How to Set Up and Manage Email Rules in Outlook

Email rules in Outlook help automate tasks, such as sorting emails into folders, forwarding messages, or flagging important emails. This guide will show you how to create, edit, and manage email rules in Outlook for Windows, Mac, and Outlook Web.

📌 How to Create an Email Rule in Outlook (Windows)

1. Open Outlook and click on the File tab.
2. Click Manage Rules & Alerts.
3. In the Rules and Alerts window, click New Rule.
4. Choose a rule template:
   • Move emails from a specific sender (e.g., move all emails from your boss to a folder).
   • Move emails with specific words (e.g., move emails with “invoice” to your finance folder).
   • Flag or categorize messages automatically.
5. Click Next and set conditions (e.g., choose a sender, subject, or keyword).
6. Click Next and choose an action (e.g., move it to a folder, forward it, mark it as read).
7. Click Finish to activate the rule.

✅ Your rule is now active! Emails matching the conditions will be handled automatically.

📌 How to Create an Email Rule in Outlook (Mac)

1. Open Outlook and click Settings (⚙️ gear icon).
2. Select Rules and click + (Add Rule).
3. Name the rule (e.g., “Move Invoices to Finance Folder”).
4. Choose When a message arrives that matches these conditions:
   • Select a sender, subject, or keyword.
5. Choose Do the following:
   • Select Move to Folder, Mark as Read, or another action.
6. Click Save to activate the rule.

✅ Your rule is now working! Emails will be processed automatically based on your conditions.

📌 How to Set Up Email Rules in Outlook Web (OWA)

1. Go to Outlook Web App (outlook.office.com).
2. Click the ⚙️ Settings icon and select Mail > Rules.
3. Click + Add new rule.
4. Name the rule (e.g., “Sort Client Emails”).
5. Set conditions (e.g., “From [client email]”), then choose an action (e.g., “Move to Folder”).
6. Click Save.

✅ Your rule is now live! Outlook will automatically apply it to incoming emails.

📌 How to Edit or Delete Email Rules

Windows:

1. Click File > Manage Rules & Alerts.
2. Select a rule and click Change Rule (to edit) or Delete (to remove).

Mac:

1. Go to Settings > Rules.
2. Click the rule to edit or remove it.

Outlook Web:

1. Go to Settings > Mail > Rules.
2. Click on the rule to modify or delete it.

✅ That’s it! Your email rules will update instantly.

💡 Useful Email Rule Ideas

✔ Automatically move newsletters to a “Read Later” folder
✔ Send all emails from your manager to a “Priority” folder
✔ Mark emails with “URGENT” in the subject as important
✔ Forward invoices to the finance team automatically
✔ Delete emails from known spam senders