Objective

With the "Inbox rules" option, you can create an elaborate set of rules to handle incoming emails. These can help you to keep your email account organised by automatically sorting emails into folders. This is also the way to define forwarding settings (redirections) and to filter out spam messages.

Find out how to create email filters and redirections using the Outlook Web App (OWA).

Requirements

• an OVHcloud email solution already set up (MX Plan, available as part of our Web Hosting plans, included in a free hosting or ordered separately as a standalone solution; Hosted Exchange or Email Pro)
• login credentials for the email address you want to configure

Instructions

Step 1: Navigating to the options section

Log in to your Exchange account via the OVHcloud webmail. Click on the gear symbol on the top right to unfold the "Options" menu and select Options.

From the "Options" tree, select Inbox and sweep rules to access the rules interface. You can see here the list of rules that are applied to this account. Create a new rule by clicking on the + icon.

Step 2: Creating rules

The rules editor assists in setting up distinct measures for all incoming emails depending on various presuppositions. Specifying a rule is done in three parts:

For example, you can set as condition "Received from..." and specify an email address, then elect to move these messages into a certain folder.

Checkbox "Stop processing more rules"

If you have created several rules, it is possible that more than one will apply to an incoming email. Leave this option activated for any rule that should never be followed by other rules; this is a simple way to prevent further treatment of emails that match multiple conditions.

Creating useful rules by means of two examples: Redirection and spam filtering

Since there are many conditions and actions available, we are unable to cover all of them in this guide. Below you can find two examples that are instrumental in using an OVHcloud email account.

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Example 1: Redirecting emails to another address

Create a new rule by clicking on the + icon. Give your rule a name and select below which emails it should apply to. For this example, we initially choose to include all messages. Next, select the appropriate action; here we will focus on illustrating a redirection. Please note the technical distinction: if you "forward" a mail, the final recipient will see your email address as a sender. "Redirecting" an email on the other hand will send it to your target address without changing the original sender address.

In the next interface, select from "Your contacts" (+) or type an email address into the top bar. You can also search for users not listed here as a contact. Once finished, click Save to get back to the "New inbox rule" interface. You can extend this rule further if you click Add action. If appropriate, also add exceptions below, for example to prevent the redirection if an incoming message was sent by a specific email address or if it contains certain keywords. Save the rule by clicking OK.

The new rule is now listed with an explanation of what it does and it can be edited, deactivated or deleted.

Example 2: Filtering undesired emails (spam)

Create a new rule by clicking on the + icon.

Give your rule a name and select as conditions "It includes these words" and "in the subject...". In the next interface, type "[SPAM]" to single out the messages that were pre-tagged by our spam protection. Add it with +, then click on OK.

Since no automated spam protection can decide with perfect accuracy whether an email is actually spam, it is good practice to collect these emails in a dedicated folder. This way, you can verify the contents of this spam folder before emptying it. To achieve this, select as action "Move, copy, or delete", then "Move the message to folder...". Select a folder from the list. Save the rule by clicking OK.

Go further

Creating automatic replies in OWA

Sharing calendars in OWA

Using the Outlook Web App

Join our community of users.