How to create, run and fix rules in Outlook

An Outlook rule acts on email the moment it arrives. It can move everything from a client into that client's folder, forward invoices to your accountant, or mark mail you're only copied on so it stops looking urgent. You set it up once and it keeps working.

Where you build it depends on which Outlook you use. New Outlook, Outlook on the web and Outlook.com share one rules page. Classic Outlook for Windows has its own Rules Wizard, Outlook for Mac has a third version, and the phone app has none.

Which Outlook do you have?

In Outlook for Windows, look at the top right corner. If there's a Settings gear, you have new Outlook, which works like Outlook on the web. If there isn't, you're on classic Outlook.

The versions differ in more than their menus:

Sources: Microsoft Support on rules in Outlook, rules in Outlook for Mac and Outlook for iOS and Android.

How to create a rule in new Outlook and Outlook on the web

Every rule needs a name, a condition and an action. Exceptions are optional.

1. Select Settings at the top of the page.
2. Select Mail > Rules.
3. Select Add new rule.
4. Type a name, such as "Acme client mail".
5. Under Add a condition, choose what to match, for example From and the sender.
6. Under Add an action, choose what to do, for example Move to and a folder.
7. To leave some of that mail alone, select Add an exception, for example for messages marked high importance.
8. Check Stop processing more rules if no other rule should touch these emails afterward.
9. Select Save.

The faster way: start from an email

The most common rule moves everything from one sender into a folder, and you can build it without opening Settings:

1. Right-click an email from that sender and select Rules > Create rule. In Outlook.com, the menu item is Rule > Create rule.
2. Choose the folder and select OK.

New mail from that sender now skips the inbox. To file the emails you already have as well, select More options instead of OK and check Run this rule now in Inbox before you save.

How to create a rule in classic Outlook for Windows

Classic Outlook has the same quick rule from an email:

1. Right-click an email and select Rules > Create Rule.
2. Choose a condition, such as Subject contains, then check Move the item to folder and pick or create the folder.
3. To file the matching emails already in that folder, check Run this new rule now on messages already in the current folder.
4. Select OK.

Anything more involved goes through the Rules Wizard:

1. Select File > Manage Rules & Alerts > New Rule.
2. Pick a template, such as Move messages from someone to a folder, or under Start from a blank rule select Apply rule on messages I receive, then Next.
3. Under Which condition(s) do you want to check?, check the conditions. In the rule description at the bottom, click each underlined value, such as a sender or a folder, to fill it in. Select Next.
4. Under What do you want to do with the message?, check the actions and fill in their underlined values. Select Next, add any exceptions, and select Next again.
5. Name the rule. Turn on this rule is already checked.
6. Select Finish.

If Outlook warns that the rule will only run when Outlook is on, select OK. You've built a client-only rule, which behaves differently from the rest (more on that below).

Classic Outlook is also the only version that can back up your rules. Go to File > Manage Rules & Alerts > Options > Export Rules to save them as an .rwz file, a file type that, in Microsoft's words, "can only be opened and used within classic Outlook."

How to create a rule in Outlook for Mac

1. On the Outlook menu, select Settings.
2. In the side pane, select Rules.
3. Select +Add Rule and name the rule.
4. Use Select a Condition to choose what to match and Select an action to choose what happens.
5. Refine it with Add another condition or Add an exception, then save the rule.

Outlook for Mac only creates server rules. If you still run legacy Outlook for Mac, its support ends in October 2026, and from that month it stops working with Exchange Online mailboxes, so use the current version's steps above.

Can you create rules in the Outlook app on iPhone or Android?

No. Microsoft's comparison of Outlook apps marks "Create inbox rules" as unavailable in Outlook for iOS and Android.

Your rules still apply to mail you read on the phone. Server rules created on a computer or on the web "run whether or not you log in to Outlook on your computer," so the mail is already filed by the time the app shows it.

Conditions, actions and exceptions you can use

New Outlook's rule editor can match on:

• Who sent or received it: From, To, I'm on the To line, I'm on the CC line, I'm the only recipient, Sender address includes, Recipient address includes.
• What it says: Subject includes, Subject or body includes, Message body includes, Message header includes.
• What kind of message it is: Has attachment, importance, sensitivity, message size, received before or after a date, and message types such as meeting invites, automatic replies and non-delivery reports.

And what it can do with a match:

• File it: Move to, Copy, Delete.
• Mark it: Categorize, Mark as read, Mark with importance, Mark as Junk.
• Send it on: Forward to, Forward as attachment, Redirect to.
• Stop processing more rules, which keeps every rule below this one from touching the message.

Microsoft kept adding to that list during 2026, according to its release notes:

• March: categories as conditions.
• May: actions that clear categories, permanently delete messages or manage flags.
• August: conditions for mail that mentions you or comes from outside your organization.

A few classic actions still have no counterpart in new Outlook, such as printing a message or sending an automatic server reply.

Five rules worth setting up

Five rules cover most inboxes. The names below are new Outlook's; classic Outlook's wizard words the same ideas differently.

1. Each client in its own folder. Condition: Sender address includes the client's domain, such as @acme.com. Action: Move to that client's folder.
2. Newsletters out of the inbox. Condition: Message body includes "unsubscribe". Action: Move to a Read later folder. Add an exception for any sender whose mail must stay put.
3. Mail you're only copied on. Condition: I'm on the CC line. Action: Move to a CC folder, or Mark as read if you'd rather leave it where it is.
4. The people who can't wait. Condition: From your manager or your biggest client. Action: Mark with importance or Categorize with a color you'll notice. Keep this rule at the top of the list.
5. Receipts to your accountant. Condition: Subject includes "invoice" or "receipt". Action: Forward to your accountant.

For that last one, pick between forward and redirect on purpose. "Messages that are forwarded will appear to be forwarded from you. Messages that are redirected will appear to come from the original sender," Microsoft explains, and replies follow the same logic.

On a work account, forwarding to an outside address may be blocked. Microsoft 365 turned automatic external forwarding off by default for new organizations in 2021, and a blocked rule bounces with "5.7.520 Access denied, Your organization does not allow external forwarding" (Microsoft Learn). Only your admin can change that.

How to run a rule on emails you already have

A new rule only touches mail that arrives after you save it. "By default, an inbox rule runs on incoming messages after you've created the rule," Microsoft notes. To clear the backlog, run the rule by hand:

• New Outlook and Outlook on the web: go to Settings > Mail > Rules and select the play button (Run rule now) next to the rule. Since January 2026 a rule can also run on folders other than the inbox, such as Sent Items or Archive.
• Classic Outlook: select File > Manage Rules & Alerts > Run Rules Now. Check the rules to run, choose a folder under Run in Folder (tick Include subfolders if you need them), pick all, read or unread messages under Apply rules to, and select Run Now.
• Outlook for Mac: select the three dots (...) next to the rule, then Run rule now.
• Outlook.com: Microsoft's help pages disagree on whether rules can run on existing mail there. When you create a rule from an email, look for Run this rule now in Inbox under More options. If it isn't offered, use Sweep to move everything from that sender in one go.

Why rule order matters

Outlook checks rules from the top of the list down. When a message matches a rule with Stop processing more rules checked, every rule below it is skipped, "even if they apply to the message."

That box is checked by default in Outlook on the web and Outlook for Mac. It's also the most common reason a perfectly good rule never fires: a broader rule higher up caught the message first.

Two habits prevent it:

• Put narrow rules, such as one person or one client, above broad ones, such as all newsletters.
• Reorder with the up and down arrows next to each rule in new Outlook, on the web and on Mac, or with the arrows in classic Outlook's Rules and Alerts dialog.

Do Outlook rules run automatically?

Most do. Server-side rules run on Microsoft's mail servers as soon as a message arrives, whether or not Outlook is open anywhere.

Client-side rules are the exception, and only classic Outlook makes them. A rule becomes client-side when it relies on something only the desktop app can do. Classic Outlook marks it "(client-only)", and it runs only while classic Outlook is open on the computer where you created it.

These classic actions turn a rule client-side:

• Assign it to the category
• Flag message for follow up at this time
• Play a sound, Print it or Display a desktop alert
• Permanently delete it
• Moving mail to a folder that exists only on your computer, since "a server-side rule cannot move mail to a folder that only exists on your device"

What happened to rules in new Outlook?

They're still there, under Settings > Mail > Rules. What changed is what they can do:

• Client-side rules don't come along. New Outlook, Outlook on the web and Outlook.com "only support server-side rules." A client-side rule from classic Outlook shows This rule can't be edited or viewed, and the fix is to create a new rule to replace it.
• Gmail, Yahoo and iCloud accounts get no rules in new Outlook for now.
• There's no import or export. An .rwz file from classic Outlook won't open in new Outlook.
• A few classic actions are still missing, though Microsoft added several during 2026.

Classic Outlook isn't going away yet. Existing installations stay supported "until at least 2029," according to Microsoft's migration guide.

Why your Outlook rules aren't working

Go down this list in order. Most broken rules fail on one of the first three.

1. The rule is turned off. In new Outlook and on the web, check its toggle. In classic Outlook, check its box in Rules and Alerts, where a broken rule shows in red, labeled "Error."
2. It only acts on new mail. Run it by hand to process what's already there.
3. A rule above it caught the message first. Look for Stop processing more rules higher up the list and reorder.
4. It's client-side. It waits for classic Outlook to open, and new Outlook can't run it at all. Rebuild it without the client-side action.
5. The account is Gmail, Yahoo or iCloud and you're in new Outlook. Set up the filter with that provider instead.
6. The mailbox is out of rule space. Exchange Online allows 256 KB for all enabled rules in a mailbox, however many rules that is. Shorten names, delete or combine old rules, or switch off rarely used ones, since disabled rules don't count.
7. Your organization blocks forwarding. A bounce reading "5.7.520 Access denied" comes from an admin setting, not from your rule.
8. Your mailbox is full. Forwarding rules may not work until you're back under your mailbox limit.

How to edit, turn off or delete a rule

Turning a rule off keeps it for later, and it stops counting toward your rule space while it's off.

Send the mail a rule files to Notion

A rule decides where mail goes. Some of that mail belongs where you track the work itself rather than in a folder you never reopen: client threads, invoices, job applications, supplier quotes.

In a Notion database, each of those emails can carry a status, an owner and a link to the project it belongs to.

The rule does the sorting, and 2sync's Outlook Mail integration carries the result into Notion:

1. Create a folder in Outlook, such as "To Notion", or one per client.
2. Build a Move to rule that files the right mail into it.
3. Start an Outlook Mail automation, connect your Microsoft account, and tick that folder under Custom mail folders.
4. Connect your Notion database and map the fields.

A folder suits this better than a category. A move rule runs on the server, so the folder keeps filling while your computer is off, whereas a classic Outlook rule that assigns a category is client-side.

Each email becomes a Notion page with its subject, sender, recipients, preview, received date, attachment list and a link back to the message, plus a Mail Folder field that records where it came from.

The sync is one-way, from Outlook to Notion, so nothing in your mailbox changes. New mail arrives every 2 to 5 minutes, depending on your plan.

If you also run Outlook Contacts as a CRM, relate each email to the sender's contact page. When an email is really a to-do, flag it instead: flagged Outlook emails reach Notion as tasks through Microsoft To Do.

The Outlook Mail to Notion guide compares 2sync with the other ways to get email into Notion.

Start with one rule

Rules pay off fastest when you start small. Pick the sender who clutters your inbox most, build a two-click rule from one of their emails, and check the folder tomorrow.

Add the next rule once the first has earned its place, keep the narrow ones at the top, and run each new rule once to clear the backlog.

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