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There was an error reading the rules from the server. The format of the server rules was not recognized

wchrisb 16 Reputation points
2020-07-31T12:49:30.083+00:00

****NOTE:** I originally posted this in the standard MS Community Forums. They redirected to TechNet that redirected me here.**

I have recently been upgraded by my email provider (GoDaddy) to a new email server which requires using MS Exchange. In making that change, my rules began to have problems. I recreated all "receive" emails on the server via Outlook.com in both email accounts affected by the move to Exchange. Once created, I deleted the same rules I had created locally (client only). The system worked great for about a week. Then, earlier this week, I began getting the message "There was an error reading the rules from the server. The format of the server rules was not recognized" on one of my email accounts. I have been unable to get this to stop since. I completely disabled the rules no the one account to see if that would do anything and it did not. It should be noted that the rules are running on the server. They have disappeared locally and I get the error message anytime I log into my local version of Outlook or try to manage the rules from my desktop.

Is there a way to resolve this issue?

Outlook Management
Outlook Management
Outlook: A family of Microsoft email and calendar products.Management: The act or process of organizing, handling, directing or controlling something.
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  1. Amit Dodake 191 Reputation points
    2020-09-04T16:23:48.163+00:00

    This worked for me.

    1. Export the rules out to local file.
    2. Delete all the rules.
    3. Restart outlook.
    4. Open Rules again, if you see (client-only) rules again delete them all.
    5. Create any simple rule and save it.
    6. Restart Outlook
    7. Open Rules, this time you will be asked to choose which rules you want to use "client" or "server" choose client.
    8. Import the saved rules from step 1.

    Hope this helps.

    38 people found this answer helpful.
  2. J-G 151 Reputation points
    2022-05-15T19:34:03.123+00:00

    Had this after adding a rule.

    None of other solutions worked :(

    Went to outlook.com and logged in to the mailbox
    Deleted newest created rule
    All worked ok :)

    Good luck

    29 people found this answer helpful.
  3. Marco 71 Reputation points
    2021-05-16T13:17:18.177+00:00

    The following worked for me:

    1. Export the rules to a local file
    2. Close Outlook
    3. Run outlook.exe /cleanrules (This command will open Outlook and clean the rules) Thanks @Eric Yin-MSFT !
    4. Import the saved rules from step 1

    Hope this helps.

    14 people found this answer helpful.
  4. Eric Yin-MSFT 4,386 Reputation points
    2020-08-03T07:34:52.323+00:00

    I wonder on which step have you been in order to "upgrade your email provider to a new email server which requires using Exchange"? Can you see your mailbox in EAC now?
    What you do mean about "recreated all "receive" emails on the server via Outlook.com in both email accounts affected by the move to Exchange"? Could you explain how you did it and what is the final situaltion?

    You can try running outlook.exe /cleanrules to reset the rule engine and rebuild the rules on server again.(If you have multiple or additional mailboxes in your Outlook profile, running the /cleanrules command line switch deletes the rules from all connected mailboxes. Therefore, it is recommended that you only run this command when your Outlook profile only contains the one, target mailbox.)
    Also, which version of Outlook are you using? See if the error exists when using other versions of Outlook.

    4 people found this answer helpful.
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  5. wchrisb 16 Reputation points
    2020-08-05T19:10:58.633+00:00

    Sorry for the confusion. All of my issues revolve around RULES. I had created all my rules locally. When I was upgraded to Exchange by GoDaddy the rules did not migrate. I first restored them from a backup I had made of the rules. They did not work in one of my email accounts. I then recreated the RULES from within Outlook.com (server side) and deleted the locally created version of the rules. This worked great for about a week. Now, I can't access the rules from my desktop version of Outlook (they no longer appear in the dialog box), only Outlook.com. This only affects one of the email accounts that was migrated to Exchange; the other continues to work fine. I am using this version of Outlook 365 MSO (16.0.13001.20338) 64 bit.

    Regarding the upgrade, this was required of me by GoDaddy who hosts my email. They ran a conversion which moved all of my email, calendar and tasks to a new Exchange server. Now I must use Outlook.com on the internet versus their former proprietary webmail tool. The conversion also connected my local Outlook 365 program to the Exchange server.

    I hope this clarifies my problem.

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