Outlook for Mac error message: Rules could not be saved because there is an error in the rules.

Anonymous
2016-01-28T11:45:40+00:00

(Modifying the title to provide clarity)

I have edited multiple rules in Outlook for Mac and when trying to save the changes I get this error message:

"Rules could not be saved because there is an error in the rules. Edit the rules, and then try to save the rules again."

What? I mean WHAT???

Firstly, I have edited the rules in your UI and clicked OK after each edit, how can there be an error?? Why did you not check for errors when I pressed the OK button? How is it even possible that your UI lets me create a rule with an error, it is not a programming language, it is a user interface!

Secondly, what an ignorant unhelpful error message is this? What is the error? In which rule it is? How do I fix it? The message could have equally read "F... YOU!", it would be equally unhelpful and rude!

Not only did I have to abandon all the changes I made, you have also ruined my day!

I HATE YOU TOO MICROSOFT!!!

Outlook | MacOS | Legacy Outlook for Mac | For business

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Anonymous
2017-01-06T18:14:19+00:00

A common cause of these rule errors is a bad email address in one of the rules (possibly a typo) or an invalid folder name (possibly deleted or renamed?).  Please check the most recent rule(s) you created and edited to see if all parameters are currently valid.  You can also narrow down the specific rule by selectively removing/re-adding individual rules.  Unfortunately, all rules are sent to the server in one transaction, and Outlook currently does not have code to identify and display the specific rule that failed. We've logged that as a future improvement.

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Anonymous
2017-09-11T06:38:22+00:00

This is really a problem solver!

With outlook log trace opened, I found there are multiple RuleOperationError when synchronizing with exchange server.

For example:

<OperationIndex>24</OperationIndex><ValidationErrors><Error><FieldURI>Condition:SentToAddresses</FieldURI><ErrorCode>InvalidAddress</ErrorCode><ErrorMessage>invalid email address</ErrorMessage><FieldValue>SMTP:</FieldValue></Error></ValidationErrors>

the OperationIndex tag should be started from 0, so 24 means the 25th rule in the rule box.

For me, there is a outdated mail-group in SendToAddress condition.

After removed these invalid rules, the whole rule set worked again!

Hope that microsoft(outlook) fix this issue with the accurate invalid rule tips, cause not everyone can understand these debug stuff!

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  1. Anonymous
    2017-07-19T00:29:06+00:00

    Ah I noticed that empty folder (I searched using "find" for all log* files/folders) earlier.

    Thank you for the settings tip that will hopefully come in handy.

    I tried for a while (multiple changes and a couple deletes) but so far it has not reproduced the error.

    As a side note, I just noticed that it is showing at least some of the changes that were were part of the changes that it said it couldn't save. But there were too many for me to try and figure out what/which might not have been saved.

    ah well, now I'm armed and ready for when/if it happens again.

    Much appreciated for quick responses and info sharing!

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  2. Anonymous
    2017-07-19T00:12:34+00:00

    hmm, I checked just after relaunching and it didn't change but now it has updated. It still does not contain the string UpdateInboxRulesResponse.

    grepping for rule (case insensitive) doesn't show anything that looks like an error/issue.

    Sorry, I directed you to the wrong log file (we have several).  For rules errors, you will first need to go to "Window" -> "Sync Errors" -> <Gear icon> -> "Turn on logging for troubleshooting".  Then relaunch Outlook and try updating the rules.  After you get the error message, look in the log file with latest modification date in this location: /Users/<username>/Library/Containers/com.microsoft.Outlook/Data/Library/Logs

    Turn off that logging checkbox when you're done, or you will end up consuming lots of disk space. :-)

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  3. Anonymous
    2017-07-18T23:57:54+00:00

    hmm, I checked just after relaunching and it didn't change but now it has updated. It still does not contain the string UpdateInboxRulesResponse.

    grepping for rule (case insensitive) doesn't show anything that looks like an error/issue.

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