Introduction

This guide contains instructions on how to create a rule to delay sending of emails by a specified number of minutes.

Full Details

In the Outlook Mail window, click on the Tools menu and select Rules and Alerts.

Click New Rule to open the Rules Wizard dialogue box. Select Start from a blank rule at the top of the dialogue box. In the Step 1 box below, highlight Check messages after sending. Click Next.

In the next dialogue box entitled 'Which condition(s) do you want to check?', do not alter any settings, simply press Next. A message will appear saying 'This rule will be applied to every message you send. Is this correct?' Click Yes.

In the next dialogue box entitled 'What do you want to do with the message?', click in the box next to defer delivery by a number of minutes. The entry should now be ticked and visible in the bottom box entitled Step 2. Click on the blue underlined words a number of. Enter the number of minutes you wish to defer delivery by and click OK. Click Next.

In the next dialogue box entitled 'Are there any exceptions?', select any circumstances in which you do not wish email delivery to be delayed. Alternatively, leave the settings unchanged to defer delivery of all emails.

In the next dialogue box entitled 'Finish rule setup', enter a name for the rule (such as 'Defer delivery by x minutes'), ensure the box next to Turn on this rule is ticked, and click Finish. A message will appear saying "This rule is a client-only rule, and will process only when Outlook is running." Click OK. (This means that emails will be delayed only when sent from Outlook by this user on this computer. Any emails you send from other clients such as a BlackBerry or Outlook Web Access will not be delayed.)

The new rule should now appear in your list of rules, with a tick to the left of its name showing it is now running. Click OK to close the window.

To deactivate the rule, click on the Tools menu and select Rules and Alerts. Untick the rule in the list that appears. To delete the rule, highlight it in the list and click Delete. Click OK.

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Applies To

Tested using Microsoft Office Outlook 2003. May work in other versions with some modification.