Troubleshoot rules

If you specified multiple conditions, each condition must be met for the rule to be applied. For example, if you created a rule that checks for the conditions sent only to me and marked as Private, then the rule is applied only to private messages sent to you.
If you are moving or copying the message to a folder, make sure the folder exists and is available. For example, if you have a rule that moves a message to a folder on your computer, then your computer must be available for the rule to work.
Check to see if any of the exceptions you specified are preventing the rule from being applied.
You might have created the rule in the Organize pane. Rules created in the Organize pane are applied only to the active Inbox. If you are now in a different Inbox, switch to the original Inbox and copy the rule from there.

Rules can't be set on remote mail headers. If you want to use rules while you are offline, you must download the entire message.

When you create a rule, it is applied to all your e-mail accounts in the active Inbox. To have a rule apply only to one account, change the rule and use the through the specified account condition.

Show How?

In the Navigation Pane, click Mail.
On the Tools menu, click Rules and Alerts.
If you have more than one e-mail account, in the Apply changes to this folder list, click the Inbox you want.
In the list of rules, click the rule you want to modify.
Click Change Rule, and then click Edit Rule Settings.
Follow the rest of the instructions in the Rules Wizard.

To redirect e-mail messages sent to a distribution group, make sure that the conditions are set to sent to people or distribution list. If the conditions are set to sent from people or distribution list, e-mail messages won't be moved to the specified folder.

Rules you create are applied only to the Inbox you are currently working in. To use the rule in your other Inboxes, copy the rule.

Show How?

In the Navigation Pane, click Mail.
On the Tools menu, click Rules and Alerts.
If you have more than one e-mail account, in the Apply changes to this folder list, click the Inbox you want.
In the list of rules, click the rule you want to copy.
Click Copy.
In the Folder list, click the Inbox you want to copy the rule to, and then click OK.
Note If you copy an existing rule that is turned on into the same Inbox, the copy of the rule will be turned off.

The availability of this option depends on the type of accounts you have and whether each account has its own Inbox. This option is available only if you have two or more IMAP accounts, or an IMAP account in addition to any Exchange or POP3 accounts.

You have upgraded your rules to Microsoft Office Outlook 2003 and you are now using an earlier version of Outlook. The earlier version of Outlook will display only the names of your Office Outlook 2003 rules. The rule descriptions won't be available. In addition, the rules won't run unless they are rules that are run on the server ("server-based" rules).

The storage limit for your rules is 32 KB. If the total size of your rules exceeds this limit, some rules may be disabled.

To reduce the size of your rules, do one or more of the following:

Delete rules you don't need.
Combine rules when possible. For example, if more than one rule moves messages to the same folder, combine the rules.
Use a shorter name for your rules.
If one of your rules moves e-mail messages to a Personal Folders file (.pst), move the .pst file to a location that has a shorter path. For example, instead of using C:\Documents and Settings\user\Local Settings\Application Data\Microsoft\Outlook\MyFolder.pst, use C:\MyFolder.pst.

If you see the word "changed" in the name of your rule, it means that Outlook modified the exceptions in your rule to fit supported actions and conditions.

If you see the word "failed" in the name of your rule, it means that Outlook was unable to successfully import your entire rule. The most common cause of import failure is that the rule is too complex; for example, it has too many conditions. You should examine and manually modify these rules.

Show How?

In the Navigation Pane, click Mail.
On the Tools menu, click Rules and Alerts.
If you have more than one e-mail account, in the Apply changes to this folder list, click the Inbox you want.
In the list of rules, click the rule you want to modify.
Do one of the following:
Change a condition, action, or exception.
1. Click Change Rule, and then click Edit Rule Settings.
2. Follow the rest of the instructions in the Rules Wizard.
Rename a rule.
1. Click Change Rule, and then click Rename Rule.
2. In the New name of rule box, type a name.

You have created a rule with one or more of the following actions:

Print it
Assign it to the category category
Reply using a specific template
Flag message for action in a number of days
Flag message with a colored flag
Play a sound
Run a script
Start application
Mark it as importance
Redirect it to people or a distribution list
Have server reply using a specific message
Display a specific message in the New Item Alert window
Display a Desktop Alert

Additional information on client-only rules is available in Outlook Help.

You have created a rule with the action Redirect it to people or distribution list. This rule can only be run on Microsoft Exchange Server accounts and then only on the server. To change this rule, switch to your Exchange Server account, and then click Change Rule.

Many steps in the process to create a rule require you to specify conditions, actions, or exceptions. Some of these require a value. For example, if you want to move a message to a folder, you must specify the name of the folder. To specify a value, click the underlined text in the Edit the rule description box in the Rules Wizard. After you set an initial value, you can change it in later steps of the Rules Wizard.

You may already have the New Item Alerts dialog box open. Only one instance of the dialog box can be open at a time. To close the dialog box, switch to it, and then click Close.

Your rules have been corrupted. You must delete and recreate all your rules as follows:

Quit Microsoft Outlook.
Search for the Outlook executable file, Outlook.exe, and make a note of the path to Outlook.exe. For example, the path might be C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office11\Outlook.exe.
Click Start, and then click Run.
In the Open box, type the complete path you noted in step 2, including the file name. Press the SPACEBAR once, and then type a forward slash mark (/) followed by Cleanrules.
The command you type in the Open box should look like this:
"C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office11\Outlook.exe" /Cleanrules
Note Paths that include spaces between words must be enclosed in quotation marks (") and are case sensitive.
To run the command, click OK.
If necessary, select the user profile that contains the rules.
Start Outlook, and then create your rules again.

You have an Inbox Assistant rule with several conditions and exceptions that you are trying to import. The Rules Wizard does not recognize certain complex rules. Recreate the rule, simplifying it by leaving out some of the conditions and exceptions.

If you imported the wrong set of rules, you can either import a backup copy of your rules or manually recreate your rules.

Delete the incorrect rules.
Do one of the following:

Show Import a backup copy of your rules.

When you import rules, they are added to the end of the list of rules. You can import only one set of rules at a time. When you export rules, they are saved in a file with an .rwz extension.

In the Navigation Pane, click Mail.
On the Tools menu, click Rules and Alerts.
If you have more than one e-mail account, in the Apply changes to this folder list, click the Inbox you want.
Click Options.
Do one of the following:
Import rules.
1. Click Import Rules.
2. In the File name box, type the path and file name for the set of rules you want to import.
3. If you want to import a file that contains rules other than Office Outlook 2003 rules, click the file type in the Files of type list.
4. Click Open.
Export rules.
1. Click Export Rules.
2. In the File name box, type the path and file name for the set of rules you want to export.
3. If you want to export a file that contains only rules that are compatible with a previous version of Microsoft Outlook, in the Save as type list, select Outlook 2002 Compatible Rules Wizard rules, Outlook 2000 Compatible Rules Wizard rules, or Outlook 98 Compatible Rules Wizard rules.
4. Click Save.

Show Recreate your rules.

In the Navigation Pane, click Mail.
On the Tools menu, click Rules and Alerts.
If you have more than one e-mail account, in the Apply changes to this folder list, click the Inbox you want.
Click New Rule.
Do one of the following:
- Click Start creating a rule from a template.
- Click Start from a blank rule.
Note This option is not available when you create a rule for a public folder.
Click Next.
Follow the rest of the instructions in the Rules Wizard.
If you want to run a new rule on messages already in the Inbox, select the Run this rule now on messages already in Inbox check box on the last page of the Rules Wizard.

To have this rule apply to all your e-mail accounts and Inboxes, select the Create this rule on all accounts check box on the last page of the Rules Wizard.

Show Tip

If you want to run a rule periodically but not all the time, do the following:

On the Rules and Alerts dialog box, turn the rule off by clearing the check box next to the rule.
Click Run Rules Now.
On the Run Rules Now dialog box, under Select rules to run, select the check box next to the rule you want to run.
Select the folder that you want to apply the rule to.
Select the category of messages that you want to apply the rule to.
For example, you can apply the rule only to unread messages in a folder.
Click Run Now.