there was an error reading the rules from the server - outlook

Question

Subject: Assistance Required – Outlook Rules Error Post Office 365 Migration

Hi everyone

I hope you're well.

I'm currently experiencing an issue with Outlook following a recent migration of a user from on-premises to Office 365. Since the migration, Outlook consistently displays the following error message:

"There was an error reading the rules from the server."

All existing rules have been deleted, except for one that keeps reappearing automatically. I’ve tried removing it multiple times—both as a client-side and server-side rule—but it continues to return, and I’m unsure if this is contributing to the problem.

Could you please advise on how best to resolve this issue or suggest any further troubleshooting steps?

Appreciate your support on this.

Best regards

Answer 1

Hi @Asad 

Thank you for posting your question in the Microsoft Q&A forum. 

I'm sorry to hear about the difficulties you've encountered since the migration to Office 365. Based on what I've seen in similar cases, the following steps have helped other users resolve this issue, hopefully they’ll work for you as well: 

-Step 1: Open the Outlook. 

-Step 2: Click on the File > Manage Rules & Alerts option. 

-Step 3: Click on the Options from the drop-down box. 

-Step 4: Click on the Export Rules... button, select a folder where you want to save the newly created local files, and assign a name. 

-Step 5: Click on the Save to create a local backup of your rules. 

-Step 6: Delete all the rules. 

-Step 7: Restart the Outlook. 

-Step 8: Open Rules again. 

-Step 9: If you see any blank rules labeled as "(client only)" again, delete them all. 

-Step 10: Create any simple rule and save it. 

-Step 11: Restart the Outlook. 

-Step 12: Open Rules again. 

-Step 13: You will be prompted to select which rules you want to use whether Client or Server, choose Client. 

-Step 14: Import the saved rules from step 1.

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