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Custom Actions for Outlook's Rules

Slipstick Systems

› Tools & Utilities › Automatic Processing Tools › Custom Actions for Outlook’s Rules

Last reviewed on October 13, 2018     117 Comments

This content has been archived. It may no longer be relevant.

Custom actions add functionality to the Rules Wizard in Microsoft Outlook by performing additional actions on messages.

There are very few custom actions available (in part because they were written in C++). For this reason, we are including other useful "rules tools" here.

See Run a Script rules for an alternative to Custom Actions.

Notes

Adding a custom action to a rule automatically makes it a client-side rule that can execute only when Outlook is running.

Custom Actions for Outlook's Rules was last modified: October 13th, 2018 by Diane Poremsky
Post Views: 11

Related Posts:

  • Outlook's Rules and Alerts: Run a Script
  • Running Rules on messages after you read them
  • Frequently asked question about Outlook's rules wizard.
    Outlook Rules Frequently Asked Questions
  • Direct support for this kind of rule was added in Outlook 2000 and is
    Create a rule to search for two different phrases in a message

About Diane Poremsky

A Microsoft Outlook Most Valuable Professional (MVP) since 1999, Diane is the author of several books, including Outlook 2013 Absolute Beginners Book. She also created video training CDs and online training classes for Microsoft Outlook. You can find her helping people online in Outlook Forums as well as in the Microsoft Answers and TechNet forums.

Comments

  1. Radha says

    October 12, 2018 at 12:05 pm

    I need to create a custom action rule in Outlook when I blind copy (not just Cc) an email address on all outgoing emails. There is no action rule set for blind copy. Thank you.

    Reply
    • Diane Poremsky says

      October 13, 2018 at 1:03 am

      You wont use a custom action - that is basically dead technology. If you can use a script, I have a macro that will add it. Or you can use a 3rd party addin.
      https://www.slipstick.com/outlook/email/automatically-bcc-all-message/

      Reply
  2. John says

    March 24, 2017 at 8:25 am

    I am looking to create a rule to forward emails to our production software. Our software recognizes email addresses and automatically files these to the correct account. When I forward from my email I need to add in the subject line FROM:JANEDOE@JOHN.COM Is there a way to achieve this?

    Reply
    • Diane Poremsky says

      March 24, 2017 at 9:14 am

      Not using any native rules feature, but you can do it using a run a script rule. See https://www.slipstick.com/outlook/rules/run-script-rule-change-subject-message/

      in the first macro, add
      Set myForward = Item.Forward
      myforward.subject = "FROM:JANEDOE@JOHN.COM " & item.subject
      myForward.Recipients.Add "alias@domain.com

      Reply
  3. Gayatri says

    December 28, 2016 at 1:43 pm

    Hey... I have to apply almost 1000 rules to emails in my shared outlook inbox. Please help me understand how this can be done?

    Reply
    • Diane Poremsky says

      December 30, 2016 at 1:13 am

      It would probably be easier to open the mailbox in a profile (as an account) then create server side rules - they will run as mail arrives. Client side rules will not work in a mailbox opened as a shared mailbox - you'd need to run them manually or open the mailbox as an account.
      https://www.slipstick.com/exchange/create-rules-and-oof-shared-mailbox/

      Reply
  4. Stella T says

    June 28, 2016 at 7:58 am

    I have several projects that I work on. I have made project folders and run a move the projects to their appropriate outlook 2010 email folders as they come in but is there a way that I can "forward" a copy of specific messages when they come in that contain certain criteria to another email address for my assistant to follow up?

    Reply
    • Diane Poremsky says

      June 28, 2016 at 11:35 pm

      You can use Outlook's rules to forward mail based on conditions or if you need more complicated conditions, a run a script rule.

      Reply
  5. DAn Reese says

    June 15, 2016 at 12:26 pm

    I always miss when my people send me timesheets for approval. I wrote a BAT command to open the payroll website, but when building a custom rule, I cant attach the BAT command to the RUN A SCRIPT or CUSTOM ACTION. I have the BAT command, I dont have the place to insert the BAT command. Where does that go?

    Reply
    • Diane Poremsky says

      June 15, 2016 at 2:07 pm

      This works here -
      Public Sub OpenBat(Item As Outlook.MailItem)
      Shell ("D:\Documents\test.bat"), vbNormalFocus
      End Sub

      You used to be able to run bat files using run application and choosing the bat. That is not working for me, but the rule didn't work at first, so maybe it was just user error.

      Reply
  6. Peter says

    May 28, 2016 at 7:13 am

    Hello,

    I tried to implement the "MarkRead" Custom Action in my Outlook 2007, despite several attempts without success.
    I need this action, because I set up the rule Sent Items -> save copy to , but the selected folder is bolded, since the saved sent mail cannot be set as read. Selecting a custom action, following the would solve the problem.
    I appearently fixed some errors, after an initial attempt failed, because the markread.reg file is written like this:
    REGEDIT4

    [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Exchange\Client\Custom Actions]
    "Mark Read"="4.0;c:\\exchange\\markread.dll;1"

    The double slashes are wrong. If this reg file is executed, the value will appear in the registry with triple slashes. Even with one slash, double slashes will appear, so the registry has to be manually corrected. I this usual?
    But even though I corrected this, also doubling the key to key ...\client as well as to ...client\Custom Actions, I still cannot select this custom action in Outlook, the field ist still empty. Files are found in c:\exchange.
    There a many VBA scripts availabe, but cannot get them to run as well, also they work as macros, which have to be executed manually.

    Reply
    • Diane Poremsky says

      June 19, 2016 at 12:58 am

      I thought 2007 had the mark as read rule action... but if not, i'd use a run a script rule over the custom action.

      Reply
  7. Brad says

    May 1, 2016 at 4:57 am

    How can I add a customized action to open up a previously-sent email in order to resend it with different information? Much appreciated!!

    Reply
    • Diane Poremsky says

      May 1, 2016 at 4:31 pm

      custom action won't do it. Should be able to do it using VBA. Did you want to trigger it using a rule or just by clicking a button on the ribbon?

      Reply
      • Brad says

        May 2, 2016 at 1:51 am

        Just by clicking a button on the ribbon, thanks a lot!

      • Diane Poremsky says

        May 2, 2016 at 5:51 pm

        See https://www.slipstick.com/developer/code-samples/macro-resend-message/

  8. Beth says

    April 21, 2016 at 4:47 pm

    I want to save sent mail to the sent folder and mark it read. I have everything in the rule except "mark it read." My rules don't include this choice, as best I can tell, and I can't add that rule as a custom rule; I can't add anything at all as custom rule, whether I am using Gmail or Verizon accounts, even if I do everything that HELP says to do.

    Reply
    • Diane Poremsky says

      May 2, 2016 at 11:35 am

      You need to use a script in the rule or watch the folder and mark it read after moving. See this macro -
      https://www.slipstick.com/outlook/rules/mark-items-read/

      Reply
  9. Tammy says

    March 30, 2016 at 1:21 pm

    Is there an add-on or tool that would allow us to auto-save Sent emails meeting certain parameters to a file folder on our network server? Everyone in our office uses a custom form for incoming telephone messages - sending it to the intended recipient. We'd like to be able to have the sent message go to the recipient, with a copy saved to our network in a "Incoming Calls" folder that is searchable by everyone. We are using Outlook 2010.

    Reply
    • Diane Poremsky says

      April 6, 2016 at 12:09 am

      Some of the add-ins at https://www.slipstick.com/outlook/email/how-to-save-email-in-windows-file-system/ might be able to do that.

      Reply
  10. Jodi says

    February 12, 2016 at 11:06 am

    We have a couple teams managing email within our organization, we are looking to automatically file these emails during 6am-5pm(MST) then we need the rule to turn off automatically. Has anyone ever heard of setting up a rule on a re-occurring schedule such as a meeting request?

    Reply
    • Diane Poremsky says

      February 12, 2016 at 12:06 pm

      Yes! See https://www.slipstick.com/outlook/rules/run-rules-now-using-macro/ for the script and instructions.

      Reply
  11. David R says

    February 3, 2016 at 5:40 pm

    We have a couple Helpdesk related email accounts that people outside the organization use to request help. We would like to funnel these requests using Outlook auto-rules to redirect it to our internal Helpdesk application. This Helpdesk application rejects any requests from non-personnel that aren't established as users (uses email 'From' field). Is there a custom action that can be used to copy the 'From' email address into the email text and subsequently change the 'From' email address to match the 'To' email address?

    Reply
    • Diane Poremsky says

      February 4, 2016 at 12:28 am

      Are you using Exchange server? If so, it really limits what you can do as you would need to have permission to send as that address. Outlook can redirect if you use exchange or it can create a new message with the contents of the original message. A script can add the original sender's address to the message body.

      https://www.slipstick.com/outlook/rules/send-a-new-message-when-a-message-arrives/ - the last macro shows how to send a new message
      the first macro at https://www.slipstick.com/outlook/rules/run-script-rule-reply-message/ shows how to insert text. use olSelection.InsertBefore item.senderemailaddress top insert the address.

      (There are few, if any, custom actions but you can use a VBA script.)

      Reply
  12. Wayne H says

    January 27, 2016 at 3:01 pm

    Where could I find a custom action that will delete a constant string in outgoing emails, if present? Incoming emails to users are all appended (last line) with "If this email is spam, report it to http://www.OnlyMyEmail.com".

    I'd like to remove this line when a reply is done so that the recipient doesn't see it.

    Thank you.

    Reply
    • Diane Poremsky says

      January 28, 2016 at 1:16 am

      There is no custom action that does this, but you should be able to use a macro that removes it, either when you open the message to reply or as it arrives in your inbox. If it's added to your messages after sending, you won't be able to remove it.

      I'd remove it as i reply - I'd start with this code https://www.slipstick.com/developer/vba-when-reply-is-clicked/ and edit it. Use the simple macro near the end of the article and replace the after reply code with something like this
      Private Sub afterReply()
      Replace(oResponse.body, "If this email is spam, report it to https://www.OnlyMyEmail.com.", "")
      oResponse.Display
      End Sub

      Reply
  13. Darr247 says

    December 8, 2015 at 9:30 am

    Does anyone make a custom action tool for using OR conditions in message rules, since outlook 2007 allows only AND conditions by default?

    Thanks.

    Reply
    • Diane Poremsky says

      December 9, 2015 at 1:47 pm

      I'm not aware of any custom actions but I think Auto-Mate supports and/or.

      Reply
  14. KT says

    November 25, 2015 at 7:42 am

    HI
    Due to an email policy we cannot send emails after 6 PM -instead of delaying each email individually is it possible to set up a rule or to do some sort or an automatic delay that takes all emails generated after 6 PM and sends them out at 7:00 AM the following day? Thanks.

    Reply
    • Diane Poremsky says

      November 25, 2015 at 11:30 am

      you can use an itemsend macro for this.

      Private Sub Application_ItemSend(ByVal Item As Object, Cancel As Boolean)

      If Now() > DateSerial(Year(Now), Month(Now), Day(Now)) + #5:58:00 PM# Then

      With Item
      SendAt = DateSerial(Year(Now), Month(Now), Day(Now) + 1) + #7:00:00 AM#

      .DeferredDeliveryTime = SendAt
      End With
      End If
      End Sub

      Reply
  15. Jyrki Kela says

    September 8, 2015 at 3:51 am

    Hello

    I tried to get AdContac.dll to work with Win7 and Outlook 2010, but, "AddSenderToContacts" do not appear to a custom action Description box drop-down list? Could you, please, help me. Thanks.

    I used this instructions: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/198725

    Reply
    • Diane Poremsky says

      October 23, 2015 at 9:38 pm

      A lot of the old dlls wont work with the newer versions of office. You can do the same thing using a macro script n a rule.

      Reply
  16. Peter says

    June 5, 2015 at 3:15 pm

    Is there a way to launch an attached type when they are received in an email

    Reply
    • Diane Poremsky says

      August 7, 2015 at 10:04 pm

      with the right code you can do almost anything. :) This sample shows how to open attached files - https://www.slipstick.com/outlook/email/save-open-attachment/ - you'd need a script to use in a run a script rule that called the macro.

      Reply
  17. Deanna Lopez says

    January 29, 2015 at 2:08 pm

    Hi Diane, I receive meeting invitations from our Conferance Room Calendars, so that I can track our departments conferance room bookings. I've created a rule to categorize them when they are received (so they standout when I'm viewing my own calendar), but I would like a rule to automatically turn off the 15 minute reminder, and cannot figure out to do that without turning off the default 15 minute reminder for all my meetings.

    It would also be great to have it automattically accept the invitation, preferably as tentative.

    I'm on Office 2010. Do you have a suggestion?

    Thanks,
    Deanna

    Reply
    • Diane Poremsky says

      January 29, 2015 at 10:34 pm

      A rule can't do it - but a run a script rule can. See https://www.slipstick.com/outlook/calendar/autoaccept-a-meeting-request-using-rules/ for the script and instructions.

      Reply
  18. David Beecher says

    November 12, 2014 at 6:31 pm

    Dear Diane,
    I'm using Outlook 2013, is it possible to create a rule that will move items to inbox subfolders after 1 or 2 days?
    Some information I need to keep handy then want to file it away automatically. The move message rule appear to use unfriendly hard dates like 11/5/2014.

    Thank yous,

    Reply
    • Diane Poremsky says

      November 12, 2014 at 7:18 pm

      No, the rules run as mail arrives. There is a condition that uses a date, but you'd need to change the date and run the rule manually. You can use a macro to move old mail - https://www.slipstick.com/developer/macro-move-aged-mail/

      There is an addin called Auto-Mate that can do this (and more) after a period of time has passed.

      Reply
  19. Steve says

    October 30, 2014 at 11:52 am

    Hi,
    I am looking for an autoforward rule that will take mails from a shared inbox, and automatically distribute them to several different folders one at a time - like dealing out a pack of cards

    Reply
    • Diane Poremsky says

      October 30, 2014 at 4:04 pm

      Is the mailbox open in your profile? If so, you could use an ItemAdd macro. I think I have one around here somewhere - basically, it watches the folder for new items and sorts them using a case statement.
      https://www.slipstick.com/developer/code-samples/use-macro-assign-messages-shared-mailbox/
      It was sitting in drafts, waiting to be finished.

      Reply
  20. Silke says

    October 23, 2014 at 10:03 am

    Dear Diane,
    Is it possible to give a different background and/or font colour to mails that come from a specific person? At work we just switched from Lotus Notes to Outlook (in Microsoft Office Professional Plus 2010) and in Lotus I was able to do it. In Outlook I cannot find it.
    Thanks,
    Silke

    Reply
    • Diane Poremsky says

      October 23, 2014 at 3:09 pm

      You can use Conditional formatting to set the text color in the message list or you could assign color categories.

      See https://www.slipstick.com/addins/calendar-tools-addins/calendar-tools-for-schedule-management/ for more information on conditional formatting.

      Reply
  21. Jackie S. says

    August 5, 2014 at 2:58 pm

    I receive a tickler email every hour. I would like to be alerted when I do not receive this email. Can this be accomplished?

    Reply
    • Diane Poremsky says

      August 5, 2014 at 8:58 pm

      You could probably do something with a macro - I'm not sure what the best way to handle it is though, not looking for something is hard and outlook doesn't have a built in timer. I think a run a script rule to set a reminder or timer to now + 62 min and if a message comes in before that, reset it to now + 62 min.

      Reply
  22. muffitt says

    July 3, 2014 at 6:23 am

    I either drag n drop or use the move to on the tool bar.

    Reply
    • Diane Poremsky says

      July 7, 2014 at 11:36 am

      There is no option for that, you'll need to mark them read before moving. If you use the same limited number of folders, you can use Quick Steps or a macro to move them, but more than a handful of folders and either method is unwieldy.

      Reply
  23. muffitt says

    July 2, 2014 at 7:32 am

    hi

    I would like to make all emails that are put in a certain folder to be marked as read, if this is possible.

    Reply
    • Diane Poremsky says

      July 2, 2014 at 11:47 pm

      How are you putting them in the folder? There is an option in the rules wizard to mark messages as read.

      Reply
  24. Bill M says

    April 16, 2014 at 11:03 am

    Looking to either run a script or perform a custom action which will run the Edit - Purge items marked for delete in outlook 2007. Any ideas?

    Reply
    • Diane Poremsky says

      April 16, 2014 at 8:28 pm

      You'd need to use SendKeys as the command is not accessible directly by the object model.

      Reply
  25. Ron R. says

    February 16, 2014 at 12:45 pm

    Currently Outlook 2010 Win7. I use 3 different email addresses, one profile, one pst file, 3 accounts. I would like when I receive mail to have the emails from the 3 be colored differently for easy identification. I remember in outlook express, I could do this. I don't see an option/feature for this in Rules. Can you help? Thanks, Ron

    btw dup'ed this from other forum- wasn't sure where best to inquire.

    Reply
    • Diane Poremsky says

      February 16, 2014 at 2:28 pm

      Technically, neither forum is the "correct" one. :) Create a customized view using Conditional Formatting to highlight messages by account. See https://www.slipstick.com/tutorial/use-automatic-formatting-to-highlight-messages/ for instructions.

      Reply
  26. AARON LYNES says

    December 18, 2013 at 6:01 am

    I am trying to get emails to change colour after a certain amount of time - we have a policy to answer all email within 15 minutes so I would like any email still in the Inbox after 15 minutes of arriving to turn orange/pink and after 30 minutes if it is still in the Inbox then turn red. Can this be done?

    Reply
    • Diane Poremsky says

      December 18, 2013 at 10:40 am

      You'd need to do this with a conditional formatting but I haven't found a way to make it work on minutes or hours, only full days. Flags would work for the red color - you can use a macro to set a flag due in 30 minutes. The reminders might get annoying though. :(

      Reply
  27. James Bunton says

    November 26, 2013 at 11:41 am

    Is there a way to block Junk Email by domain name? ie. (????@xxxxxxx.com)

    Reply
    • Diane Poremsky says

      November 27, 2013 at 9:07 am

      You can add domains to the blocked sender's list in options, or create a rule to delete mail by sender domain.

      Reply
  28. ryanbuckner (@ryanbuckner) says

    April 20, 2013 at 11:30 am

    I have a custom Outlook Form sent to me every week and I need to open it, navigate to view the form, and click a button on the form. Is there an automated way to do this in Outlook 2010 when the email arrives?

    Reply
    • Diane Poremsky says

      April 21, 2013 at 8:30 am

      You could use a run a script macro to open the attachment. Clicking the button may or may not be possible, depending on your form.

      Reply
  29. Patty says

    March 24, 2013 at 5:10 pm

    Diane - using outlook 2010 Rules. Is there a way to BCC additional addresses when sending mail messages automatically that meet specific criteria?

    Reply
    • Diane Poremsky says

      March 24, 2013 at 5:26 pm

      you'll need to use VBA or a utility - See Automatically BCC . You'll need to add an If... then statement to restrict it.

      If mid(item.subject,9) = "something" then
      ' code
      End if

      Reply
  30. Chad says

    February 25, 2013 at 3:03 pm

    Hi Diane, I now realize that your response to Mario should solve my problem although I haven't been able to get the script to work yet..Thanks I'll keep at it.

    Reply
    • Diane Poremsky says

      February 25, 2013 at 5:22 pm

      Does it do anything? Make sure macro security is set to low.

      Reply
  31. Chad says

    February 25, 2013 at 12:49 pm

    Hello I am trying to create a rule that does EXACTLY what "Have server reply using a specific message" does except I do not want the original sender to get the reply only the specified address(es) I select in the template. Basically, without forwarding any part of a potentially confidential message, I want to be notified that a message exits so that I can know when to go to webmail to check it. We are running Outlook 2010. Please and thanks!

    Reply
    • Diane Poremsky says

      February 25, 2013 at 5:08 pm

      Outlook won't be opened? You'd need to do it server side and are limited to using the rules that are there. It's possible a transport rule in Exchange server could do this but the Exchange admin would need to be willing to set it up for you. (And I'm not 100% sure a transport rule could do the notification without including the message.)

      Reply
  32. Ariel says

    September 1, 2012 at 10:45 am

    Hello, very good!

    Working in a workshop, and to close a part of work I get an email to Outlook 2007 with a pdf that I print. When checking in the same part of work I get another email with another pdf that I print. Each email comes into folders you create a purpose. What I would like and I think it needs a macro or code (or rules, but I have not been able to) is that when you enter such mailings, do this automatically:

    1) Print attachments immediately (no mail, which itself is empty, just the attachment).

    2) That also entering one generates me an email to an address with a specific question and save it to drafts. More details: to close a part of work, I get an email with the subject: "invented text OR 123456789". Then in the mail I want to generate a certain direction the subject field should have only the number that comes in the subject field (last group of characters in the subject field).

    Thank you!!!.

    PD. Sorry for my bad English, is the google translator.

    Reply
  33. astrochimp98 says

    September 1, 2012 at 7:41 am

    Hi, I receive many "form" emails during a day. the email will say "name: John Doe" and "email:JD@xxx.com" I am just trying to create an action that will copy the "JD@xxx.com" and put that into a premade draft email. Thank you.

    Reply
  34. Chris Armstrong says

    August 31, 2012 at 4:21 am

    Thank you Diane, I'll give it a try.

    Reply
  35. Chris Armstrong says

    August 29, 2012 at 4:36 am

    I have a slightly different problem. I want to set up a rule to DELETE any email i send to a specific address from the "Sent" folder. That is, send it (not a copy as per the standatd available rules) to the Deleted folder. Does anyone have or knoe how to get a Custom Action to achieve this? Thanks

    Reply
    • Diane Poremsky says

      August 29, 2012 at 6:00 am

      Custom action won't do it, well, it could, but you'd need to write C++ code. :) (That's why there are so few actions). What you can use is an an ItemAdd macro that checks the address and deletes it. Start with the macro at Move sent items, mark as read - use Set Items = Ns.GetDefaultFolder(olFolderSentItems).Items in the startup macro and 'If Item.To = "address" Then Item.Delete'. Item.Move would work too.

      Reply
  36. Stuart Hall says

    July 27, 2012 at 6:51 am

    Can I create a custom action so that the text of the email from a specific user is changed in size?

    Reply
    • Diane Poremsky says

      July 27, 2012 at 6:56 am

      You wouldn't use a custom action but could use a run a script rule. Use the method in change the font for rss. You'll need to check the source code of the message in question and update the script to look for the font-size attribute.

      Reply
  37. Mark says

    July 18, 2012 at 8:02 am

    Thanks - very useful again.

    Now to find something that prompts a user before hitting send.

    Reply
    • Diane Poremsky says

      July 18, 2012 at 8:28 am

      You need to trap an event to run the macro automatically - New item, item send, and add to folder work for messages and are basically foolproof because you will open a new item, send it, and Outlook drops it in the sent folder. Using the send event should expire the message for the recipient too.

      Reply
  38. Mark says

    July 18, 2012 at 6:04 am

    Thanks - I will look around from some VBA scripts.

    Have a good day.

    Reply
    • Diane Poremsky says

      July 18, 2012 at 7:06 am

      You need to use ExpiryTime:
      Item.ExpiryTime = DateAdd("m", 1, Date)

      But it's only working if I create the message programmatically. I tried it with both Send and itemadd events.

      The sample code at https://www.vboffice.net/en/developers/set-expiry-date-for-email runs on selected items, not as they are sent.

      Reply
      • Diane Poremsky says

        July 18, 2012 at 7:34 am

        Grrr. Stupid typo I didn't notice. :) Usable code is at Set an expiration date on all messages you send

  39. Mark says

    July 18, 2012 at 4:46 am

    Is it possible to create a rule that prompts a user each time they click on SEND email, to set an expiration date (not using auto-archiving)? This is for Outlook 2010. Thanks.

    Reply
    • Diane Poremsky says

      July 18, 2012 at 4:56 am

      Yes, you can do this with a Run a Script rule or if you want to do it to all mail, you can use VBA that checks mail when its sent.

      Scratch the part about run a script - I forgot that it doesn't work on Sent messages.

      Reply
  40. Mario Duran says

    July 16, 2012 at 3:56 pm

    Hello,

    How could I have outlook automatically send a new email using a template to new email addresses with out replaying to the sender.

    Reply
    • Diane Poremsky says

      July 16, 2012 at 4:15 pm

      You want to send a new message to the sender? You can use a run a script rule - a sample is here: https://www.slipstick.com/outlook/rules/run-script-rule-change-subject-message/ - it needs tweaked to do what you want though. I thought I had a better sample that was very close to what your want but can't find it right now. :(

      Reply
      • Diane Poremsky says

        July 16, 2012 at 6:02 pm

        Try this run a script rule: Run a Script Rule: Send a new message when a message arrives

  41. Kathy R. says

    July 7, 2012 at 3:38 pm

    I have a problem with my "rule" for junk mail. I'd like to have a current rule process all the same type of messages for the 3 e-mail addresses that use Outlook 2010. As far as I can tell, it will only process one e-mail at a time. Is there a way to do that?

    Reply
    • Diane Poremsky says

      July 7, 2012 at 5:55 pm

      You want to share the rules with all the accounts? What type of email accounts? If they are pop3, they should share the rules if they are all delivered to one pst.

      Reply
  42. Rafael Bullrich says

    July 1, 2012 at 9:01 pm

    Hi, Diana... Maybe you can hep me?

    I have two different accounts on my Outlook and I need to send mails to SOME people over the second one (Not the default). The problem is that I continuously forget to change accounts!.

    How can I have Outlook have a list of address to wich it should ask me if I´m sure I want to use that account to send the mails? I have created a rule that delays delivery for 15 minutes on this cases but I would love to have a way for Outlook to ask me if I´m sure that I want to use this account for this mails?.

    Reply
    • Diane Poremsky says

      July 1, 2012 at 9:37 pm

      I have this code - https://www.slipstick.com/developer/assign-email-account-contact/ - which looks at the contact's category and selects the account to use.

      If you have just a short list of addresses, you can VBA to check the addresses when you hit Send would work. i don't have a code sample for multiple addresses, only for a single address - and its really not suitable for more than a few addresses as it doesn't scale well.

      Private Sub Application_ItemSend(ByVal Item As Object, Cancel As Boolean)
      If Item.To = "alias@domain.com" Then
      intRes = MsgBox("Do you want to continue ?", vbYesNo + vbExclamation, "Confirm Send")
      If intRes = vbNo Then
      ' cancel send
      Cancel = True

      End If
      End If
      End Sub

      Reply
      • Diane Poremsky says

        July 1, 2012 at 9:47 pm

        BTW, the code looks at the display name, so you'd need to code for each possible display name. It's also case sensitive (although this can be coded around).

        this is one way to do the multiple addresses.
        If Item.To = "alias@domain.com" Or Item.To = "alias@somewhere.com" Or Item.To = "Diane Poremsky" Then

  43. jose r. says

    June 13, 2012 at 11:14 am

    Hi Diane;
    I have tried to solve this but I did not find any solution... let see if you have any idea....

    I need to highlight (however you suggest) SOME of my sent mails (sent to an specific person) UNTIL they are answered by this person.... is there a way to manage this?

    I tried moving them manually to a folder called "not answered" but it is not practical and I can not know in real time which are the mails pendings....

    Thanks in advance, Jose

    Reply
    • Diane Poremsky says

      June 13, 2012 at 11:39 am

      What version of outlook? Theory only, so it may not work in real life... try this: a search folder for mail to and from that person. Add a category for mail waiting for replies and group by category. Outlook 2010's threaded conversation view should show the reply with the sent item (when expanded). When the reply arrived, remove the category from the sent item.

      Or see https://www.slipstick.com/addins/auto-process/automatic-message-processing-tools/ for a utility. Mapilab's is at the top of the list - i think sperry has one too.

      Reply
  44. Fulvio says

    May 16, 2012 at 9:11 am

    Will try shortly and i'll let you know. Meanwhile, thanks a lot.

    Reply
  45. Fulvio says

    May 16, 2012 at 6:06 am

    First: yes, the path is that one.
    Second: I need it because I've set up a rule for copying any message I send out to a local outbox folder (rather than the one on remote server). Therefore, I've uncheck the standard option "save a copy of sent messages", as I don't need to duplicate them remotely.
    Everything works fine: I have no longer remote copies of sent emails, and I have the local ones, but these latter are now bolded as unread.
    So, I'd like to set my custom rule as: copy sent messages to the local outbox AND mark them as unread.
    Yet it seems to be impossible....
    Finally, I don't have the standard "mark as read" option you mentioned either.

    Reply
    • Diane Poremsky says

      May 16, 2012 at 7:25 am

      Ah... sent messages, not incoming. Let me test it with that. It might only work on incoming messages.

      Reply
    • Diane Poremsky says

      May 16, 2012 at 8:06 am

      Try the macro here - https://www.slipstick.com/outlook/rules/mark-items-read/ - it works in my test on Outlook 2007 when moving mail to a different data file.

      Reply
  46. Fulvio says

    May 16, 2012 at 12:45 am

    Yes I did, and I've rebooted the PC as well.

    I have a key (created by the bat) at
    HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Exchange\Client\Custom Actions
    which is called Mark Read , type REG_SZ , value 4.0;c:\exchange\markread.dll;1

    I tried to modify semicolons with commas (like in excel when moving from english to italian), but again, it's not a separators matter.

    Reply
    • Diane Poremsky says

      May 16, 2012 at 5:11 am

      I checked it in Outlook 2007 and it is listed in the custom action dialog. Is the file at c:\exchange\markread.dll ? The path in the registry has to match the hard drive path.

      Reply
    • Diane Poremsky says

      May 16, 2012 at 5:19 am

      BTW, is there a reason you need this custom action? Outlook 2007 has a 'mark as read' action built in - it's in Outlook 2003 and up. (It would be nice if it could mark messages unread, unfortunately the only option is mark read. :( )

      Reply
  47. Fulvio says

    May 15, 2012 at 8:52 am

    Separators are the same over different keys.
    Sorry, I didn't understand your question "Do you have the extensions folder in the same registry path?"

    Reply
    • Diane Poremsky says

      May 15, 2012 at 9:37 am

      I have a key called Extensions at HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Exchange\.

      If separators are the same, then its not that. Oh, did you restart Outlook?

      Reply
  48. Fulvio says

    May 15, 2012 at 8:20 am

    It's not listed, the LOV is empty.
    The reg key is in and contains this value:

    "4.0;c:\exchange\markread.dll;1"

    (it was in fact the usage of separators that generates to me the suspect of language related issues)

    Reply
    • Diane Poremsky says

      May 15, 2012 at 8:43 am

      Do you know if a different separator is used with other registry keys? Do you have the extensions folder in the same registry path? The values for the extensions are in the same format as the custom action. If they use a different separator, use it in this key.

      Reply
  49. Fulvio says

    May 15, 2012 at 7:15 am

    Thanks Diane.
    Version is Outlook 2007 12.0.6607.1000 SP3 MSO, running on Windows 7.

    Reply
    • Diane Poremsky says

      May 15, 2012 at 7:40 am

      I'll test it on that step up. What doesn't work - is it not listed as a custom action or doesn't mark them read? It's working here with Outlook 2010 - with it enabled new messages are marked read. I had to run the reg file separately - the bat did not install the reg key. If you don't see it listed as a custom action, check this. It adds a key to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Exchange\Client\Custom Actions.

      Reply
      • Jim says

        July 17, 2013 at 7:54 am

        Diane, I have Outlook 2010 on Win7 home premium. In my rules there are no custom actions, nor a tic box for 'mark as read' after moving an email. I tried looking for your registry line but mine stops at HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft. There is no 'Exchange' after that, or 'client' or 'custom actions'. How do I get that added in? I really want to have it mark some emails as read after moving them.

      • Diane Poremsky says

        July 17, 2013 at 7:46 pm

        What type of email account do you use? Mark as read should be under the Step 1: Actions. Screenshot: https://screencast.com/t/rvsAH4NT It is possible its not available with your type of email account - i will double check.

      • Jim says

        July 17, 2013 at 8:45 pm

        They are pop3 type, I think that's what you mean? (comcast and such) I am actually trying to 'mark as read' on a 'sent message' rule after it moves the sent message to a special folder. I have 'mark as importance' and 'mark as sensitivity' in step one, and again 'importance' in step two. No 'mark as read' anywhere.

      • Diane Poremsky says

        July 18, 2013 at 8:12 pm

        Oh, no, there is no mark as read for sent items. You can use an Item Add macro to mark as read, although it's less than useful if you have a lot of folders.

  50. Fulvio says

    May 15, 2012 at 7:01 am

    Hi,
    I'm trying to use MarkRead Custom Action as suggested, but it doesn't work.
    I have Outlook installed in Italian (corporate's choice), perhaps could it be the reason?

    Reply
    • Diane Poremsky says

      May 15, 2012 at 7:03 am

      The language shouldn't matter - at most, the dialogs will be in the wrong language. What version of Outlook? That can affect it more.

      Reply
  51. Leslie Gyi says

    April 16, 2012 at 12:06 pm

    Is it possible in Outlook 2007 Version 12 to have an automatic response to the meeting organizer for all meetings to be TENATIVE? Currently there seem to be only settings to ACCEPT or DECLINE.

    Regards
    Leslie Gyi

    Reply
  52. Mohan says

    April 6, 2012 at 9:10 am

    Thanks for the response.
    Originally, the email is sent from the server to customers X, Y, Z outside the company. But before the email reaches X, Y or Z, i need to do some changes; so i have the squirrel client capture and send those emails to me. So after i am done, i need to send it to those X, Y and Z respectively. Hope this makes it clear.

    Reply
  53. Mohan says

    April 5, 2012 at 1:44 pm

    I get emails that are captured from Squirrel mail client. I have a task to complete after i receive those emails. Once i am done, i have to forward each emails individually to whom the original email was intended to. Is there a way i can create rule to capture who the original intended person was?
    I figured all the other items, like
    1) re-directing the email so it looks as if it came from the original sender.
    2) change the font
    But
    3) i need to send it to the original intended user - how do i do this step?
    Thanks in Advance.

    Mohan.

    Reply
    • Diane Poremsky says

      April 5, 2012 at 2:20 pm

      Where is the original recipients name? Rather than a custom rule (which uses C++), you might be able to use VBA to get the address and populate the to field.

      Reply
  54. Sara Borremans says

    March 23, 2012 at 1:12 am

    Hello

    I receive system generated mails that I should treat after 14 days. I now have to create a calendar item for each one seperately. I wonder if it would be possible to automate the follow-up.

    I found a rule to set a flag, that could work for me if I could add a reminder date to it... but it only allows you to add a flag without a date nor reminder...
    Another option would be to convert these mails to calendar items (I would prefer). Sender and subject are standard. starting date = receipt date +14. it should always be planned from 9 am to 9.30 am. But how should that be done?

    Thanks in advance!

    Reply
    • Diane Poremsky says

      March 23, 2012 at 5:43 am

      You should be able to use the script in Create a Task from an Email using a Rule - and add a line for the start or due date = received date + 14. I'm testing it next... (test worked.. .will add the code to that page.)

      Reply
  55. Flemming Frandsen says

    February 14, 2012 at 5:01 am

    This may not be the place - but - I am searching for a way to create a rule in Outlook so that certain emails stay on the server instead of being brought down on the computer. I have to emailadresses that should go on two different computers, but since they are within the same account, all emails are brought down on which ever computer gets there first. Is it possible to create a rule that will leave maisl with one adress on the server by one computer, and opposite on the other?

    Reply
    • Diane Poremsky says

      February 14, 2012 at 5:35 am

      No, sorry, Outlook doesn't support such a rule. Its really better to use 2 mailboxes rather than one mailbox catching both accounts but you can use rules to get halfway there:

      Computer 1: set outlook to leave mail on the server for xx days (do not use the option to delete when deleted in outlook) and use a rule to delete mail sent to address #2
      Create the same rule on the other computer, but deleting address 1.

      Reply
    • tggrinc says

      July 13, 2013 at 11:16 am

      This option is provided in outlook already. Go to "tools" then "accounts." Select or highlight the account you want and click "properties." Then open the "advanced" tab. At the bottom you can decide if you want to leave copies of messages on the server or not. You can decide to leave them on the server for a set number of days before they are deleted. Or you can set them to stay on the server until you delete them from the "deleted items" folder in outlook. I'm using outlook 2000 but I imagine you can find these options in later version of outlook.

      Reply
    • tggrinc says

      July 13, 2013 at 12:08 pm

      I was wrong, i missed the part about wanting some emails on each computer. derf on me for not reading it completely.

      Reply

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