Automatically deleting "out of office" responses to bulkmail emails

If you send a bulkmail message, it is likely that at least some recipients will have automatic out of office replies set up on their accounts. To avoid having to individually delete these auto-reply emails, you can create an inbox rule in the Outlook Web App to automatically delete these messages.

 

  1. Log in to the Outlook Web App at http://mail.northwestern.edu with your NetID and NetID password.
    • Note: we suggest you use Firefox or Internet Explorer, rather than Google Chrome, to complete these steps.
  2. In the top right corner, click on the gear or wheel icon, then click Options.
  3. In the left menu, click Organize Email, then click the Inbox Rules tab across the top.
  4. Click the plus (+) sign, then choose Create a new rule for arriving messages.
  5. At the bottom, click More options...
  6. Enter a name for your rule, such as "Delete OOTOs for bulkmail". The name is up to you.
  7. Click on the When the message arrives, and: dropdown box. Click on "It includes the words", then click "In the subject..."
  8. In the box, type Automatic Reply and then click the plus (+) sign to the right of the box. Click OK.
  9. Under "It includes these words in the subject..." click Add Condition.
  10. Click on the dropdown box that appears. Click on "It includes the words", then click "In the message header..."
  11. In the box, type EVBULKMAIL1 and then click the plus (+) sign to the right of the box. Click OK.
  12. Click on the Do the following: dropdown menu. Click "Move, copy, or delete", then click "Delete the message".
  13. Click Save.
  14. If prompted by an error message about Powershell, disregard the message and click OK.
This will create a rule that causes messages with "Automatic Reply" in the subject line, but specifically in response to a bulkmail email, to be sent to the Deleted Items folder.

 


Keywords: ooo ooto vacation away autoreply
Created: 2016-03-27 23:40:20
Updated: 2019-02-04 16:57:26

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Article ID: 1406
Created
Thu 5/12/22 12:39 PM
Modified
Wed 1/25/23 1:57 PM