Outlook Management
Outlook: A family of Microsoft email and calendar products.Management: The act or process of organizing, handling, directing or controlling something.
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If Outlook PC is asleep at night, should it apply Client-Only Rules when it wakes up and downloads messages?
GraniteStateColin
146
Reputation points
I have some Client-Only rules for assigning categories to certain inbound messages. Obviously, they can't run when PC is offline due to sleep, but I expected that they would run when the PC wakes up and downloads them (in the past, we had PC's on all the time with Outlook always running, so this wasn't an issue until recently as we've worked to reduce electricity usage). If users manually run the rules on everything in the Inbox, they work perfectly every time.
My understanding was that even if Outlook is offline when the messages reach the Exchange Server (as part of Microsoft 365), that when they are downloaded to Outlook for the first time, Client-Only rules will be applied then. Is that incorrect? What is the logic for how/when Client-Only rules will be applied?
If that is correct, then any idea why rules fail to run and assign categories automatically, but always work when I run them manually?
Also curious why assigning a category is considered Client-Only. Any reason the Exchange Server can't do that? Categories are stored on the server, so Exchange has all the information it needs to be able to run these rules. If you agree that these should be able to run on the server and avoid all the problems with Client-Only rules (especially as MS plans to move people to the New Outlook, which will still get all the benefit of Server rules doesn't support Client-Only rules), please upvote my feedback on this at: https://aka.ms/AAn3uus
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SokiGuo-MSFT 28,791 Reputation points Microsoft Vendor2023-10-17T06:01:18.33+00:00 Welcome to our forum!
My understanding was that even if Outlook is offline when the messages reach the Exchange Server (as part of Microsoft 365), that when they are downloaded to Outlook for the first time, Client-Only rules will be applied then. Is that incorrect? What is the logic for how/when Client-Only rules will be applied?
Client-only rules are rules that run only on your computer. These are rules that run in Outlook instead of on the Exchange server. Client-only rules can only run when Outlook is running.
In addition, if your list of rules contains both kinds of rules, the server-based rules are applied first, followed by the client-only rules.
Also curious why assigning a category is considered Client-Only. Any reason the Exchange Server can't do that? Categories are stored on the server, so Exchange has all the information it needs to be able to run these rules.
When you're using a Microsoft Exchange Server account, some rules are server-based. These rules run on your mailbox on the Exchange mail server even when Outlook isn’t running.
Server-based rules must apply to messages when they are first delivered to your Inbox, and the rules must be able to run until they are completed on the server. For example, a rule that specifies that a message be printed can’t run until it is completed on the server. If a rule can’t be applied on the server, it is applied when you start Outlook and then becomes a client-only rule.
If you agree that these should be able to run on the server and avoid all the problems with Client-Only rules (especially as MS plans to move people to the New Outlook, which will still get all the benefit of Server rules doesn't support Client-Only rules), please upvote my feedback on this at: https://aka.ms/AAn3uus
Please kindly understand that many functions in New Outlook are not designed at present. For your experience, we recommend that you switch back to the classic version.
By the way, Outlook actually has an official feedback portal where customers can send feature requests or suggestions to the product team. It is recommended that you could post the functions you expect and your sincere suggestions on the website dedicated to collecting feedback. We sincerely welcome your suggestions, and thanks for your understanding and support!
Hope this helps!
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SokiGuo-MSFT 28,791 Reputation points Microsoft Vendor
2023-10-20T02:43:13.67+00:00 I am writing to see how everything is going on with this thread.
If there is any problem with this issue, feel free to let me know.
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GraniteStateColin 146 Reputation points
2023-10-30T20:59:03.4+00:00 Based on the comments here, it appears the answer is: Whatever's happening in my description is not supposed to happen that way. Yes, client-side rules SHOULD run as soon as Outlook re-connects, but apparently they don't always do that.
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SokiGuo-MSFT 28,791 Reputation points Microsoft Vendor
2023-11-01T05:49:29.78+00:00 Hi
Do other users encounter the same issue?
What is the Outlook client version? Please make sure to update to the latest version.
Please follow the below steps to troubleshooting:
1.Please first check and confirm the rules are enabled.
- Please log in to web mail and create the same rule and open Outlook desktop client to check if there're any differences.
3.If the web-side rule can work, considering the send/receive settings file (SRS file) is damaged, please try to reset the SRS file to check if there're any differences. (Go to C:\Users%username%\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Outlook>Rename the Outlook.srs file to Outlook.srs.old>restart Outlook)
4.If the above doesn't help, considering that the rules are corrupted/damaged, please try a command to delete all rules: win+R> type: outlook.exe /cleanrules.
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GraniteStateColin 146 Reputation points
2023-11-01T13:38:35.5933333+00:00 @SokiGuo-MSFT , yes, the same rules relating to category assignments fail for all users. The rule is enabled, as described it works fine when the computer is online. It just fails to run properly if no PC with Outlook running is on when the new message arrives.
To the last point, I don't believe that's possible to test, because, and please correct me if I have this wrong, you can't run client-only rules from the web client. Isn't that the whole point and problem with client-only rules?
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SokiGuo-MSFT 28,791 Reputation points Microsoft Vendor
2023-11-03T07:36:25.99+00:00 Hi
Yes, client-only rules cannot be run from a web client. Some operations are ignored or deleted if the web client does not support them. Test whether the web client is feasible to rule out whether there is a problem with the desktop client.
Also, to better investigate this issue, I would like to know what are your specific steps to create a rule?
Do you have the same problem if you create another client-only rule?
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SokiGuo-MSFT 28,791 Reputation points Microsoft Vendor
2023-11-08T06:38:09.2566667+00:00 Hi @GraniteStateColin ,
I am writing to see how everything is going on with this thread.
Is there any progress on this issue?
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GraniteStateColin 146 Reputation points
2023-11-08T13:57:53.14+00:00 @SokiGuo-MSFT , seems like a bug that MS just needs to fix. Sometimes the categorization runs when the PC wakes up from sleep and Outlook reconnects to Exchange, other times it doesn't. Based on your comments here, that intermittent behavior is not the expected behavior and is therefore a bug or defect in the system. Because there is no need for categorization to be handled locally, I would like to see this and other rules moved to be server-side rather than client-side.
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Cranbin 145 Reputation points2023-11-08T15:03:42.1333333+00:00 There are many reasons why intermittent rules do not work. I agree that the category does not apply to client only rules. Many times, after manual classification, even if the client is running, it is still necessary to manually run rules to quickly take effect.
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SokiGuo-MSFT 28,791 Reputation points Microsoft Vendor
2023-11-13T08:52:39.2066667+00:00 Hi
This rule that assign category is a client-only rule. If you do not need to process rules on the client side, we recommend that you create other server-side rules based on other classification criteria for emails.
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SokiGuo-MSFT 28,791 Reputation points Microsoft Vendor
2023-11-16T01:28:41.49+00:00 Hi
Just checking in to see if above information was helpful. If you have any further updates on this issue, please feel free to post back.
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GraniteStateColin 146 Reputation points
2023-11-29T15:39:32.64+00:00 @SokiGuo-MSFT , but WHY is Categorization (and several of those other items you listed) client-only? This does not require local-only data. Printing or playing a sound require direct access to local hardware, so those make sense as client-only. Everything else should be manageable by the server (MAYBE an argument could be made that finding text in the Body of the email requires granting MS access to scan the full text of the message, so for security reasons, they wanted to keep that on the client, but even if that's the reasoning, it wouldn't apply to any of the Rules).
I can't think of any reason why these can't be handled by the server, which would be the proper way to resolve this problem and ensure the rule works for growing number of users who don't use the old Desktop Outlook (MS is encouraging users to the new Outlook, which lacks Rules support altogether).
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