Create a rule in Outlook in 4 Simple Steps

It can be overwhelming to see an inbox full of unread emails. Fortunately, many email providers, including Microsoft, offer features that allow you to create rules to automate the organization of your emails. 

In this way, you can focus on the emails that require your immediate attention. Wouldn’t it be nice to have a way to sort those messages automatically so you don’t have to spend hours catching up?

That’s where Outlook rules come in. Rules let you apply actions to incoming messages based on specific criteria, keeping your inbox clutter-free and your workflow efficient.

In this post, I’ll explain how to set up a simple but useful rule to help you take back control of your email.

Setting up rules in Outlook is very simple. I’ll walk you through the basic steps and options so you can start managing your inbox like a pro.

How to create a rule in Outlook ?  

Creating rules in Outlook is a simple process that allows you to automatically organize your inbox according to specific criteria.

Follow below mentioned steps to create a rule in Outlook :

• Firstly, right-click on a message and select “Rules” > “Create Rule“.

• Secondly, choose a condition and an action for the message based on that condition.

• For example, to move messages with a certain subject to a specific folder, select the “Subject contains” condition, then select “Move item to folder,” choose or create a new folder, and click “OK.”           

• Thirdly, click “OK” to finish creating the rule.

• Finally, to apply the rule immediately, check the “Run this new rule now on messages already in the current folder box and click “OK.”

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How to create a rule from a template ?

Follow below mentioned steps to create a rule from a template  in Outlook:

• Firstly, to create a new rule in Outlook, first navigate to “File”, then select “Manage Rules and Alerts.

• Secondly, choose a template, such as “Mark someone’s messages for follow-up.”

• Thirdly, edit the rule description by selecting an underlined value and choosing the desired options.

• Then, click “Next” and select the conditions, adding any relevant information.

• Click “Next” again to finish configuring the rule.

• After that, give the rule a name, set the options, and review the rule description. You can edit any underlined value if necessary.

• Following that, click “Finish” to complete the process.

• Additionally, if you receive a warning that certain rules will only be executed when Outlook is open, click “OK.”

• Finally, click “OK” to save your new rule.

How to create a rule in Outlook for specific E-mails ?

In this section, we will be discussing how to create a rule in Outlook to manage emails from specific senders or containing certain keywords or phrases.

Follow below mentioned steps to create a rule in Outlook for specific E-mails:

• Firstly, login to Outlook account.

• Secondly, locate the email for which you want to create a rule. To create a rule, right-click and select “Advanced Actions” then “Create Rule”. Alternatively, you can open the email, click “…” in the message settings and select “Advanced Actions” and then “Create Rule.”

• Thirdly, if you want to move emails from a specific sender to a folder, select an existing folder or create a new one from the drop-down menu. Click “OK” to save your rule.

• Next, for more complex rules, click on “More Options” to access the full “Rules” menu.

• After that, give your rule a name.

• Following this, add a condition for your rule using the dropdown menu. If you require additional conditions for your rule, simply click on the “Add another condition” option. 

• Furthermore, define an action for your rule that will be applied to all messages that match your conditions. Actions can be classified into Organize, Mark message and Route.

• Next, optionally, you can add an exception to your rule by clicking “Add an exception“.

• Additionally, if you want the rule to be applied immediately to existing messages in your inbox, check the box that says “Run rule now.”

• Next, if you don’t want other rules to apply to the same message, check the box that says “Stop processing more rules.”

• Lastly, click “Save” to store your rule.

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How to create rules for Outlook emails from the File tab ?

Use the following steps to create rules for emails in Outlook 2019, Outlook 2016, Outlook 2013, Outlook 2007, and older from the ‘File’ tab:

• Firstly open Outlook and go to the File tab in the top left corner.

• Now select the Manage Rules & Alerts option.

• Then the Rules and Alerts window will open, click New Rule as shown in the below image.

• Now the Rules Wizard will open, create a ‘condition’ and ‘action’ for the rule then click Next.

• Subsequently create exception(s) for the rule if you want any and click Next, or you can directly click Next if you don’t want to create an exception to the rule.

• Finally set a name for the rule and click Finish.

How to create a rule in outlook to block E-mails ?

Follow below mentioned steps to create a rule in Outlook to block E–mail :

• Firstly, open Outlook and go to the “Home” tab.

• Secondly, click the “Rules” button and select “Manage Rules and Alerts.”

• Thirdly, in the “Rules and Alerts” dialog box, click the “New Rule” button.

• After that, select “Start from a blank rule” and “Apply rule on messages I receive.” Then, click “Next“.

• Next, select the conditions to block emails, such as “from people or public group” or “with specific words in the subject or body”. Click the underlined text to specify the details of the condition, and then click “Next.”

• Following this, you can select what action you want to take with the message.?” box. section, select “delete it” or “move it to the specified folder“. Click the underlined text to specify the details of the action, and then click “Next.”

• Additionally, if you want to add exceptions to the rule, select them on the next screen and then click “Next.”

• Next, name your rule and review its settings. Click the “Enable this rule” checkbox and then hit “Finish”

• Finally, click “Apply” to save your changes and apply the rule.

How to create a rule in Outlook to forward E-mail ?

Follow below mentioned steps to create rule in Outlook to forward E-mail:

• Firstly, open Outlook and click the Home tab.

• Secondly, in the Rules group, click Manage Rules and Alerts.

• Thirdly, in the Rules and Alerts dialog, click New Rule.

• Then, in the Start from a blank rule section, select Apply rule to messages I receive and click Next.

• After that, in the Step 1 section, select the conditions that you want to apply to the rule. For example, you can select to forward all messages from a specific sender or all messages with a specific subject.

• Following this, in the Step 2 section, select the action you want to perform. In this case, select forward the message to.

• Furthermore, in the People or public group field, type the email address to which you want to forward messages.

• Lastly, click OK to create the rule.

After the rule is created, Outlook will automatically forward any messages that match the conditions you specified.

How to create a folder rule in Outlook ?

Follow below mentioned steps to create a folder rule in Outlook: 

• First, follow steps 1 to 4 from the previous question.

• Then, In the Step 1 section, select the conditions that you want to apply to the rule. For example, you can select to move all messages from a specific sender to a specific folder.

• Next, in the Step 2 section, select the action you want to perform. In this case, select Move message to.

• Then, in the People or public group field, type the sender email address or the name of the folder you want to move the emails to.

• Finally, click OK to create the rule.

How to create a rule in outlook app ?

The Outlook app provides powerful tools to organize your email efficiently. Moreover, one of the most useful features is the ability to create rules.

Furthermore, rules allow you to filter emails and route them to the appropriate folders with just a few clicks, subsequently, saving you time and keeping your inbox tidy.

Follow below mentioned steps to create a rule in Outlook app:  

• Firstly, open the Outlook application.

• Secondly, tap the three dots icon in the top right corner of the screen.

• Thirdly, select Manage rules and alerts.

• After that, tap New Rule.

• Next, select the conditions that you want to apply to the rule. For example, you can select to move all messages from a specific sender to a specific folder.

• Following this, select the action you want to perform. In this case, select Move message to.

• Additionally, touch the People or public group field and select the folder you want to move the emails to.

• Finally, tap OK to create the rule.

How to create a rule in Outlook for a domain ?

Follow below mentioned steps to create a rule in Outlook for a domain:

• Firstly of all, open Outlook and click on the “Start” tab.

• Secondly, in the “Move” group, click “Rules” and then “Manage Rules and Alerts.”

• Thirdly, in the “Rules and Alerts” window, click “New Rule“.

• Next, under “Start from a blank rule,” select “Apply rule to messages I receive” and click “Next.”

• Then, In the first drop-down menu of the “Step 1” section, select “From People or Public Group“

• Additionally, select “Containing specific words or phrases” from the second drop-down menu and type the domain name you want to filter (for example, @domain.com) in the text box.

• After this, click “Next“.

• Then, in the “Step 2” section, select the appropriate option.

• Finally, specify the destination folder, name the rule, enable it, and click “Finish” to create the rule.

This will set up a rule in Outlook to automatically organize emails by your domain in the designated folder.

How to manage rules in Outlook settings ?

Follow below mentioned steps to manage rules in Outlook:

• Firstly, login Outlook.

• Secondly, click the “…” icon on the right side of the screen, and then choose “Rules” and “Manage Rules.”

• Thirdly, from the “Manage rules” menu, you have several options.

• Next, disable a rule by deselecting the toggle box next to it. You can also re-enable a previously disabled rule by selecting the toggle box again.

• Furthermore, run a rule manually by clicking the play icon.

• Then, edit a rule by clicking the pencil icon to open the “Rules” menu.

• Finally, delete a rule by clicking the trash icon.

Conclusion

Creating and managing rules in Outlook is a simple but powerful way to stay organized and save time.

Furthermore, with just a few clicks, you can automatically sort emails into the relevant folders based on criteria like sender, subject, keywords, and more.

This article provides a step-by-step guide to setting up basic rules for filtering emails in Outlook.

Whether you want to route customer emails, messages from your manager, or newsletters, taking a few minutes to set up rules ensures that the right emails are always easily accessible.

From now on, remember that you can deactivate, edit or delete rules at any time by accessing the Rules and Alerts menu.

Moreover, you can also manually run rules on existing messages. Explore setting up additional rules to cover other common email categories in your workflow.

A little initial setup pays off: a tidy inbox and smooth daily email management.

Reference:

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/set-up-rules-in-outlook-75ab719a-2ce8-49a7-a214-6d62b67cbd41

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