There was an error reading the rules from the server. The format of the server rules was not recognized

Question

These rules get corrupted at least once a quarter, which requires me to restore from one of my monthly backups. My questions are:
Can we please get something added to the error message to indicate which specific rule is failing?

Can we please get something added to a log somewhere that we can check to troubleshoot which specific rule is failing?

Even better, can we get an actual fix to prevent rule corruption?

If it matter, Outlook 2402 (Build 17328.20612) on Windows 10 Enterprise 22H2 19045.5011

Answer 1

Hi @RyanE-7043 ,

Welcome to our forum!

I'm afraid that there's no such log to check the condition detail of rules.

Even better, can we get an actual fix to prevent rule corruption?

I notice that the issue occurs at least once a quarter and you restore the rules from backup, you can remove all rules and try the below troubleshooting steps:

1. Considering that it may be caused by the damage of the profile in the Outlook client, it is suggested that you could try to create a new profile (Control Panel>Mail>Show Profiles>add) and add the account for testing to check if there are some differences.
2. An SRS file stores data about the sent and received parameters of an active Outlook account. As this file also stores information about emails, both incoming and outgoing for your outlook profiles. considering corruption in send/receive settings file may cause this issue, you can try to reset the SRS file to check if the issue persists. (Go to C:\Users%username%\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Outlook>Rename the Outlook.srs file to Outlook.srs.old>restart Outlook)

In addition, i found a similar thread mentioned some useful suggestions, please refer to it and try it to check if they are helpful: There was an error reading the rules from the server. The format of the server rules was not recognized.

Hope to help you!

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