How to create server-side rules in Outlook

Server-side rules run on the server instead of the Outlook client, making it possible for you to apply rules before messages reach your system. Here's how they work and what you can do with them.

What are server-side rules?

When you configure normal rules in Outlook, they only work when the Outlook app is open on your system. These are called client side rules because they work in the Outlook client app. They are great for things like filtering email in different folders because the rules are triggered when you open Outlook or when a message arrives in your inbox..

But, What if you want rules to fire when Outlook is closed, how to forward messages to a colleague while on vacation? For that you need server side rules, that work on the server that handles your mail regardless of whether you have Outlook open on your computer. Outlook also allows you to create them, therefore let's see the procedure.

Consideration: The server-side rules work if you are using Microsoft Exchange for your email server (either cloud-based O365 or an on-premises Exchange server), but not if you are using Outlook to process mail from a provider like Gmail or Yahoo. You can still set up an out of office reply and rules for a non-Microsoft account, but you will have to leave Outlook on and running. If that's what you need, we have instructions for you.

How to configure server-side rules

You can create normal rules (client side) in the Rules Manager by going to Start> Rules, but we are not using them. Instead, go to File> Options and click the button “Automatic responses”.

To start creating a server-side rule, Click the button “Rules”.

This opens the Auto Reply Rules panel and, as you can see, not much i can do except click the button “Add rule”.

The Edit Rule window that opens is where you can form your new server-side rule.

You will see that the alternatives for these rules are much simpler than in the Rules Manager. This is because you are limited to the actions that the server can perform. If you want Outlook to play a specific sound when an email arrives from your boss, you can only do it with a client-side rule.

Let's say one of the team members is absent and wants any How-To-Geek mail to be moved to a specific folder and forwarded to a specific person. First, would select the option “Sent directly to me”. After, would enter “How-To-Geek” in the subject line. Then they would select the option “Copy to” and they would choose a folder. And finally, they would mark the option “Resend”, select the recipient from the address book and then click “To accept”.

The rule is added to the list of server-side rules and will subsequently run regardless of whether Outlook is open.

You can add as many of these rules as you want. AND, evidently, you can do more with them than the simple example we show here. You can use them to change the relevance of messages from specific contacts or containing certain words in the subject. Or you could have a server-side rule delete certain types of messages before they reach your inbox.