Sending email messages is a big part of our daily routines. The easier we can make that process, the better. Imagine you want to send a copy of an email to a specific person. There are many situations where you are expected to remember to add an address to the Cc or Bcc controls when sending emails. The problem is to remember this. Most of us remember it after sending the message, so we forward the message from the Send folder. It’s not a lot of wasted time, but it’s annoying and you can avoid it.
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In this tutorial, I’ll show you how to set up a rule in Microsoft Outlook that automatically sends a copy of an email, subject to the terms you specify. Rules are easy to implement and once entered, you don’t have to remember anything but to delete the rule when it is no longer relevant.
I use Microsoft 365 Desktop on a Windows 10 64-bit system, but you can use earlier versions of Outlook. Outlook Mail supports rules.
What is a rule in Outlook?
Simply put, a rule is a triggered sequence of instructions. The trigger can be many things; in this case, the trigger sends an email. The instructions are a series of steps taken when activated.
You must be in the email window to access the rules as follows:
1. Click the Home tab.
2. In the Move group, click the Rules drop-down list.
If an existing email is “open”, the Rules option is on the Message tab. If you are creating a new email, this option is not available.
In Outlook Mail, click the Settings option and click the View all Outlook settings link at the bottom of the Settings panel. Click Email and then Rules. The resulting wizard is different, but you shouldn’t have a problem.
Create a rule in Outlook
Creating a rule in Outlook is a huge topic. We limit this to sending a copy of an email to a specific person or group. As a result, you don’t have to remember to add addresses to the Cc and Bcc controls. The rule removes a huge burden – the burden of remembering to copy other people manually.
For demonstration purposes, I recommend using your own email address to avoid sending a message to anyone else. However, if you use a free email service like Gmail, you may not see the copy of the email, because Gmail has strange rules for resending what it considers a duplicate. If it encounters the same email addresses, the copies may not be displayed. If so, you can try again with a friend’s email address for testing, with their permission, of course.
The first step is to outline the need for a rule. In this case, we want to send someone a copy of an email based on a set of conditions. Fortunately, the rules wizard offers many prerequisites, as you will see:
1. In the Mail window, click the Home tab.
2. In the Move group, click the Rules drop-down list.
3. Choose Manage Rules and Alerts from the drop-down list (Image A).
Image A
4. In the resulting dialog box, click New Rule.
5. In the first wizard window, select Apply rule to messages I send (Figure B). In the next pane, add a condition to refine that. If you’re using Outlook Mail, all the options are in one dialog box, so you don’t need to click Next. You don’t have that many steps to complete this line.
Figure B
6. Click Next.
7. In the next pane, click the Send to People or Public Group link in the top pane.
8. In the lower pane, click the link and specify the person or group who will receive the original message (Figure C). I use my email address for demonstration purposes. You should do the same to avoid sending a test email to anyone unnecessarily. If you really apply this, select a person or group from the list to add them to the To list at the bottom and click OK. Doing so will replace the generic link in the lower pane. This link identifies the recipient of your original email.
Figure C
9. Click Next.
10. In the top pane, click Cc The message to people or public group to update the rule in the bottom pane (Figure D).
Figure D
11. Click the People or Public Group link in the lower pane and repeat the instructions in step #8 to add email addresses to the rule. I’ll be using my own email address again, and so will you. These people get a copy of the message.
12. Click OK, click Finish, and then click OK.
It seems like a lot of steps, but they are all easy. This is not a complex rule. Before we test the rule, let’s look at examples of a few choices:
- In step 3, you can choose Create rule if the selected email is from the person you specify in step 8 – the recipient(s) of the original email.
- In steps 7 and 8, I selected my email address for demonstration purposes only. You can choose more than one person or a group or individuals and a group and so on.
- The people or group chosen in step 8 can be confusing. You limit things. You can choose the Every email I send option, but I don’t recommend it without good reason. This choice specifies who will receive the original email.
- In step 11, identify any people or groups that will receive a copy of the email. This is the step you save yourself – remember to enter these addresses in the original email.
- In step 12, you can click Next and add exceptions to the rule. We didn’t.
With the rule in place, it’s time to test it.
How to test the rule in Outlook
Since you used your own email address as the recipient of the original message for demonstration purposes, identify yourself in the test email you are now sending:
1. Click New E-mail in the New group.
2. In the resulting message box, enter your email address in To Check (Digits E). You don’t have to fill in anything else, but you can. This address corresponds to the address chosen in step 8.
Digits E
3. Click Submit and confirm if you have not entered any subject text.
4. If you decide when Outlook sends e-mail, you must manually send e-mail from the Send & Receive tab. You may need to do this twice to send and receive the test message and copy.
You must have two copies of the email, the original and the copy. If not and you’re using Gmail or another free email server, try again with a different address, such as a friend or colleague, after asking permission.
