• If you specified multiple conditions, each condition must be met for the rule (rule: One or more automatic actions taken on e-mail messages and meeting requests that meet certain conditions, along with any exceptions to those conditions. Rules are also referred to as filters.) to be applied. For example, if you created a rule that checks for the conditions sent only to me and marked as Private, then the rule is applied only to private messages sent to you.
• If you are moving or copying the message to a folder, make sure the folder exists and is available. For example, if you have a rule that moves a message to a folder on your computer, then your computer must be available for the rule to work.
• Check to see if any of the exceptions you specified are preventing the rule from being applied.
• You might have created the rule in the Organize pane. Rules created in the Organize pane are applied only to the active Inbox. If you are now in a different Inbox, switch to the original Inbox and copy the rule from there.

Rules (rule: One or more automatic actions taken on e-mail messages and meeting requests that meet certain conditions, along with any exceptions to those conditions. Rules are also referred to as filters.) can't be set on remote mail headers. If you want to use rules while you are offline, you must download the entire message.

When you create a rule (rule: One or more automatic actions taken on e-mail messages and meeting requests that meet certain conditions, along with any exceptions to those conditions. Rules are also referred to as filters.), it is applied to all your e-mail accounts (e-mail account: The server name, user name, password, and e-mail address used by Outlook to connect to an e-mail service. You create the e-mail account in Outlook by using information provided by your administrator or Internet service provider (ISP).) in the active Inbox. To have a rule apply only to one account, change the rule and use the through the specified account condition.

Rules you create are applied only to the Inbox you are currently working in. To use the rule in your other Inboxes, copy the rule.

The availability of this option depends on the type of accounts you have and whether each account has its own Inbox. This option is available only if you have two or more IMAP (IMAP (Internet Message Access Protocol): Unlike Internet e-mail protocols such as POP3, IMAP creates folders on a server to store/organize messages for retrieval by other computers. You can read message headers only and select which messages to download.) accounts, or an IMAP account in addition to any Exchange or POP3 (POP3: A common protocol that is used to retrieve e-mail messages from an Internet e-mail server.) accounts.

You have upgraded your rules (rule: One or more automatic actions taken on e-mail messages and meeting requests that meet certain conditions, along with any exceptions to those conditions. Rules are also referred to as filters.) to Microsoft Office Outlook 2003 and you are now using an earlier version of Outlook. The earlier version of Outlook will display only the names of your Office Outlook 2003 rules. The rule descriptions won't be available. In addition, the rules won't run unless they are rules that are run on the server ("server-based" rules).

The storage limit for your rules is 32 KB. If the total size of your rules exceeds this limit, some rules may be disabled.

To reduce the size of your rules, do one or more of the following:

• Delete rules you don't need.
• Combine rules when possible. For example, if more than one rule moves messages to the same folder, combine the rules.
• Use a shorter name for your rules.
• If one of your rules moves e-mail messages to a Personal Folders file (.pst) (Personal Folders file (.pst): Data file that stores your messages and other items on your computer. You can assign a .pst file to be the default delivery location for e-mail messages. You can use a .pst to organize and back up items for safekeeping.), move the .pst file to a location that has a shorter path. For example, instead of using C:\Documents and Settings\user\Local Settings\Application Data\Microsoft\Outlook\MyFolder.pst, use C:\MyFolder.pst.

If you see the word "failed" in the name of your rule, it means that Outlook was unable to successfully import your entire rule. The most common cause of import failure is that the rule is too complex; for example, it has too many conditions. You should examine and manually modify these rules.

You have created a rule (rule: One or more automatic actions taken on e-mail messages and meeting requests that meet certain conditions, along with any exceptions to those conditions. Rules are also referred to as filters.) with one or more of the following conditions or actions:

Conditions

• Through the specified account
• Assigned to category category
• Uses the form name form
• With selected properties of documents or forms
• Sender is in specified Address Book
• On this machine only

Actions

• Move it to a folder

  Note  This action constitutes a client-only rule only when the folder you specify is not on the server ( for example, moving the message to a .pst file on your computer).

• Print it
• Assign it to the category category
• Reply using a specific template
• Flag message for action in a number of days
• Flag message with a colored flag
• Play a sound
• Run a script
• Start application
• Mark it as importance
• Display a specific message in the New Item Alert window
• Display a Desktop Alert

Additional information on client-only rules is available in Outlook Help.

You have created a rule (rule: One or more automatic actions taken on e-mail messages and meeting requests that meet certain conditions, along with any exceptions to those conditions. Rules are also referred to as filters.) with the action Redirect it to people or distribution list. This rule can only be run on Microsoft Exchange Server accounts and then only on the server. To change this rule, switch to your Exchange Server account, and then click Change Rule.

Many steps in the process to create a rule require you to specify conditions, actions, or exceptions. Some of these require a value. For example, if you want to move a message to a folder, you must specify the name of the folder. To specify a value, click the underlined text in the Edit the rule description box in the Rules Wizard. After you set an initial value, you can change it in later steps of the Rules Wizard.

You may already have the New Item Alerts dialog box open. Only one instance of the dialog box can be open at a time. To close the dialog box, switch to it, and then click Close.

Your rules have been corrupted. You must delete and recreate all your rules as follows:

1. Quit Microsoft Outlook.
2. Search for the Outlook executable file, Outlook.exe, and make a note of the path to Outlook.exe. For example, the path might be C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office11\Outlook.exe.
3. Click Start, and then click Run.
4. In the Open box, type the complete path you noted in step 2, including the file name. Press the SPACEBAR once, and then type a forward slash mark (/) followed by Cleanrules.

   The command you type in the Open box should look like this:

   "C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office11\Outlook.exe" /Cleanrules

   Note  Paths that include spaces between words must be enclosed in quotation marks (") and are case sensitive.

5. To run the command, click OK.
6. If necessary, select the user profile that contains the rules.
7. Start Outlook, and then create your rules again.

You have an Inbox Assistant rule (rule: One or more automatic actions taken on e-mail messages and meeting requests that meet certain conditions, along with any exceptions to those conditions. Rules are also referred to as filters.) with several conditions and exceptions that you are trying to import. The Rules Wizard does not recognize certain complex rules. Recreate the rule, simplifying it by leaving out some of the conditions and exceptions.

If you imported the wrong set of rules (rule: One or more automatic actions taken on e-mail messages and meeting requests that meet certain conditions, along with any exceptions to those conditions. Rules are also referred to as filters.), you can either import a backup copy of your rules or manually recreate your rules.

1. Delete the incorrect rules.
2. Do one of the following:

Import a backup copy of your rules.

Recreate your rules.

One or more of your rules no longer contains valid criteria.

1. Click OK in the dialog box, or on the Tools menu, click Rules and Alerts, and then click OK.
2. In the Rules and Alerts dialog box, select the rule that has (Error) appended to the end of the rule name.
3. Under Rule description, click the specified hyperlink or the hyperlink that contains invalid information, and update the information.
4. To save the changes, click OK.