Tip 1006: Scheduling Outlook rules to turn on and off automatically

A popular request made by Outlook users is the ability to enable or disable Rules based on the time.

I want to turn this rule on when I leave the office and off when I return. I want to run this rule only between 10 AM and 4 PM.

Unfortunately, Outlook doesn't have an option to run rules at specific times. If you don't want to run a rule, you need to open Rules Wizard and enable or disable the rules.

At least that's how it was up until Outlook 2007. No, Outlook 2007 doesn't add a time option but VBA now supports rules. This means you can use VBA to enable or disable the rules in Outlook 2007 and above. (Sorry, for Outlook 2003 and older, you need to use Auto-Mate or other rules add-in.)

There is a rule for messages received within certain dates but it works better using Run Rules Now or when you want to use a rule only while on vacation.

That leaves only the timer problem. VBA doesn't have a timer but as I showed in at least one macro over the last few weeks, we can use Outlook's reminders as a crude timer to trigger a macro. In this case, when a reminder fires, Outlook runs the VBA macro that enables or disables the rule, effectively creating a timed rule.

To use it, create a task with the subject "Disable Rule" and set a reminder. When the reminder fires, the VBA is triggered and the rule referenced in the VBA is disabled.

You can get the code at Enable or disable an Outlook rule using reminders and VBA.

Published July 10, 2012. Last updated on July 10, 2012.