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In this article we will show you how to use Outlook rules. Outlook rules can be used to automatically organize your inbox or remind you about important messages. For example, you can set up a rule to automatically sort and forward emails from your coworkers, boss, clients, and vendors into different email folders. Rules in Outlook save you time by automating daily tasks that you do over and over again. These tasks may seem easy at the time, but if you do them over and over again, you’ll spend minutes a day and hours a month just sorting, filing, and deleting the same kinds of emails.
By putting your emails in this order, you won’t miss an important one or forget to read it. It can also help you tell the difference between emails that need to be read right away and those that are just for information. Using rules in Microsoft Outlook, you can automatically do certain things with the emails in your account that meet certain criteria. This saves you from having to sort through your emails by hand and does it for you automatically. Here We’ll show you how to use Outlook rules. If you want to know more information about this Visit Official Microsoft Outlook Support site.
How to setup Outlook rules
- Open Microsoft Outlook.
- Click on the “File” tab in the top left corner of the window.
- Choose Rules and Alerts from the dropdown menu. This will open the “Rules and Alerts” window.
- In the “Rules and Alerts” window, click the “New Rule” button. It is represented by a plus (+) icon.
- The “Rules Wizard” dialog box will appear. You will see a list of rule templates to choose from. You can either select a template and customize it, or choose the “Apply rule on messages I receive” option to create a rule from scratch. Select the desired option and click “Next”.
- Follow the prompts in the Rules Wizard to define the conditions and actions for your rule. You can specify various criteria such as sender, subject, keywords, and more to determine which emails the rule will apply to.
- Once you have set the conditions for your rule, choose the action(s) you want to take when the conditions are met. Actions can include moving the message to a specific folder, marking it as read or flagged, forwarding it to another email address, and many other options.
- After selecting the actions, you may have additional options to further refine the rule or add exceptions. Customize these settings according to your preferences.
- Click “Next” to proceed and review the rule settings.
- Provide a name for the rule and choose whether to run the rule on existing messages in your mailbox. You can also specify whether the rule should be enabled or disabled.
- Click “Finish” to create the rule.
- The rule will be added to your list of rules in the “Rules and Alerts” window.
How to create Outlook rules
- Click the File tab on the navigation ribbon.
- Click Rules & Alerts Manager.
- In the Rules and Alerts box, click New Rule on the E-mail Rules tab.
- Go to Step 1 and choose a template.
- Choose a rule template from the “Stay Organized” or “Stay Up to Date” lists.
- Change a rule’s description.
- Click on the value that is in bold.
- Click the Next button.
- Choose Conditions lets you choose the message conditions you want.
- Click on the highlighted values from the conditions you chose.
- Edit the rule description. Fill in details for the underlined values.
- Click the Next button.
- Choose the rules that don’t apply under Step 1: Choose the exception(s).
- Click the Next button.
- Change the rule description. Choose values for the underlined text.
- Click the Next button.
- Give this rule a name. Enter a name here.
- Set up rule options lets you choose more actions.
- Click the button.
How to edit Outlook rules
- Click the “File” button.
- Choose Rules and Alerts > Manage.
- Choose one of the rules on the list.
- On the “E-Mail Rule” tab, click Change Rule.
- Choose Rule Settings to go to the Rules Wizard, and then follow the steps to make a new rule.
- Choose Rename Rule to change the name of a rule.
- Choose Move Folder to move the rule to a different folder and remove it from the current folder.
- If you want to use the rule in more than one folder, choose “Copy to Folder.”
- Click the box.
- Select OK.
How to delete Outlook rules
- Open Microsoft Outlook.
- Click on the “File” tab in the top left corner of the window.
- Choose Rules and Alerts from the dropdown menu. This will open the “Rules and Alerts” window.
- In the “Rules and Alerts” window, select the rule that you want to delete from the list.
- Click the “Delete” button. It is represented by a small trash bin icon. Alternatively, you can right-click on the rule and choose the “Delete” option from the context menu.
- A confirmation dialog box may appear asking if you want to permanently delete the rule. Click “Yes” to confirm the deletion.
- The selected rule will be deleted from your Outlook rules.
What are Rules and Alerts in Outlook?
In its most basic form, a rule will do something when an email arrives or is sent. By far, the most common rule is to move an email to a certain folder. Outlook has rules built in, but the only one that is added by default is one that puts outgoing emails on hold for 60 seconds. This is so you can think about the email you just sent and catch it before it “goes out the door” to make changes or even delete it.
Not nearly as many people use alerts. These are made to let you know when files or folders in Microsoft Sharepoint have been changed. Rules let you do things automatically in Outlook that you would usually have to do by hand. Rules tell what to do when a message meets certain criteria. If you get a lot of invoices from different vendors, you could make the process of sorting them easier by setting up a rule that sends them to their correct folders.
What can you do with different rules in Outlook?
Outlook rules can be used in a lot of helpful ways. You can set up a rule in Outlook to automatically put an email in an inbox if it comes from a certain sender or contains a certain word or phrase. You can also use it to mark or forward emails automatically for follow-up. You can even set up Outlook rules so that when you get a certain email, a certain sound plays or an alert goes to your phone. Outlook rules are a great way to stay on top of your emails because they can organize your inbox for you. Setting up Outlook rules can help improve email communication, just like setting up read receipts.