Message rules can be helpful if you get a lot of junk mail or if you organize mail in different folders, mark them or forward them to other people. Outlook Express provides a variety of message rules actions and conditions. You can create rules based on sender address, subject title, keywords, file attachment size and security. Outlook Express rules do not work for IMAP or HTTP accounts.
Rule Conditions
Before Outlook Express does anything with your incoming mail, first set the criteria for taking action. You can select "rule conditions" based on what is in a message. Depending on the rule condition, you may need to enter additional details to set the condition. For example, if you choose the "Message body" rule, type the words that must be in the message.
Examples:
"When the Subject line contains specific words" requires exact words to appear in the message's subject title, such as "Newsletter" or "Fwd."
"When the From line contains people" will apply the rule only to mail from a specific sender (such as user@xxx.com)
"When the message body contains specific words" will activate the rule only if specific words appear in the mail body itself.
"When the message is for the specified account" applies the rule to all mail coming from a particular Outlook Express account you have set up, such as mail.comcast.net.
"For all messages" means the message rule will be applied to all incoming mail.
Rule Actions
Once you have set the conditions, tell Outlook Express how to manipulate the message.
Examples:
"Move it to the specified folder" will transfer the message from the Inbox to a folder you specify.
"Forward it to people" will forward the message to recipients that you designate. (This does not work for encrypted mail.)
"Do not Download it from server" means Outlook Express will not download the mail to your computer.
"Delete it from server" will delete the message from the remote mail server.
"Highlight it with color" is useful when you want to mark a message so it is easy to find later on.
"Stop processing more rules" will suspend all other Outlook Express rules for the message.
Rule Description
The rule description summarizes the conditions and actions for a particular rule. An example description may look like the following. When you see a word or phrase with a hyperliink (such as "people" in this example), click the link to view or change the rule setting. Here, all mail coming from "xyz@email.xyz.com" with "fwd" in the subject line will be forwarded to specified recipients.
"Apply this rule after the message arrives
Where the From line contains 'xyz@email.xyz.com'
and Where the Subject line contains 'fwd'
Forward it to people "
Rule Name
You must enter a name for each Outlook Express rule you create. Choose a descriptive name that will help you identify it later on. For example, "Forward All Jokes by So-So to Friends" will tell you more than simply "Jokes Rule."
