How to set up mail rules in Outlook for macOS
Outlook for Mac provides fewer rule options to users than Outlook for Windows and the web do. If you’d like more fine-tuned rules, consider setting them up via Outlook’s web interface, as outlined in the next section of the story.
To set up mail rules in Outlook’s macOS app, go to Outlook preferences by choosing Outlook > Preferences from the menu at the top of your Mac’s screen, then click the Rules button in the Email section. The Rules window opens. Be sure to select your Office 365/Microsoft 365 or Exchange account in the Server Rules section at the top of the left pane so the rules are synced to your other Outlook clients. (Ask IT to check your account configuration if there is no such option.) Otherwise, you are creating local rules that will operate only in the current Mac’s Outlook client.
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From the Rules window you can edit existing rules or add new ones.
Click + to create a new rule or double-click an existing rule to edit it; either way, a rule creation window opens.
Alternatively, you can start a new rule from your main Outlook mail window: in the Home tab on the ribbon, click Rules > Create Rule. Outlook takes you to the rule creation screen and suggests a rule based on the currently selected message in the mail window; you can edit the suggested rule as needed. Rules created via the Rules button on the ribbon are automatically stored on the server for syncing with your other Outlook clients.
You now can set up your rules, with the following options:
Rule name: Enter a name for the rule that will remind you what it does.
When a new message arrives that meets all these conditions: Pick a field in the first menu, such as From or Subject, for the rule to act on. Then pick a logical expression from the second menu, such as Is, Contains, or After — the specific choices are based on what is being acted on. Then specify the condition: the text to look for in a subject, a person’s email address, a date — again, the specific choices are based on what is being acted on. Click the + symbol to the right to add another condition, or the — symbol to remove the currently selected condition. If you have multiple conditions, all must be satisfied for the rule to be applied; that’s AND logic.
Do the following: Choose what happens if the conditions are satisfied, such as Mark as Read or Move to Folder. Some actions need further information, such as what folder to move an email to. Click + to add another action, or — to remove the currently selected action. If you have multiple actions, all will be applied if the conditions are satisfied.
Except if: Click + to see the options here. This section lets you set conditions that override the conditions you previously set, using the same controls. For example, you might have all emails from a specific account get moved to a folder as an initial condition and then set an exception here that excludes any whose subject contains “Urgent” so they are not processed.
Do not apply other rules to messages that meet the same conditions: Check this box so additional rules are not applied to the emails that satisfy the conditions here. You typically would stop processing rules if you need to apply OR logic, where several rules might share some base conditions, but some have their own additional specific conditions and actions. If you don’t stop processing, then those subsequent rules could be applied where you don’t want them to be.
For example, maybe rule 1 checks for all messages from specific senders and then moves them to a specified project folder, while rule 2 checks for messages from those same senders that contain “Important” in the subject and then moves them to your Priority Items folder. In other words, rule 2 moves “Important” emails from those senders to the Priority Items folder, while rule 1 moves all other messages from the same people to the designated project folder. You might think the rule order would take care of this situation, where putting rule 2 before rule 1 would have the more specific rule run first and the general rule run later on messages that don’t meet rule 2, but Office 365/Microsoft 365 and Exchange don’t necessarily run the rules in the order displayed in Outlook. Selecting stop processing more rules will ensure that rule 2 takes priority if its conditions are met.
Enabled: If checked, the rule will be run on any new email that arrives in the future. Rules don’t automatically get applied to messages that are already in your inbox.
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Specify conditions, actions, and exceptions to create a new rule to apply to incoming email.
Click OK to exit the rule. You can edit or create additional rules.
In the Rules window, check a rule to enable it, uncheck it to disable it, or delete a selected rule by clicking the — button at lower left. You can also change the order of the rules’ execution by dragging the rules into the order you prefer. However, Outlook may not run the rules in the order you specify. It will first run server-side rules, then client-side rules. Because it doesn't identify which rules are which, you can't really control the actual order in which rules run. But by reordering the rules, you increase the chances of them running in your preferred order.
When you’re done working on rules, click the Show All button in the upper left to close the Rules window. You’ll be asked whether you want to save the rules you created and edited.
Note: Outlook for Mac offers an Apply > Apply All menu option in both the Rules button’s menu and the menu bar’s Message > Rules menu path. But it doesn’t work on existing messages; no rules are actually applied. Users have reported this issue for a decade in various versions of Outlook for Mac, and Microsoft support staff simply acknowledge that it doesn’t work on existing messages — which raises the question of why the option exists at all.
How to set up mail rules in Outlook for web
Outlook’s web interface provides more rule options to users than Outlook for Mac but fewer than Outlook for Windows.
To get started, click the Settings button (gear icon) at upper right of the Outlook for web window. At the bottom of the Settings pane that appears, click View all Outlook settings link. Click Mail in the leftmost pane if the mail settings are not shown. Then click Rules in the middle pane to open the Rules pane at right.
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The Rules pane in Outlook’s web app lets you create new rules or edit, rearrange, or delete existing ones.
Click + Add new rule to create a new rule. You must provide a name for the rule in the Name your rule field before you can apply any settings to it.
Use the Add a condition menu to apply a condition to the rule. If a condition requires data, like an email address for the From condition, a field will appear for you to enter it in. You can add more conditions by clicking Add another condition and selecting a new condition from the menu that appears. All conditions must be met for the rule to run.
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Select a condition for your new rule from the pop-up menu.
Use the Add an action menu to apply an action to be taken on emails that meet the conditions specified. If an action requires data, like a folder for the Move To action, a field will appear for you to enter it in or select it from.
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Select an action to take on emails that meet the condition(s) specified above.
If you want to set exceptions to your conditions, click Add an exception, which then displays a menu from which you select the desired exceptions (you have the same options as when setting the conditions).
The Stop processing more rules box is checked by default. You typically would stop processing rules if you need to apply OR logic, where several rules might share some base conditions, but some have their own additional specific conditions and actions. If you don’t stop processing, then those subsequent rules could be applied where you don’t want them to be.
For example, maybe rule 1 checks for all messages from specific senders and then moves them to a specified project folder, while rule 2 checks for messages from those same senders that contain “Important” in the subject and then moves them to your Priority Items folder. In other words, rule 2 moves “Important” emails from those senders to the Priority Items folder, while rule 1 moves all other messages from the same people to the designated project folder. You might think the rule order would take care of this situation, where putting rule 2 before rule 1 would have the more specific rule run first and the general rule run later on messages that don’t meet rule 2, but Office 365/Microsoft 365 and Exchange don’t necessarily run the rules in the order displayed in Outlook. Selecting stop processing more rules will ensure that rule 2 takes priority if its conditions are met.
In the Rules window, use the switch to the left of a rule name to enable or disable it. Click the pencil icon to the right of a rule to edit that rule, and click the trashcan icon to the right of a rule to delete that rule.
You can also change the order of the rules’ execution by clicking the ↑ or ↓ button to right of a rule to move its position in the list as desired. However, Outlook may not run the rules in the order you specify. It will first run server-side rules, then client-side rules. Because it doesn't identify which rules are which, you can't really control the actual order in which rules run. But by reordering the rules, you increase the chances of them running in your preferred order.
How to set up out-of-office mail rules in Outlook or Apple Mail
The process to set up an out-of-office message varies drastically from client to client, but the core automatic-reply capabilities are the same across them all: You enable the automatic reply, optionally specify start and end dates and times, and enter your out-of-office message (usually with separate messages allowed for people in your organization and for people outside it).
Here’s how to get to the controls in each major platform:
Outlook for Windows: Click File in the ribbon to open the Info section of Outlook, then click the Automatic Replies button to access the available rules for out-of-office messages. In the Automatic Replies window, you can compose your OOO message(s) and configure sending times. Click Rules at the lower left to get additional rule options. Click OK when done.
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The out-of-office controls in Outlook for Windows. The Rules button at bottom left provides additional automatic-reply options not available to non-Windows users.
Outlook for Mac: Click the ribbon’s Tools tab, then click the Out of Office button, compose your OOO message(s) and configure sending times. Click OK when done.
Outlook for web: Click the Settings button (gear icon) at upper right of the Outlook for web window. At the bottom of the Settings pane that appears, click View all Outlook settings link. Click Mail in the leftmost pane if the mail settings are not shown. Then click Automatic replies in the middle pane to open the “Automatic replies” pane at right. Set the “Turn on automatic replies” switch to On, then compose your OOO message(s) and configure sending times. Click Save when done.
Outlook for iOS: Tap your user icon at upper left (usually your photo or initials) to open the options pane, then tap the Settings button (gear icon) at the bottom left to open the Settings screen. Tap your Office 365/Microsoft 365 or Exchange account and then tap Automatic Replies in the account information screen that opens. Set the Automatic Replies switch to On, then compose your OOO message(s). Tap ✓ in the upper-right corner when done.
Outlook for Android: Tap your user icon at upper left (usually your photo or initials) to open the options pane, then tap the Settings button (gear icon) at bottom to open the Settings screen. Tap your Office 365/Microsoft 365 or Exchange account and then tap Automatic Replies in the account information screen that opens. Set the Automatic Replies option to On, then compose your OOO message(s). Tap ✓ when done.
Apple Mail for macOS: Right-click your Office 365/Microsoft 365 or Outlook email account or any of its folders in the Mailboxes pane, then choose Out of Office from the contextual menu that appears. Compose your OOO message(s) and configure sending times, then close the window when done.
Apple Mail for iOS: Open the iOS Settings app, then tap Passwords & Accounts. Tap your Office 365/Microsoft 365 or Exchange account to open its settings, then tap Automatic Reply to open the Automatic Reply screen. Set the Automatic Reply switch to On, compose your OOO message(s), and optionally set an end date. Tap Save when done.