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Outlook rules automatic generation thanks to Powershell scripting vs power automate recorder

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Posted on by Emmanuel9

Dear Community,

I am currently trying to generate an outlook rule for incoming mail automatically by filling some of the rules fields with data coming from some previous Power Automate variables (Number & Outlook Folder).

The rule is supposed to look for a specific number (variable) in any incoming mail subject and move it in a specific folder.

I reached some results using the recorder but it seems that this solution is not really robust so I tried to go on some Powershell scripting.

In a first step I skipped the variable aspect to focus on the script itself and unfortunately I have some troubles.

$Outlook = New-Object -ComObject Outlook.Application
$Namespace = $Outlook.GetNameSpace("MAPI")
$Inbox = $Namespace.GetDefaultFolder(6)
$SubFolder = $Inbox.Folders.Item("#Segment")

#Setting the name of the rule
$Rules = $Namespace.DefaultStore.GetRules()
$Rule = $Outlook.Session.DefaultStore.GetRules().Create("Rule Name", [Microsoft.Office.Interop.Outlook.OlRuleType]::olRuleReceive)

#Setting the condition: looking for the word "dedicated" in the subject of the mail
$Condition = $Rule.Conditions.Subject
$Condition.Enabled = $true
$Condition.Text = @("Dedicated")

#Action of the rule
$Action = $Rule.Actions.MoveToFolder
$Action.Enabled = $true
$Action.Folder = $Subfolder

#Enabling of the rule and saving showing a progress popup
$Rule.Enabled = $true
$Rules.Save($true)

This error is generated and despite some hours of research I could not find the solution to fix it.

One or more rules cannot be saved because of invalid actions or conditions.
At line:1 char:1
+ $Rule.Enabled = $true
+ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 + CategoryInfo : OperationStopped: (:) [], COMException
 + FullyQualifiedErrorId : System.Runtime.InteropServices.COMException

Any suggestion would be helpfull.

Many thanks in advance.

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Power Automate Desktop

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Agnius Bartninkas Most Valuable Professional on at

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Not that I've ever done it myself, but a Google search suggested using the New-InboxRule cmdletfor doing this, if you are applying it to an Exchange Online email. It will apply the rule to the inbox, and not the outlook instance, which means the rule will work even when Outlook is not running. See here on how to use it: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/powershell/module/exchange/new-inboxrule?view=exchange-ps

Other than that, have you tried creating the rule without the $Rule.Enabled = $true part?

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Emmanuel9 41 on at

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Dear Agnius, Many thanks for your answer. Unfortunately the solution you propose require some exchange privilege simple users can't get. In the meantime I found the solution and past it below.
$Outlook = New-Object -ComObject Outlook.Application $Namespace = $Outlook.GetNameSpace("MAPI") $Inbox = $Namespace.GetDefaultFolder(6) $SubFolder = $Inbox.Folders.Item("#Segment") #Setting the name of the rule $Rules = $Namespace.DefaultStore.GetRules() $Rule = $Rules.Create("Rule Name 2", [Microsoft.Office.Interop.Outlook.OlRuleType]::olRuleReceive) #Setting the condition: looking for the word "dedicated" in the subject of the mail $Condition = $Rule.Conditions.Subject $Condition.Enabled = $true $Condition.Text = @("Dedicated") #Action of the rule $Action = $Rule.Actions.MoveToFolder $Action.Enabled = $true [Microsoft.Office.Interop.Outlook._MoveOrCopyRuleAction].InvokeMember( "Folder", [System.Reflection.BindingFlags]::SetProperty, $null, $Action, $SubFolder ) #Enabling of the rule and saving showing a progress popup $Rule.Enabled = $true $Rules.Save($true) #Display of the number of rules $numberofrules = $outlook.Session.DefaultStore.GetRules(); [Console]::WriteLine([string]::Format("There are {0} rules", $numberofrules.Count));

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