Step-by-Step Guide to Creating Email Rules in Outlook on Windows 11

• Outlook offers a feature known as rules, which enables you to automate actions for incoming or outgoing messages based on specific criteria.
• To set up a rule in Outlook, navigate to Settings > Mail > Rules, and click on “Add new rule” . Here, you can specify your desired conditions and actions before saving your configurations.
• An alternative method to create a rule is by right-clicking an email, selecting “Rules,” and opting for “Create rule.”
• These steps are applicable to the latest Outlook application for Windows 10, Windows 11, and its web interface.

This guide will delve into the process of crafting email rules in the Outlook application, which is available for both Windows 10 and 11, as well as the online version of the service.

With Outlook rules, you can streamline the management of both incoming and outgoing emails. This functionality provides a way to designate actions for specific messages based on various parameters, such as sender, subject line, or keywords found within the email content.

For instance, you can establish a rule to automatically divert emails from certain senders or containing particular keywords into specified folders. Additionally, you can flag significant emails for follow-up or highlight them for easier recognition. There’s also the option to delete messages that fit defined criteria, such as spam, or to forward them to different addresses or folders.

In this guide, I will walk you through the steps necessary to initiate creating rules in the new Outlook application for both Windows 10 and 11, which similarly applies to the web-based version as well.

Create Email Rules in Outlook for Windows 11

Users can create rules in the Outlook app either through the settings menu or directly from an existing email. The rules function the same way; however, creating them from an email context may automatically populate certain default settings.

Using the Settings Menu

To create new rules through Outlook settings, follow these steps:

1. Launch the Outlook application on your Windows 11 device.

2. Click on the Settings icon (gear icon located at the top-right).

3. Select Mail.

4. Click on the Rules tab

5. Press the “Add new rule” button.

   

6. Provide a clear name for the rule.

7. Define the condition for the rule.

   Tip: The conditions available are numerous and self-explanatory. You can target specific emails, email addresses, subjects, keywords, sizes, and more. You can also apply multiple conditions by selecting the “Add another condition” option.

8. Set the specifics for the chosen condition. For example, if the “From” condition is selected, input the appropriate email address.

   

9. Choose the action that will be executed by the rule.

   Tip: Select from options to move, copy, delete, pin, tag, forward, or redirect messages. You can also choose to add additional actions by clicking “Add another action” .

10. Configure the action based on your selection. For instance, if you opted for the “Move to” action, specify the target folder.

    

11. Tick the “Stop processing more rules” option.

12. (Optional) Select the “Run rule now” option.

13. Click the Save button.

14. Select the email account for rule application (if necessary).

15. (Optional) Disable the toggle switch to deactivate the rule.

16. (Optional) Adjust the rule’s processing order by clicking the up or down buttons, ensuring your rules execute in the order you prioritize.

17. (Optional) Access the “More actions” menu and select Edit rule to modify the rule.

18. (Optional) Similarly, use the “More actions” menu to select Delete to remove the rule.

    

Upon completing these steps, the newly created rule will be activated and will automatically manage incoming emails according to your specified criteria.

Using an Existing Email

For a quicker method to create a rule directly from an email, follow these instructions:

1. Open the Outlook application.

2. Right-click on the desired email, then select Rules and click on Create rule.

   

3. (Option 1) Choose the folder for this and future emails, then click OK.

   

4. (Option 2) Click on More options.

5. (Optional) Rename the rule if desired.

6. (Optional) Add new conditions or simply proceed with the default setups.

7. Specify the action for the rule.

   

   Tip: Actions include options to move, copy, delete, pin, or forward messages.

8. Check the box for “Stop processing more rules” .

9. Click Save.

10. (Optional) Disable the toggle switch to turn off the rule.

11. (Optional) Adjust the processing order by using the up or down buttons.

12. (Optional) Access the “More actions” menu to either Edit rule or Delete the rule as needed.

Once these steps are finalized, your Outlook application will manage incoming messages according to the rules you established.

By enabling the “Stop processing more rules” functionality for a particular rule, Outlook will cease to evaluate other rules after executing that one, even if the incoming email qualifies for multiple rules.

This feature helps eliminate unintended actions; for example, when multiple rules might apply to the same email, activating “Stop processing more rules”prevents actions like erroneously deleting important emails or misplacing them into incorrect folders.

In addition, you can arrange rules based on priority by positioning them higher on the list, ensuring that these high-priority rules are executed first regardless of any overlapping criteria with lower-ranked rules.

Author: Egor Kostenko

My goal is to make complex technical topics simple and accessible. On this site, I gather unique and useful content that not only solves users’ problems but also helps them better understand the capabilities of Windows.