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Identify e-mail from outside your company

Applies to: Microsoft Office Outlook 2003

 
Applies to
Microsoft Office Outlook® 2003
Microsoft Outlook® 2002

Would you like to be able to identify e-mail messages that comes from outside your company? Identifying such e-mail is useful for several reasons:

  • If you receive e-mail from sales clients or external business partners, you can identify these messages for quick action.
  • If the e-mail you receive from outside your company is usually spam, you can automatically remove it from your Inbox, reducing clutter. If you use Outlook 2003, identifying these messages can serve as an effective backup to your Junk E-mail Filter.

You can create a rule that identifies messages sent from outside your company. The rule identifies these messages by examining the sender's address after the @ symbol.

If the address contains the @ symbol, you can have Outlook automatically do one or more things with the message. If the message is from someone you want to respond to quickly, you can have a custom sound played or a message displayed. You can also have the message marked as important or have a follow-up flag added to it. In the case of spam, you can have the message deleted or moved to a folder that you specify.

Here's how to set up the rule:

ShowFor Outlook 2003

  1. In Mail, on the Tools menu, click Rules and Alerts.
  2. If you have more than one e-mail account, in the Apply changes to this folder list, click the Inbox you want.
  3. Click New Rule.
  4. Click Start from a blank rule, and then click Next.
  5. Under Step 1: Select when messages should be checked, make sure Check messages when they arrive is selected, and then click Next.
  6. Under Step 1: Select condition(s), select the with specific words in the sender's address check box, and then under Step 2: Edit the rule description, click specific words.
  7. In the Search Text dialog box, type @, click Add, click OK, and then click Next.
  8. Under Step 1: Select action(s), select the action you want taken with messages from outside your company and, if necessary, under Step 2: Edit the rule description, click the underlined word or phrase and specify the required information. Click Next.
  9. Under Step 1: Select exception(s), select the except with specific words in the sender's address check box, and then under Step 2: Edit the rule description, click specific words.
  10. In the Search Text dialog box, type @example.com, where example.com is your e-mail domain.
  11. Click Add, click OK, and then click Next.
  12. In the Specify a name for this rule box, type a name for the rule.

 Notes 

  • To run this rule on messages already in one of your folders, select the Run this rule now on messages already in "folder" check box.
  • To apply this rule to all your e-mail accounts, select the Create this rule on all accounts check box.
  1. Click Finish.

ShowFor Outlook 2002

  1. On the Standard toolbar, click Organize Button image.
  2. Click Rules Wizard.
  3. If you have more than one e-mail account, in the Apply changes to this folder list, click the Inbox you want.
  4. Click New.
  5. Click Start from a blank rule, make sure Check messages when they arrive is selected, and then click Next.
  6. Select the with specific words in the sender's address check box, and then under Rule description, click specific words.
  7. Type @, click Add, click OK, and then click Next.
  8. Select the action you want taken with messages from outside your company and, if necessary, under Rule description, click the underlined word or phrase and specify the required information. Click Next.
  9. Under Add any exceptions, select the except with specific words in the sender's address check box, and then under Rule description, click specific words.
  10. In the Search Text dialog box, type @example.com, where example.com is your e-mail domain.
  11. Click Add, click OK, and then click Next.
  12. In the Please specify a name for this rule box, type a name for the rule.

 Notes 

  • To run this rule on messages already in one of your folders, select the Run this rule now on messages already in "folder" check box.
  • To apply this rule to all your e-mail accounts, select the Create this rule on all accounts check box.
  1. Click Finish.