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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. G.Komatsu_CL 1 Reputation point
    2022-12-15T14:32:20.57+00:00

    Go to https://outlook.office365.com/mail/ check the rules from web GUI after you removed all the rules locally. If there is any left out rules there from web, remove them. Then restart local Outlook, those empty "Client Only" rules disappeared. This work for me.

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  2. Gary Fouchè 0 Reputation points
    2023-05-31T10:13:23.8233333+00:00

    Hi All,

    I see the thread is quite old; but I had a similar issues with Outlook v2304. Tried deleting the "client rule" on the desktop app, but it kept returning. Only when I deleted that rule on OWA did the problem stop.

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