“Rules”

“Rules” is another feature with which we can organize our e-mails.

“Rules” are automatic actions that are performed on incoming or outgoing emails, under certain conditions.

When you create a “Rule”, “Outlook” applies the “Rule” when a message arrives in the “Inbox” or when you send a message.

For example, you have created a rule which states that an email containing the word “meeting” in its subject should be automatically placed in the “Meetings” folder.

How do we do this?

You’ve got to create the “Meetings” folder first.

In the “Home” tab on the “Ribbon”, click on the “Rules” button and select the “Manage Rules and Alerts” option from the pop-up menu that opens.

This opens the “Rules and Alerts” dialog box.

 

By default, there is already one “Rule” that is created.

The “Rule” seems clear to me, but for those of you who are not familiar with this, this “Rule” is to delete the color categories assigned by the sender .

 

To create a new “Rule”,you have to click on the “New Rule” button. The “Rules Wizard” dialog box opens wherein you have two steps to create a “Rule”.

1. You have to select a template, eg ” Move messages, with specific words in the subject, to a folder.”
2. You can edit the “Rule” description..

In the first step, you can edit the “Rule” by clicking on any of the underlined text values, which makes it easier to enter text.

The second step is more cumbersome, but allows you to be more specific.

I select the “Apply rule on messages I receive” option and then click “Next”.

 

The second window of the Wizard now opens.

Here, we have a number of conditions which can be assigned to a “Rule”. You can assign as many conditions as you want, to a “Rule”.

I just want that any e-mail, having the subject “meeting”, be placed in the “Meetings” folder. So I select the “with specific words in the subject” condition. I select this condition in step 2 and click on the “specific words” link.

This opens the “Search text” window, where I enter the text, i.e. “meeting”, and click “Add” , and then “OK.

I click the “Next” button to continue.

This brings me to the second window of the “Rules wizard” dialog box.

In this window, select the “Move it to the specified folder” action and click on the underlined portion in Step 2. In the window that opens next, I select the folder where these emails are to be moved, i.e. “Meetings” and then click the “OK” button.

Click “Next”.

In the third window that opens, you can add any exceptions to the “Rule”. All these seem quite simple to me.

Click “Next”.

 

In the last window of the wizard, specify a name for this “Rule”. The two options that are displayed in this dialog box seem quite simple to understand. Click the “Finish” button.
The new “Rule” is now added to the list in the “Rules and Alerts” dialog box.

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