warning
Check that the rule is ticked here – this means it is active
Click OK to close the dialogue box
Switching rules on and off
Rules do not have to be active all the time. For example, you might want to set a rule which forwards your messages to a colleague when you are busy. You have the opportunity to switch each rule on or off as you need to.
To choose whether a rule is active or not:
• Click on the rules button on the home tab of the ribbon
• Choose manage rules and alerts from the menu – this opens the rules and alerts dialogue box
• Tick the boxes next to the names of rules which should be active
• Untick the boxes next to the names of rules which should be inactive
• Click OK
Click the rules button
Choose manage rules and alerts from the menu
Tick boxes next to rules which should be active
Unticked rules will not be applied to your messages
Click OK
Modifying rules
If you want to alter the details of any of your rules, you will need to go into the rules and alerts dialogue box.
From there, you can make quick adjustments such as changing the name of the rule, or you can go back into the rules wizard to adjust any aspect of the rule.
To modify a rule, open the rules and alerts dialogue box:
• Click on the rules button on the home tab of the ribbon
• Choose manage rules and alerts from the menu
When you have opened the dialogue box, you can go on to modify your rule.
Making quick adjustments to a rule
Some attributes of rules can be altered from the change rule menu within the rules and alerts dialogue box.
You can alter some the rule description by clicking on any of the words underlined in blue and changing the information you entered there when you created the rule.
Click the rules button
Choose manage rules and alerts from the menu
You can change any of the information you added to the rule by clicking on blue words and entering new details
To make a quick adjustment:
• Click on the rule you want to change to select it
• Click the change rule button
• Choose an option from the menu – this usually opens a dialogue box
• Fill in any extra information required – type in a new name, for example
• Click OK to close the dialogue box
• Click OK to accept your changes to the rule Click the change rule button
Choose from the menu which attribute you would like to edit Click on a rule to select it for editing
Add in any additional information such as typing a new name or browsing to a new folder
Click OK
Changes you make to the rule will show in the rule name or the rule description
Click OK to apply the altered rule
Making detailed adjustments to a rule
If the option you want to edit is not available in the change rule menu, you can go back into the rules wizard and change any of the attributes of the rule.
To make a detailed adjustment to a rule:
• Click on the rules button
• Choose manage rules and alerts from the menu – this opens the rules and alerts dialogue box
• Click on the rule to be changed to select it
• Click the change rule button
• Choose edit rule settings from the menu
• Tick or untick boxes to make your changes
• Check that the rule description shows the right settings
• Click next to move to the next section of the wizard and make any alterations you need to
• Click finish to accept your changes
• Click OK to acknowledge the warning that the rule will only run on the Outlook client.
You can click finish to exit the wizard at any point – you do not have to go through all the pages.
Click the rules button
Choose manage rules and alerts from the menu
Click on the rule you want to edit in order to select it
Click the change rule button
Choose edit rule settings to open the rules wizard
Tick or untick boxes to make the changes you require
Click on blue words to refine the settings you have changed
Check that the rule description matches what you want the rule to do
Click next to move
through the wizard When you are happy
with the rule description, click finish
Click OK to acknowledge the warning
Deleting rules
If you decide that you no longer need a rule, you can delete it. This will permanently remove it and you will have to recreate it from the start if you need it in future.
To delete a rule:
• Click the rules button
• Choose manage rules and alerts from the menu – this opens the rules and alerts dialogue box
• Select the rule from the list
• Click the delete button
• In the warning box, click Yes
• Click OK to close the dialogue box Check that the
rule is ticked here – this means it is active
Click OK to close the dialogue box
Click the rules button
Choose manage rules and alerts from the menu
Select the rule from the
list by clicking on it Click the delete button
Click Yes to permanently delete the rule
The rule will disappear from the list
Click OK to close the dialogue box and return to your email
