Can't add new rules, can't access page to manage rules

Anonymous
2015-12-19T22:59:43+00:00

I started adding a lot of rules to my account on Outlook.com. The rules I have set up are working fine. But now when trying to add any new rules it's failing and when I go to Settings>Manage Rules I go to a blank page with an error message.

Details:

Adding new rule. Right-click on a message>Create Rule. Dialog comes up, I'm able to fill in all fields and click Apply/Okay:

    - I get a message at the top of the screen stating "Sorry, Outlook.com wasn’t able to complete this request." at some point while filling in the fields.

    - When clicking on Apply/Okay I then get red text at the bottom of the dialog stating "Unable to cast object of type ‘Microsoft.Msn.Hotmail.FDCommon.Data.Xfs.XfsException’ to type ‘Microsoft.Msn.Hotmail.InboundMail.MailRules’."

Going to Settings>Manage Rules:

    - I get to the settings page, but none of my rules (The ones that still function normally when receiving mails) are present and there's a message at the top of the screen stating "Something happened at our end. Please refresh your browser or close it and sign in again."

   - When trying to create a new rule within this page, I get the same error as when on the main page stating "Unable to cast object of type ‘Microsoft.Msn.Hotmail.FDCommon.Data.Xfs.XfsException’ to type ‘Microsoft.Msn.Hotmail.InboundMail.MailRules’."

Have I hit some limit on the amount of rules Outlook is able to process? I have created a lot of them, over a page of rules, all of them just moving stuff into folders based on sender name.

Is there a way to clear my rules so I can start again?

Have tried this on the following operating systems and browsers: Windows 7 Professional, OSX 10.11.2, Safari 9.0.2, Internet Explorer 9, Firefox 43.0.1 (and at least one earlier version), adblockers and virus/malware checkers all disabled at some point in case that was an issue.

Also, tried the above steps on my girlfriend's account (which has no rules set up yet) and it works fine. Can create new rules, and access the manage rules page fine.

What can I do?

If I can't access the Mange Rules page to delete some rules that might be causing this, then I need someone from Outlook.com support to do something right?

Cheers.

Outlook | Web | Outlook.com | Settings

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  1. Anonymous
    2016-01-08T14:30:27+00:00

    Hi All,

    I have sent a private message, please check and provide the details in the private message section.

    Thank you.

    Hi Rohit,

    Turns out that I am also facing the same issue and have tried all the solutions provided but none of them solves my problem. Would you also please send me a private message with further information to solve this issue. Thank You.

    Regards Jayvijay Gohil

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  2. Anonymous
    2016-01-08T14:43:38+00:00

    Hi All,

    I have sent a private message, please check and provide the details in the private message section.

    Thank you.

    Hi Rohit,

    I also have this problem. Could you please send me a private message and list all the information I should provide to solve this problem?

    Thanks,

    Lei

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  3. Anonymous
    2016-01-08T15:17:59+00:00

    I've also been experiencing this problem for a good two months.

    Do you have a solution as of yet?

    Thanks.

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  4. Anonymous
    2016-01-08T16:31:01+00:00

    I've been searching for an answer for this issue, and this thread seems to be the only one I could find that looks promising.

    I'm here as a user with this problem, but I'm also an IS consultant, so may be someone be interested in my opinion. I will try to use the simpler language as possible (but in english is more difficult because I'm italian.)

    On the server side the "rules" in question are stored as collection of statements with references to "resource", where folders and categories are resources. Each resource has an unique ID code (to which are aggregate all informations, as the name) and is referenced only by this ID, so in the collection are stored just IDs (not names nor any other information). When the system loads a collection (of rules in our case) and before doing any action, it checks the integrity of all contained resources by looking at their ID.

    This said, if you change the name of a resource its ID code does not change, so all works fine. But, if you "delete" a folder or a category and then you recreate it, even with the same exact name, you end up with "a new" resource, i.e. a new ID code. Now all rules that have a reference to the old ID remain orphans and this is a problem. The preventive check, of which we talked before, is performed exactly to menage this cases and it correctly "raises an exception" (i.e. a sort of "call for recovery the error"), giving the ball to another part of the software dedicated to this "emergency". 

    But... and we are at the final point: the error message we all receive trying to create a new rule, states clearly that this exception is raised but not handled, and this could be only for two reasons: 1) the dedicated handler is missing or 2) the exception raised is malformed. At 99% we are in the second case, imo. In other words, no one piece of software hears or understands the request for help. The consequence is that the procedure devoted to manage the rules crashes and... and we are all here!

    And in fact, in my case, when I deleted an empty folder still used by a rule.... bingo! in the same exact moment this problem raised up.

    I repeat: this is only my opinion; I'm not in force at Microsoft, be clear!

    I simply hope my notes are enough to explain why deleting all the rules restores full functionality to the account, but of course this does not eliminate the problem in the server software.

    Regards from Sardinia, the island of the wind

    PS "Granting the access" is only a formal authorization statement, a declaration of consent, you don't have to give your password.

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  5. Anonymous
    2016-01-08T18:53:19+00:00

    Hi All,

    I have sent a private message, please check and provide the details in the private message section.

    Thank you.

    All?  That implies that you have sent a private message to all on this thread that have complained of the problem.  I haven't received a private message and am unclear on why only moderators can initiate them.  Most boards that allow them don't have that restriction.

    Please send me a private message.  TIA.

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