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Running Rules on messages after you read them

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› Outlook › Rules, Filters & Views › Running Rules on messages after you read them

Last reviewed on December 1, 2017     30 Comments

We frequently get questions from users who want to run their rules automatically after reading the messages. Outlook does not support this - Rules Wizard processes the messages as they are downloaded into Outlook or when you press the Run Rules Now button in Rules Wizard.

In additional to using the tools listed on this page, you can also use a VBA macro to move messages later. See Use a Macro to Move Aged Email for more details and a sample macro.

The tools on this page will either run rules after some time has passed or provide easier methods to file messages.

 

Tools in the Spotlight

FileChimp

File emails from Outlook into project or client folders automatically. Match email addresses, project numbers, client names or references to a folder name located anywhere on your network. Watch as the bulk of your emails are automatically filed (ZERO clicks!) and finish the task with manual filing for emails that do not fall within the scope of a project or client folder. Organize filed emails into relevant sub-folders within your mailbox and auto purge dated email over time. Supports Outlook 2007, 2010, 2013 & 2016

Tools

Auto-Mate

Auto-Mate is an Outlook utility that allows you use define rules to move mail from your Inbox (or other folders) based on several criteria, including the age of the message. While Outlook rules only run as messages are downloaded or when you click Run Rules now, Auto-Mate rules run on a schedule, enabling you to apply rules to messages that have been in your Inbox for a given number of hours, days or weeks. Available in Standard or Pro Version. Outlook O365, Outlook 2019 as well as Outlook 2010, 2013, 2016, 32 and 64 bit editions. Version 12.

QuickFile for Outlook

File 90% of your emails at the click of a button. Manage your Inbox and Sent Items folders. Move emails out of the Inbox to the correct folder at the click of a button. QuickFile remembers the folders used for each person and presents a short customized list each time. Use the same list to Send&File in one step instead of having to go back to your Sent Items folder. Plus many more email management features such as one-click creation of task/appointments from emails, newsletter processing, deferred non-urgent emails and much more.

RunJunkRules

This add-in allows you to manually or automatically execute the set of rules against Junk Email folder.

Timed Email Organizer

Timed Email Organizer is a brand new add-in which can replace or augment your Outlook rules. Unlike Outlook, this add-in will act on emails based on how old they are, supports ANDs, ORs, NOTs and wildcards in the conditions, and has a test mode so that you can see what the effect of a given rule would be if it were run. It will even import your current Outlook rules and automatically disable them for you.

More Information

The Run Rules Now dialog in early versions of Outlook do not have a Select All button - you need to select each rule you want to run, one at a time.

Running Rules on messages after you read them was last modified: December 1st, 2017 by Diane Poremsky

Related Posts:

  • Automatic Message Processing Tools
  • Frequently asked question about Outlook's rules wizard.
    Outlook Rules Frequently Asked Questions
  • Filing Outlook Email Messages
  • Avoid duplicate messages caused by Outlook's Rules Wizard

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.

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Mark Pearson
November 13, 2020 8:00 am

Outlook office 2007 did support this it is only it is only since I moved to 2019 I have had a problem, I have to rerun the rules, it seems that 2019 ignores unread emails unless you run it manually

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Brian
July 10, 2020 12:02 pm

Hi Diane, I was wondering if you're still a fan of Auto-Mate?

Best,
Brian

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Diane Poremsky
Author
Reply to  Brian
September 23, 2020 11:32 pm

I have no used it in years, so I can't comment on the current version.

(I find the fewer addins I use, the easier it is for me to find bugs and repro user's issues.)

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Fernando
May 16, 2017 1:14 pm

Hello Diane
This article is of the year 2013. Is there still no way to run a rule after read an email?

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Diane Poremsky
Author
Reply to  Fernando
May 16, 2017 1:33 pm

No, not automatically. There are addins that can do it, but Outlook's rules run as the messages arrive or when you click Run Rules Now. A macro could trigger run rules now every few hours...

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jloffi
March 20, 2016 7:41 pm

Is there any way of reviewing all of the emails I requested to be deleted from my inbox. I fear that I may have inadvertently selected one wrong email, as this, which is a bill, is no longer appearing in my inbox?

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Diane Poremsky
Author
Reply to  jloffi
March 20, 2016 9:15 pm

There is no long file, but the deleted items should be in the Deleted items folder (or Trash, if using IMAP). If you emptied the deleted items, it can't be recovered unless you use an Exchange Server mailbox. Sorry.

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Ditya Rama
March 4, 2015 12:08 am

Nice article Ibu Diane Poremsky (sorry if my english not quite well, i'am from Indonesia).

I have a problem , after making Rule. I'am using Office 2010.
To move into a folder e.mail . Now e.mail is not visible in the list of email . But the number of incoming email can be clearly seen next to the folder name .
It only occurs in a single folder only, in other folders are all no problem with the rule that I apply . And E.mail still be seen clearly , in a folder that is not problematic .

Is there enter to solve this problem ? thank you in advance.

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Diane Poremsky
Author
Reply to  Ditya Rama
April 1, 2015 1:21 am

Have you tried resetting the view? It sounds like the view is hiding the messages.

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JB
January 20, 2014 2:46 am

Hmm, I never noticed it before in outlook 2007, as any email I put in deleted folder (or deleted), didn't show up as "unread." Is there a rule I can do that classifies anything in the deleted folder as read? Or do I just have to spend my whole day marking the entire folder as read...

Wow, Outlook 2013 has sure kept you busy with all us whiners!!!! :)

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Diane Poremsky
Reply to  JB
January 20, 2014 9:42 am

A rule won't do it - it only applies to messages as they are downloaded. A macro or quick step will mark them read as they are added/moved to the folder or you can right click on the folder every now and again and choose mark all read.

I used to right click every now and again and mark all read or emptied it, now I don't even bother with that as deleted items are cleaned out as they age and I stopped noticing the unread count in the deleted folder a long time ago, in part because I use the Favorites list (in the Mail module) and Deleted Items is not on that list. (My mail servers now delete junk mail and deleted items as they age, but I used to use Autoarchive to delete the older messages in both folders.)

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JB
January 20, 2014 1:18 am

Is there a way to have any email that has been moved to the deleted folder, be marked as read? This didn't seem to be a problem in outlook 2007, but now in outlook 2013, every time I delete an email (or delete from a different device), I have a bunch of emails in my deleted folder showing "unread." It's annoying, as I mistake it for my inbox.

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Diane Poremsky
Reply to  JB
January 20, 2014 1:57 am

It worked the same way in 2007, so I'm not sure why it's more annoying now - the only way to change the behavior is by using a quick step to delete or a macro in Outlook that watches the deleted folder and marked new items read. See Mark deleted items read for the necessary VBA.

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Armin
October 11, 2013 9:57 am

OK, as a follow up on my own post. I manage to more or less work around the limitation using some VBA marco's. As explained and experienced by other users, if an email is already read on another device (phone), a rule won't trigger on the desktop. Using VBA and NewmailEx also won't trigger for the same reason. Using VBA and ItemAdd works fine, except it - by design - does not trigger if the amount of emails gets above a certain value. This value is undocumented for new releases, but MSDN lists 15 for older releases. Then I realised that running a Rule manually works, and you can even specify the folder top run in. However although you can run this rule from a macro too, you then cannot specify its folder. When executed from a macro it will always run in the default (local) inbox, and therefore potentially not from the inbox of the account. (If someone knows how to fix this, I'd love to know, but several Bing-searches revealed many others encountered this as a showstopper as well.) So then I decided to just do it manually in VBA. 1) Create a regular rule that copies all… Read more »

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