Outlook Rules - How to use "OR" boolean?

It seems that Microsoft Outlook 2010 can only use the "AND" boolean when setting RULES. I find that very disturbing since even the lower end Windows Live Mail can use "OR". Am I missing something? I'm trying to recreate this WLM rule in Outlook:

Apply this rule after the message arrives
Where the From line contains 'casoclinico' 
    or Where the Subject line contains 'caso' and 'clínico' 
Move it to the Isbrae - Caso Clínico folder

FernandoSBS

Posted 2012-03-28T00:10:11.780

Reputation: 1 541

Try Outlook "Query Builder" for AND OR logic

– Ivan Chau – 2016-01-01T13:15:26.803

Not sure if this helps, but A || B can be refactored as !(!A && !B), i.e. A or B == not(not A and not B).

– Lèse majesté – 2012-03-28T02:31:19.767

1@Lèsemajesté: clever, but unfortunately Outlook will not support that sort of reasoning either. The rules wizard is very limited in that regard. – kmote – 2012-03-28T02:43:14.693

@kmote: Yea, I don't use Outlook and figured it was probably a long shot, which is why I made it a comment. – Lèse majesté – 2012-03-28T02:49:05.610

I'm using Outlook 2010 and am seeing the exact opposite of what you describe. I can only add a query that uses the OR boolean operator on a Subject line match. I want to use an AND boolean operator but it will not allow it.

My query looks like this: Apply this rule after the message arrives from foo@bar and with 'foo' or 'bar' or 'baz' in the subject assign it to the Foo Bar Baz category

What I want is: Apply this rule after the message arrives from foo@bar and with 'foo' and 'bar' and 'baz' in the subject assign it to the Foo Bar Baz category – Christopher – 2013-10-18T00:17:57.440

It won't help this answer, but the Rules Wizard has pages for IF all conditions DO actions EXCEPT any conditions. Your logic can be in the form A && B && !(C || D), which might be enough depending on your needs. – Carl Walsh – 2013-12-16T20:55:28.917

Answers

Remarkably, the Outlook Rules Wizard does not support OR'ing in the way you've described. You can create two separate rules to get the same result, if you don't mind a proliferation of rules. The only other alternative is to create a custom rule in VBA script, but it is not a trivial task by any means -- I wouldn't recommend it. (If you are interested, you might peruse the links found in this question.)

UPDATE: I should mention that it is possible to combine multiple source emails in a single rule ("or"-ing them together, so to speak). This doesn't answer the original question, but it is something I just recently realized is possible. To do it, simply find the "from" field in the Rule Description window, and click on the hyperlink, then manually edit the "From" address line at the bottom, adding as many addresses as you want, separated with a semi-colon.

kmote

Posted 2012-03-28T00:10:11.780

Reputation: 2 322

1I have one rule for "subject includes" and another for "from XYZ". You can add multiple From XYZ/ZYX/CCY in one rule so it's a little less cluttered. I spend more time cleaning my rules then making them, but I share my rules with co-workers... – FreeSoftwareServers – 2019-11-06T05:46:28.123

4EEk. At my work, there are so many lists and such that rule count is actually a problem. Outlook 2010 has a rather low rule number limit, so a reasonable filtering strategy would be nice. Is it obvious why there isn't something like an "Advanced" button where you can type a quasi sql statement? – Limited Atonement – 2012-10-10T20:37:11.457

To get an "OR" you need to look further down the Step 1 conditions list. E.g. " with specific words in the subject or body" You can then list out all the criteria words required.

Gerard Tamakloe

Posted 2012-03-28T00:10:11.780

Reputation: 79

1This comment is great. Thanks for this. I think this should be the answer to the question. – Josh Miller – 2016-01-07T16:07:43.037

13The OP is wanting to filter by sender or subject and this does not address that need. – Wayne – 2016-08-08T16:09:49.013

I am on outlook for mac 2018. There are two kinds of rules 1) server side, and 2) client side. The server side rules don't support OR but the client side rules do.

Pushpendre

Posted 2012-03-28T00:10:11.780

Reputation: 255

1Ah. Thanks for explaining why I could get OR to work at home and not at work. I didn't even stop to consider that Outlook for macOS is that different from Outlook for Windows. Glad I have the better support on my preferred system, but really Microsoft Office people? Why have OR support on one platform but not another! It seems like such a simple thing to support... – RTHarston – 2019-12-03T18:43:38.447

Well in this case because you are using the Subject, you could create one rule with two conditions, the first using the 'if specific words in the Subject' and the second using the 'if specific words in the Subject or Body'. The only drawback is that the rule would process messages into the designated folder if 'caso' was in the subject but 'clinico' was only in the body.

I suppose you could always write some VBA code to handle the case if this is a one-off.

msperry

Posted 2012-03-28T00:10:11.780

Reputation: 21

1what about the above guy who says you can use OR/AND – FernandoSBS – 2013-11-25T14:58:45.540

-1

For subject line you can use both AND / OR Operators. Just separate words by capital OR/AND with space before and after the operator.

user275979

Posted 2012-03-28T00:10:11.780

Reputation: 11

3Not sure about Outlook 2010, but I just tested this in Outlook 2016 and it didn't work. – Sam – 2017-03-01T00:32:56.047

1is this for Outlook 2010? – FernandoSBS – 2013-11-22T09:09:47.510