Forum Discussion
Use of Categories in the new Outlook for Mac: search in the category list and server-side rules
Categories are a useful way to tag emails in the Inbox by topic. They make it easier to group and find messages later, without having to move emails manually into topic-specific folders.
However, when many categories have been created, assigning one to a message becomes inconvenient: the category list can be difficult to navigate, and I cannot search within the Categories menu. A search field in that menu would make it much easier to find and apply the right category.
I also have a question about rules. In our company environment, Outlook connects to on-premises services, and server-side rules are important because they continue to run when I work from home without a VPN. In my experience, I cannot create a server-side rule that assigns a category. As a result, a rule that uses categories appears to run only when Outlook is open and connected.
Could category assignment be added as an option for server-side rules in the new Outlook for Mac? And could a search function be added to the category picker?
It would also be helpful to know whether these limitations depend on the Outlook version or the mailbox/server configuration.
1 Reply
Regarding rules, it's worth noting that not all Outlook rules are processed by the mail server. Some rules are executed only by the Outlook application installed on your computer, and these are known as client-side rules.
When a rule depends on Outlook to run, it will only be applied while Outlook is open and connected to the mailbox. If Outlook is closed, the rule will not be processed.
This is why a rule that assigns categories may not behave the same way as rules that are processed directly by the server, which continue to run regardless of whether Outlook is open.
For that reason, it would be very useful if category assignment could also be supported as a server-side rule action, especially for users who work remotely or access the same mailbox from multiple devices.
As for the category picker, I completely agree that adding a search field would be a valuable improvement in the new Outlook for Mac, particularly for users who manage dozens or even hundreds of categories.
