Rules in Outlook 2010 and IMAP

[barlowc]

I'm using Outlook 2010 and have it connected to my mail server via IMAP. I set up a rule to file a copy of every message that I receive to a local PST file for archiving purposes. The rule only works on unread messages. Messages that I have already read via my mobile device or the mail system's web-based interface do not get "caught" by the rule.

Does anyone know a way to get the rule to also catch the messages that have already been read but still sit in the server-side Inbox?

Part of me thinks that it is not possible. Outlook would have to know which of the read messages in the Inbox it has already copied. However, Outlook seems to know which unread messages it has already copied because I don't seem to be getting duplicates of them in the local PST.

 

[CarbonSteel]

I have this same configuration except I am using POP3 and it works. There are some differences between IMAP and POP3 that may be what is causing the rule error. Does this help?

POP3 and IMAP Differences

 

[TxHeat]

A one time thing just in order to run the rule on what's in your inbox now?

Select a message>"select all" with Ctrl+A>right click choose "Mark as Unread">Rules>Manage Rules and Alerts>Run Rules Now.

 

[Brons2]

Get a real mail server. Office365 for information workers is like $8 a month, 25GB mailbox with 100GB archive.

 

[barlowc]

I'm mistaken in one thing that I said. The rule DOES NOT seems to know which unread messages it has already copied. If I manually invoke the rule against the Inbox and tell it to apply the rule to all messages, it makes duplicate copies of messages that it had already copied once before.

I'm thinking that the fundamentals of the situation and how IMAP is just showing me what's on the server makes what I want to do not possible.

 

[CarbonSteel]

Originally Posted By: barlowc
I'm thinking that the fundamentals of the situation and how IMAP is just showing me what's on the server makes what I want to do not possible.

I tend to agree; can you not use POP3?

 

[barlowc]

Originally Posted By: Brons2
Get a real mail server. Office365 for information workers is like $8 a month, 25GB mailbox with 100GB archive.

If I'm not mistaken, Office 365 requires you to have your own domain name, which I don't already have, and I'm really not interested in setting one up at this point. Also, I'm not interested in paying for my personal e-mail account. There are too many good, free options and while I may have issues such as this one with Outlook rules, I can work around those. Nonetheless, thanks for the suggestion.

Originally Posted By: 2010_FX4
can you not use POP3?

I could use POP. That's what I was previously using. However, I just switched to IMAP so that I can have a synchronized view across multiple devices. While going back to POP would make my rule problem go away, it would trade for some new issues that I'd have to figure out a way around.

 

[CarbonSteel]

Originally Posted By: barlowc
I could use POP. That's what I was previously using. However, I just switched to IMAP so that I can have a synchronized view across multiple devices. While going back to POP would make my rule problem go away, it would trade for some new issues that I'd have to figure out a way around.

I can confirm that on my POP3 accounts, I have to mark both places "read" (phone and PC); my corporate account syncs automatically no matter where I mark the message as read. As you said, it is a bit of a trade-off between the two protocols.

 

[Brons2]

Originally Posted By: barlowc
Originally Posted By: Brons2
Get a real mail server. Office365 for information workers is like $8 a month, 25GB mailbox with 100GB archive.

If I'm not mistaken, Office 365 requires you to have your own domain name, which I don't already have, and I'm really not interested in setting one up at this point. Also, I'm not interested in paying for my personal e-mail account. There are too many good, free options and while I may have issues such as this one with Outlook rules, I can work around those.


No, you don't need your own domain name. If you don't have one, you can use yourorganization.microsoftonline.com

And, there is no free option for 25GB of email storage and a 100GB archive. Granted, I am a Gmail user of personal email, but I use Office365 for business.

Plus, Office365 integrates perfectly with Outlook 2007+. As I understand it, stated lack of integration is what caused this thread to be posted in the first place.

If it's not Office365, then I suggest another hosted Exchange solution as that is the only way you will get the benefit of full Outlook integration with your email server.

 

[barlowc]

OP Update: So I found a solution to my problem. Instead of using client-side Outlook rules to archive a copy of all received messages, I found that my mail service (i.e. GMX.com) has some basic server-side filtering rules that can accomplish the task and store copies in a server-side folder. Also, GMX stores copies of messages that I send in a server-side folder, which gives me an archive of that too.