Outlook 2003 & 2007 Tip:
Don't let your messages Rule you!
Managing the number of messages we receive each day can become a daunting task. This week's tip will teach you how to automate the placement of incoming messages into folders through the use of Outlook Rules.
What is a Rule?
A rule is an action that Microsoft Office Outlook performs automatically on an arriving or sent message. When you create a rule you can specify the conditions that control how a message is handled upon arrival or when sent. For example, you may want all incoming messages coming from sender MOSTraining to automatically be placed in a mail folder you have already setup.
How do you create a Rule?
There are multiple ways to create Rules. One simple method is to create a rule directly from an existing message. For example, you could start with an e-mail in your Inbox from MOSTraining and create a rule that will deposit all e-mails from MOSTraining into a folder upon arrival. You are just a right-click away so let's get started!
Creating a Rule Directly From a Message
- Right-click the message in your Inbox that you want to base the rule on and then click Create Rule on the shortcut menu (see Figure 1).
- The Create Rule dialog box appears (see Figure 2), select the check boxes you want for the options that are already filled in with information from your selected message.
- Click the Select Folder button to specify a folder for the message to be placed in upon arrival (the Rules and Alerts dialog box will appear)
- Click an existing folder from the list (see Figure 3)
or click New to create a new folder to store the messages
- Click OK to return to the Create Rule dialog box
- Click OK to confirm your choices (a Success dialog box will appear - see Figure 4)
- Click the checkbox Run this rule now on messages already in the current folder, if you want all existing messages in the Inbox from this sender to be placed in the selected folder.
- Click OK to finalize
Incoming messages will now be checked for the conditions you specified in the rule and will be handled accordingly.
Remember, getting started creating rules to manage your messages is just a right-click away!
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