Creating Rules to Process Messages


You can have Outlook evaluate your incoming or outgoing e-mail messages and make decisions about what to do with them based on instructions called rules. You can create rules based on senders, recipients, words, attachments, categories, or other message criteria, and have Outlook automatically move, copy, delete, forward, redirect, reply to, or otherwise process messages based on those criteria.

You can choose from a collection of standard rules or create your own from scratch. All the rules you specify are summarized in a list and are differentiated by icons that indicate what they do.

If you have a Microsoft Exchange Server account, you can set up server rules that are applied to messages as they are received or processed by your Exchange server. Whether or not you have an Exchange Server account, you can set up client rules that are applied to messages stored on your computer.

Tip 

You cannot use Outlook rules to filter messages sent to an HTTP e-mail account.

In this exercise, you will create a rule to process incoming messages that meet specific criteria.

USE the SBS Practice Messages folder and the messages you created in earlier exercises. If you did not create the folder or messages, you can complete the exercise by specifying your own criteria.

BE SURE TO start Outlook, connect to your mail server, and display the Inbox before beginning this exercise.

  1. On the Tools menu, click Rules and Alerts.

    Troubleshooting 

    The Rules And Alerts command does not appear on the Tools menu when you display it from a non-mail folder.

    The Rules And Alerts window opens.

    image from book

  2. On the E-mail Rules tab, click New Rule.

    The Rules wizard starts.

    image from book

    You can base a rule on one of the 10 rule templates provided by Outlook, or you can start from a blank rule. Take a moment to look over the available templates; clicking a template displays an example in the Edit The Rule Description box.

  3. In the Select a template list, under Start from a blank rule, click Check messages when they arrive.

    Outlook updates the Edit The Rule Description box to reflect your choice.

  4. In the Rules wizard, click Next.

  5. Scroll the Select condition(s) list to see the conditions you can apply, and then select the with specific word(s) in the subject check box.

    Outlook updates the Edit The Rule Description box to include the selected criterion.

    You can specify as many criteria as you want.

    image from book

  6. In the Edit the rule description box, click the underlined term specific words.

    The Search Text dialog box opens.

  7. In the Specify words or phrases to search for in the subject box, type SBS, click Add, and click OK. Then in the Rules wizard, click Next.

  8. Scroll the Select action(s) list to review the actions Outlook can perform on incoming items meeting the criteria you specify. Then select the move a copy to the specified folder check box, and in the Edit the rule description box, click the underlined word specified.

    The Rules And Alerts dialog box opens, displaying the folders in your mailbox.

  9. Expand the Inbox, click the SBS Practice Messages folder, and then click OK.

    Troubleshooting 

    If you didn't create the SBS Practice Messages folder in an earlier exercise, click Inbox in the Choose A Folder list, click New, type the folder name in the Create New Folder dialog box , and then click OK.

  10. In the Rules wizard, click Next.

    image from book

    Conditions you specify on this page overrule the original selection criteria.

  11. Without selecting an exception, click Next.

    The final page of the Rules wizard summarizes the parameters of the SBS rule.

    image from book

  12. Select the Run this rule now on messages already in "Inbox" check box, and then click Finish.

    Outlook saves the rule to the Rules And Alerts dialog box and runs it on the contents of your Inbox.

    image from book

    The selected check box to the left of the rule name indicates that this rule is active and Outlook will apply it to all incoming messages.

  13. In the Rules and Alerts dialog box, click OK.

  14. In the All Mail Folders list in the Navigation Pane, expand the Inbox if necessary, and then click the SBS Practice Messages folder.

    image from book

    The folder contains copies of any practice messages you created in earlier chapters of this book.

Tip 

If you are using Exchange Server, you can create rules to filter messages differently when you are away from the office by using the Out of Office Assistant. To find out how, click Out Of Office Assistant on the Tools menu.




Microsoft Office Outlook 2007 Step by Step
The Time Management Toolkit: MicrosoftВ® Office OutlookВ® 2007 Step by Step and Take Back Your Life (Step By Step (Microsoft))
ISBN: 0735625840
EAN: 2147483647
Year: 2007
Pages: 137

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