Outlook rules automatically sort, flag, move, or delete emails based on conditions you set — saving you the time of manually organising your inbox every day. Once set up, rules run silently in the background on every incoming email. Here is how to create them.
Create a Rule in Outlook Desktop
- Click File → Manage Rules & Alerts
- Click New Rule
- Choose a template — the most useful starting points are:
- Move messages from someone to a folder — for filtering specific senders
- Move messages with specific words in the subject to a folder — for newsletters, project names, etc.
- Start from a blank rule — for more complex conditions
- Follow the wizard — click the underlined links to set specific values (e.g. which sender, which folder)
- Click Finish when done
Optionally, tick Run this rule now on messages already in Inbox on the last step to apply it to existing emails.
Quick Way to Create a Rule from an Existing Email
The fastest method — right-click any email in your inbox, hover over Rules, and click Create Rule. Outlook pre-fills the rule with the sender’s address and lets you choose what to do with future emails from that person. This takes about 10 seconds.
Create a Rule in Outlook on the Web
- Go to outlook.office.com
- Click Settings (cog icon) → View all Outlook settings
- Go to Mail → Rules
- Click Add new rule
- Name the rule, set your conditions, and set the action
- Click Save
Useful Rules to Set Up
Move newsletters to a folder
Condition: Subject contains “unsubscribe” (most newsletters include this word)
Action: Move to a “Newsletters” folder
This keeps your main inbox clear without unsubscribing from everything.
Flag emails from your manager
Condition: From [manager’s email address]
Action: Flag message for follow up
Move automated notifications out of your inbox
Condition: Sender address contains “noreply” or “no-reply”
Action: Move to a “Notifications” folder
Auto-delete unwanted emails
Condition: From [specific sender] or Subject contains [specific phrase]
Action: Delete it
Use with care — deleted emails go to Deleted Items, not permanently removed immediately.
Rule Order Matters
Outlook applies rules in order from top to bottom. If two rules could both apply to the same email, the first one wins (unless you tick Stop processing more rules at the end of a rule). In Rules & Alerts, use the up/down arrows to reorder rules.
Server-Side vs Client-Side Rules
Rules created in Outlook desktop run either on the server (Microsoft 365 processes them even when Outlook isn’t open) or on the client (only runs when Outlook is running). Rules based on moving emails from specific senders are typically server-side. Rules that play a sound or display an alert are client-side only. The wizard indicates which type a rule is.
