Tip 306: Run Rules Later

Stephen asks: I have subscribed to and receive several automated messages (the weather etc.) on a daily basis. Returning from having been away for a few days I am faced with an inbox containing multiple messages that are no longer of any use and I just go through and delete them all. Is there any way to create a rule that will review your inbox and delete any messages from specified senders that are older than the current date?

Outlook doesn't support automatically running rules later, but there are addins you can use. I use auto-mate to move messages x hours after they arrive – see //www.slipstick.com/addins/auto.htm#special for links to it and other similar utilities – there are several to choose from.

Or you can create rules to delete these items but leave them disabled, then when you have a lot to delete, go into Rules Wizard and run the rule(s). Keep in mind that this type of rule will affect all messages meeting the specific condition.

Published October 14, 2005. Last updated on December 8, 2011.