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Community Network FAQ

MESSAGE RULES IN OUTLOOK EXPRESS


  Blocked Senders vs. Message Rules
Some people use the Blocked Senders (a misleading term) feature of Outlook Express, mistakenly thinking that if they block a sender, they won't receive mail from that source any more. Not so. Blocked Senders list mail will still download - it's merely diverted to your Deleted Items folder. In most situations, this is entirely unhelpful. Think of Blocked Senders as a limited and not very useful type of Message Rule.

For better control, use the much more flexible Message Rules. For example, you can tell Outlook Express to automatically delete messages from the server based upon criteria that you select.

When managing spam, there is little point in blocking mail from a particular address. Spammers, and viruses and parasites that generate mail, continually change apparent return addresses. The return address is probably faked in the first place, and would not likely be used again anyway.

To create a Message Rule, Click Tools | Message Rules | Mail.
The following example shows how to instruct Outlook Express to delete from the server any message containing the word "cheap" in the subject line:
  • In Area #1, select the criteria: "Where the subject line contains specific words"
  • In Area #3, click the link "contains specific words". Add "cheap" [no quotes]; other words can be added if desired.
  • In Area #2, select the action: scroll down and select "Delete from server".
  • In Area #4, give the rule a logical name, such as "Delete where subject contains "cheap".

There are many variations in the rules you can create, but be careful, since you could unintentionally delete desired mail without ever knowing it was sent!
After creating a rule, be sure to test it by sending messages to yourself as appropriate.

Malfunctioning rules can be edited or deleted.

Remember that the message rules you create take effect only when Outlook Express contacts the mailserver. If you use Webmail or Outlook Express from a different computer or another email client before you connect with Outlook Express, the rules you established will not have taken effect.

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