Volume 26 Issue 21

Today's Highlights:

• Filter mail when you are not the only recipient
• Conversation grouping when External tag is added to subject
• Outlook Edge Extension
• Outlook Log files

Filter mail when you are not the only recipient

A user wanted "a rule that will perform an action if I am the only one in the To box, even when there are others in the CC box". He also asked for a rule "that will perform an action if I am included in the To box but am not the only one in the To box".

While Outlook's Rules can't do this on their own, it is possible to do this using a run a script rule (or an ItemAdd macro).

The script checks to see if there is more than one recipient on a message and if so, if your address the only address in the To field. If it's the only address in the To field, it "does something", in this case, moves to the message to a folder. If there is more than one address in the To field, it does something else with the message (moves to a different folder in my example.)

Get the code at Filter mail when you are not the only recipient

Conversation grouping when External tag is added to subject

A user had a question about conversation grouping when a company adds an “External” tag to the subject.

Two different companies that I email regularly. One company adds "External" tag to the subject, the other company adds "[Ext]".

Example:
I send an email with the subject "Subject 123"
They respond and their subject line is "RE: External Subject 123"
Outlook correctly groups these into one conversation.

However, company 2 adds an [EXT] tag to the subject. I send an email with the subject "Subject 456" They respond and their subject line is "RE: [EXT] Subject 456" Outlook keeps these separated and considers them different conversations. Replies will group together but not the original message.

Is there any way to fix this?

No, there isn't a really good way to fix this on your side. The problem isn't the tag in the subject, it’s the mail server or email clients they use that is breaking it.

Conversation grouping works with company 1’s emails because the conversation ID is not removed from the message, so Outlook can group the reply with the original even though the subject changed.

Company 2’s mail server is removing the conversation ID, so Outlook groups by the subject, which is now changed.

You could try using a macro to change the conversation index on the original message, so it groups with the replies. If you want to try this, the code is at Merge Email Conversations - VBOffice  (Changing the conversation ID never really worked well for me with an Exchange account.)

If Company B is using Exchange Online, they could implement external sender callouts and drop the tags. The tags add an External banner to the message rather than editing the subject. This would solve the problem but that is (obviously) out of your hands.

To learn more about external sender callouts, see 
Native external sender callouts on email in Outlook - Microsoft Tech Community

Outlook Edge Extension

Microsoft released an extension for Edge browser for Outlook.com and Exchange accounts that loads a mobile version of Outlook in a small (phone sized) window when you click an icon in the browser toolbar.

You can use it to access email, calendar, contacts, or tasks while using a browser, without needing to load the full size in a new tab.

My take:
It’s nice to be able to look at my calendar or email without switching to Outlook desktop or opening Outlook on the web in a new tab. It only supports one email account though.

Try it at Microsoft Outlook - Microsoft Edge Addons

Outlook Log files

Outlook creates a lot of ETL log files in the Outlook Logging folder in the Windows Temp folder (%temp%). Outlook should clean these logs up as they age past 5 days, but they can be quite large. If you want to stop Outlook from creating these log files, you can set two registry keys then restart Outlook.

Add this value (create the key if it does not exist)

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\office\16.0\Outlook\Logging
DWORD: DisableDefaultLogging
Value:1

Then delete this string value: SavedProfile_OUTLOOK_v1 in this registry key:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\16.0\Outlook\Logging\SavedData
REG_SZ: SavedProfile_OUTLOOK_v1

After you restart Outlook, Outlook won’t create OUTLOOK_16_0_*.etl logs. You’ll still have SearchProtocolHost_7_0_2* logs, but there tend to be much smaller than the Outlook logs.

New & Updated Exchange KB Articles

'500 Unexpected Error' when trying to create a user mailbox in Exchange admin center

Cannot log in to OWA or ECP after July 2021 SU for Exchange Server 2019, 2016, and 2013 (KB 5005341)

New & Updated Outlook KB Articles

Outlook 2016 implementation of Autodiscover

Other Resources

Guide for people who are blind or low vision
Guide for people who are deaf or hard of hearing
Guide for people who have language or communication disabilities
Guide for people who have learning disabilities

Add Contact Information to a Task
Use a macro to add contact information to a task or appointment body.

Process Mail that was Auto Forwarded by a Rule
How to identify or "do something" with a message that was auto forwarded. While the info bar in the message identified it as auto forwarded, it' only visible when the message is selected.

Run a Script: Send Autoreply with Date
These code samples show you how to use a run a script rule to send an auto response, including the received date and when the recipient should expect a follow up response. The first sample uses a template for the reply, the second macro replies to the incoming message.

Create new Outlook folders using PowerShell
How to add folders to an Outlook data file using PowerShell, including reading folder names from text file. Also, PowerShell to delete folders listed in a text file.

Use VBScript to Export or Import Categories
The VBScripts on this page will export or import a list of your categories for backup and importing into your Outlook desktop mailbox.