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Manage Folders and Rules feature in Microsoft 365 Groups

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Users can organize groups emails effectively by creating folders and setting rules inside groups mailbox. Once the folders are created in groups mailbox, users can move and copy messages to different folders manually as well as using Rules.

This capability is currently available only in Outlook Web Application.

Enable Folders and Rules feature for Microsoft 365 Groups in Outlook

Admin can enable the feature with the help of cmdlet Set-OrganizationConfig -IsGroupFoldersAndRulesEnabled.

  • [-IsGroupFoldersAndRulesEnabled<Boolean>] - optional

    The IsGroupFoldersAndRulesEnabled parameter specifies whether Folders and Rules feature is enabled for the tenant.

    Possible values: true/false

    Default Value: false

    Regardless of whether the IsGroupFoldersAndRulesEnabled parameter is turned off, the Inbox and Deleted items folders will still be shown, if there are any deleted items in the group.

Note

Once the IsGroupFoldersAndRulesEnabled parameter is turned off after creating some folder and rules,

  • Existing Folders and Rules will keep getting rendered.

  • Existing rules will keep on executing.

  • Folder Creation/Updation/Deletion will be blocked.

  • Message level actions Copy/Move will be blocked.

To enable the Folders and Rules feature for Microsoft 365 Groups in Outlook, you can use the following cmdlet:

Set-OrganizationConfig -IsGroupFoldersAndRulesEnabled $true

Once the feature is enabled, by default, only the group owner has permission to create folders, rename folders, and move and copy messages across folders.

Enable member permission option

If there's a need for members in the group to create folders and triage messages in groups mailbox, then member permission to edit groups content has to be enabled by the admin at tenant level and group owner at group level respectively.

By default, this setting is set off at tenant level and group level

Admin can enable the member permission to the tenant using the cmdlet IsGroupMemberAllowedToEditContent.

  • [-IsGroupMemberAllowedToEditContent<Boolean>]- optional

    The IsGroupMemberAllowedToEditContent parameter specifies whether group owner can grant permission to members for Folders and Rules feature content edit.

    Possible values: True/False

    Default value: false

To enable the Enable member permission option, you can use the following cmdlet:

Set-OrganizationConfig -IsGroupMemberAllowedToEditContent $true

Once this option is enabled, group owners can provide group members with the ability to create folders, rename folders, and copy, move, and delete messages by navigating to the group from Outlook > Settings > Edit Group > and selecting the option All members will be able to create, edit, move, copy, and delete mail folders and rules within the group. Group-level member permission is handled by group owners.

Note

Admins can see the current value of the settings using Get-OrganizationConfig cmdlet.

Block “Move” message capability

Admins can block the Move message option for all Microsoft 365 groups within a tenant using the cmdlet Set-OrganizationConfig -BlockMoveMessagesForGroupFold.

  • [-BlockMoveMessagesForGroupFolders<Boolean>] – optional

    The BlockMoveMessagesForGroupFolders parameter specifies whether message the Move action is disabled.

    Possible values: True/False

    Default value: false

To block the Move message capability, you can use the following cmdlet:

Set-OrganizationConfig -BlockMoveMessagesForGroupFolders $true

Note

Creation of the Move rule is also disabled when BlockMoveMessagesForGroupFolders is enabled.

Note

This is useful if there are mixed set of users using Outlook on Web and Outlook Desktop App. For users on Outlook Desktop App where folders are not available, they can get the messages from group inbox.