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Each email client (such as Outlook, Gmail, or Apple Mail) has their own name and system for creating "Rules". These Rules are automated instructions the system follows, which can do a number of things.
For example, you can send emails from a specific person directly to a folder instead of the inbox, send emails containing the subject "BYU-Idaho" to a specific folder, or even place any emails that contain the word "cat" into your funny cats folder. All you need is to create Outlook Rules.
Since there are many ways to create and use Rules, this tutorial will go over one of the options. In this case, we will move all emails with the subject line "BYU-Idaho" to the folder "BYU-Idaho News".
1. Open Outlook on your desktop.
2. Click File in the top left corner.
3. Click Rules and Alerts.
4. If you have never created rules, your screen should look like this:
| If there are already rules in your box that you didn't create, delete them. Unless they are presets that Microsoft has already set up, they are a viruses. Delete it immediately. For more information on viruses in rules, see Using Outlook Rules to Find Viruses. |
5. Click New Rule.
6. The Rules Wizard box will appear. This will provide you with some templates. Take some time to read through those to see if any of them are what you need. Remember, there are dozens of tools and options for creating rules. Use this tutorial as a guide to learning how the rules work.
7. Select Apply rule on messages I receive and click Next.
8. Select with specific words in the subject. In the box below, it will explain what this condition is doing. Click the link specific words to select the name or group you wish to use. In this case, we will search for emails with the subject "BYU-Idaho".
9. Type the subject you want the computer to look for. In this case, type "BYU-Idaho". Click Add when done.
10. Click OK.
11. Select move it to the specified folder, since we want to move all emails with the subject "BYU-Idaho" to the folder, "BYU-Idaho News". Then click the link specified.
Keep in mind that there are a lot of actions to choose from. You can make this as personalized as you need.
12. If you have already created the folder "BYU-Idaho News", click the folder. If you have not, click New.
13. Type BYU-Idaho News in the box. Click OK.
14. The BYU-Idaho News folder should be highlighted. Click OK.
15. The name of the folder and what we are looking for in the subject line should show up in the lower box.
Since we have no other parameters, click Next.
16. If you would like to make any exceptions to this action, select the ones you want. For example, if you want all emails from Windy Weather sent to your folder, except the ones with the word "tornadoes", you can make those adjustments here. When you're done, click Next.
17. Don't forget to have Turn on this rule selected, to turn on the rule. If you want this rule to happen to mail already inside your inbox, select Run this rule now on messages already in "Inbox".
When you're done, click Finish.
18. You're all done! Think of all the possibilities you can do with your Rule tool! Can you see now how hackers can use these tools to create rules that hide or steal important information from you? Remember to frequently check your rules for suspicious activity. If you didn't create a rule and you don't know what it does, it is probably malware. Delete it immediately.
If your rules isn't functioning, see this article.
For more information on viruses and Rules, check out our other article: Using Outlook Rules to Find Viruses..
For more help visit BYU-Idaho's Yammer community for Microsoft Outlook Users.
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