Office 365 – Ignoring Group Messages in Outlook

How to Ignore Message Threads in Outlook

Sometimes you need relief from coworkers who abuse the Reply All button. Watch this video or use the instructions below to learn how you can ignore group message threads on Outlook with Office 365.

This will include a method for both ignoring and deleting message threads, as well as a method for keeping the messages but stopping the notifications.

Automatically Ignoring and Deleting Group Threads in Outlook

1. For a message thread you want to get rid of completely, select it and click Ignore from the ribbon on the Home tab.
2. Choose Ignore Conversation to finish ignoring. This deletes all messages from the thread and automatically deletes any new messages that come in on this thread.

Unignoring Message Threads

If later you decide you do need the thread you’ve ignored, go to your Deleted Items and find the thread.

1. After you select the thread, you’ll see that the Ignore option is currently selected.
2. Click Ignore to unselect the option.
3. This brings up a dialogue box, where you can click Stop Ignoring Conversation.
4. It will be moved back to your inbox.

Using Rules to Mute Notifications for (but Not Delete) Message Threads

1. With the email selected, click on Rules in the Move section of the Home tab of the ribbon. From the dropdown, select Create Rule…
2. Email threads all have the same subject, so check the box next to Subject contains and choose Advanced Options.
3. The Subject Line condition will already be selected, so hit Next.
4. This is where you have a few options. You can select to automatically Move the Message to a New Folder, so it doesn’t clutter up your inbox. Or, you can check the box next to Mark it as Read. Each of these options will stop you from getting a notification for new messages in the thread; you could even do both. Once you’ve decided, choose Next.
5. In the next screen, you can select exceptions to this rule. Click Next to continue.
6. On this screen, you can give it a name if you want, select the options you need, and then Review your rule in the box.
7. Once you’re satisfied, click Finish.

It’s important to note, that these rules are configured for your desktop version of Outlook, so they won’t work the same on your phone. Outlook will let you know this, and you can click OK to complete the setup of your rule.

With your rule in place, you will no longer receive notifications from this email thread.