Outlook Mail Filters

Using the Rules Wizard to Delete or Move Unwanted Mail

The filtering capabilities of Microsoft Outlook can be used to delete unsolicited and unwanted email messages — i.e., "junk" mail or "spam". This document describes how. The instructions pertain to Outlook 2002 but similar capabilities are also available in previous versions.

The Outlook Rules Wizard provides a way to delete or move messages based on rules you specify.

Moving or Deleting Messages from Specified Sources

1. Start the Rules Wizard
1. On the folder list, click on the Inbox folder (e.g., ece.uprm.edu-Inbox).
2. From the Tools menu, choose Rules Wizard. to display the "Rules Wizard" dialog box.
3. Click the New. button to display the "Rules Wizard" dialog box. It is here that you'll begin to set the criteria for filtering messages by defining rules.
4. Click Start from a blank rule.
5. Click the Next> button.
   
   
2. Set Conditions
1. Under "Which condition(s) do you want to check?" click in the box next to the desired action.
2. Under "Rule description:" click the underlined value to edit it (i.e., specify the rule).
3. After entering the filtering text (***SPAM***), click the Add button.
• For example, to add a search for all messages that contain the phrase "*SPAM*" in the subject line, you would choose (click) the condition "with specific words in the subject" and then click specified words under "Rule description:". In the "Search Text" dialog box that appears, you would enter ***SPAM*** as the "words or phrases to search for in the subject".
4. At this point you add more rule descriptions (e.g., additional "specific words" to search for). When finished click the OK button.
5. If there is another condition you'd like to define, you can make another selection from the list and repeat Steps 5a-d. When finished click the Next> button.
   
   
3. Set the Action
1. Under "What do you want to do with the message?" select the desired action. To move the messages that meet the criteria to a folder, choose move it to the specified folder option. If you want to delete messages that meet the criteria, choose the delete it option (to check it).
2. Under "Rule description:" click the underlined value specified to edit it and choose the folder to archive the messages or create a new folder (e.g. spam folder).
3. Click on the Next> button.
   
   
4. Specify Exceptions (if any)
   1. At this point you can specify exceptions to this rule, if so desired, by clicking the desired exception(s) under "Add any exceptions (if necessary):".
   2. When finished, click the Next> button.
Name and Turn On the Rule
1. Enter a name for the rule under "Please specify a name for this rule:".
   • You might name a rule that moves unwanted mail (as described in the examples above) "SPAM Mail".
2. Activate this rule to filter new messages by checking the Turn on this rule option.
3. If desired, apply this rule to messages already in your Inbox by checking the Run this rule now on messages already in "Inbox" option.
4. Click the Finish button.
5. Click the OK button.