Creating a rule based on part of sender's display name in Outlook

Question

In the legacy Outlook, it was possible to create a rule that looked for a partial display name from the sender's details and moved the email to a specified folder.

In the new Outlook, the same feature does not seem to be working. The following rule does not work.

"If the sender's address contains these words: 'client_tester_xyz (work review) [******@xyz.com]' or 'client_tester_xyz', move the message to folder 'My Folder' and stop processing more rules on this message."

What might be causing this issue?

Answer 1

Hi @Ashutosh Singh, 

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

I understand you're experiencing difficulty configuring an inbox rule in the new Outlook experience that filters emails based on partial display name details, similar to what was possible in legacy Outlook. I appreciate your patience as we clarify the situation and offer practical alternatives. 

In legacy Outlook, rules could match parts of a sender’s display name or descriptive string, such as: 

“If the sender’s address contains: ‘client_tester_xyz (work review)’” 

However, in the new Outlook interface, rule evaluation has been redesigned to focus solely on the actual email address (e.g., [******@domain.com]) rather than the composite display string. This limits pattern-matching flexibility and affects legacy rule formats involving descriptive sender details. 

The rule: 

“If the sender's address contains these words: 'client_tester_xyz (work review) [******’” 

...is likely failing because: 

• The engine only scans the raw sender email address not names or bracketed display patterns. 
• Special characters like parentheses () and brackets [] may also interfere with parsing or match logic. 

Here are some methods that may help you achieve similar filtering: 

1/ Match the sender’s domain or email address directly  

You can create a rule like “if sender’s address contains @xyz.com,” which works reliably within the new framework. 

2/ Try recreating the rule in Outlook on the web  

Visit Outlook on the Web, go to Settings > Mail > Rules, and rebuild the rule. Some users have found that filtering behaves slightly differently online. 

3/ Use categories or subject-based filters  

Tag messages manually or use other rule conditions like subject keywords to route emails as needed. 

4/ Create a custom Power Automate flow  

For more advanced logic, Microsoft Power Automate allows you to analyze the full sender display string and automate message handling accordingly. 

If you require more in-depth guidance or support for these steps, you may also contact the Microsoft Power Automate Community for expert assistance. This is a specific channel related to Power Automate. The reason I ask you to post a new topic is that in the Q&A Forum, we have limited resources and very little knowledge about Power Automate, and in Microsoft Power Platform Community Forum Thread, you'll get the most qualified group of respondents, and other partners who read the forums regularly can share their knowledge or learn from your interaction.     

Our specialized support team will assist you step by step and ensure you get the most appropriate solution for your needs.     

Please let us know if you need further clarification or assistance. I really appreciate your patience and look forward to assisting you further.   

We hope you have a great day!   

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