Outlook Blank Email Message Filter/Rule

The other day I posted about Empty Email Messages. I haven't figured out exactly why it happens yet but one of the commenters suggests it maybe due to a corrupt header. I think that maybe true but I don't know what to do to fix it.

Also there is not straight forward way to setup a rule to filter these messages. However after reading this newsgroup post, I did figure out how to setup a rule in Outlook 2003 to filter these empty emails.

The following tells how to create a Rule for Outlook 2003 that filters email messages with blank subjects and bodies.

  1. Create a blank rule for when a messages arrives
  2. Don't select any condition. (Note it may ask if you are sure if you want it to apply to every message received, say yes)
  3. Select the action appropriate for you, i.e. permanently delete it or in my case I just move it into another folder because I'm still trying to figure out a pattern.
  4. Select the exception "except if the subject or body contains specified words". Then for the specified words enter 'a', 'b', 'c', ...'z','0'..'9' (i.e. all the letters and numbers).
  5. Then give it a name and click finish (you probably should move this rule to the bottom so that other rules can do there work first)

What this rule does is take the action given on any message that doesn't contain a letter or number in the subject or body.

This rule feels like such a hack but I couldn't figure out any better way. Does anyone know of a better method?

Well I hope this helps someone else at least filter this annoyance.

11 Comments

  • Is it possible for this type of email to contain a virus? I've read that only emails with attachments are dangerous...and only if the attachment is opened. If not, then it's just an annoying nusance to me. I'm going to definately try the first poster's method. Not a bad idea.



    So far, I've been trying to keep out anyone who is not in my email list, but some people complain that they can't get in touch with me. So then I unselect this email rule and end up opening an email like the one above.



    I'm so paranoid about viri these days that I don't open emails with attachments unless the writer asks permission first.



    By the way, I traveled here by Google, so I'm new and don't know exactly where I am. [grin]

  • Hi,
    I mohammed Abdul Aleem since 2 months i am getting balnk e-mail no attachment no subject . And i am using pop3 service i did talk to my Isp he was saying our server is working fine . I gotthrough it frequintly click send/receive we will get blank e-mail and i had reset those settings .
    plz kindly sugesst some tips how to sortout these problem

    Thanking you

  • I've got an easier Outlook 2003 Rule than putting in the alphabet and numbers as exceptions. I filter for size of the email. Blank emails, I've noticed, are always 1kb, and other emails, real ones, are rarely less than 4kb. So I have all emails smaller than 2kb moved to my junk folder where it's easier to delete them en masse and I can be assured nothing has been auto deleted that's important. Works like a charm.

    Follow same steps as at the top of this blog except at Step 4 scroll down almost to the bottom of the exceptions and click instead on "except with a size in a specific range." In the dialogue boxes enter: at least 1kb and at most 2. I also add the exception unless the email is sent to my name or has an attachment, but that's probably optional.

    The final rule description in the lower box reads as follows:
    "Apply this rule after the msg arrives with a size of at least 1 and at most 2 kilobytes and move it to the Junk email folder [or whatever you call yours] except if my name is in the To: or CC: box or except if it has an attachment.

    good luck.

  • I have also been getting these blank email messages once a month for the past couple of years they come in a group of three and when the hit my netscape in box the whole thing stops and the summary file has to be re built.
    the date is usuallysometime in 2004 .i tried a filter deleting anything in 2004 but that doesnt seem to work either. summary file seems to be corrupted before the filter deletes the emails.

  • I've found that setting the message size to at least 0 and no more than 1 catches every one of them without catching anything that is a valid email message.

  • Using Thunderbird , I too was exepriencing the same blank mail issue. It was popping up in my Junk folder. I resolved by compacting the folder in question.

  • Im a rookie at all this:

    I had four rules set up for incoming sales leads:

    Filtered on:
    subject matter

    Then do the following:
    Specified Folder
    Make Sound
    Importance

    I deleted importance and it now it works fine!

    Way above my oxygen level

  • I had a problem on OL 03 where my e-mails where blank. There was a setting I was told to fix, but that was several years ago so I don't remember. So I moved up to OL 07 and the problem is back.

    No help from MS of course.

  • It also works pretty well if you filter out any email message that doesn't contain the vowels a,e,i,o,u in the subject and body of the message

  • Had same problem with empty messages - many seemed to come from people emailing me from their cell phone. Only way I could fix it was to go back to Outlook 2002. Likely 2003 works also, it's just I had disk for Outlook2002.

  • I have facing the blank email problem just for few days and this happen for few clients not with all email users.we are using MS-Outlook 2003 & 2007 clients.
    Blank emails are totally blank - Subject:, From:, To;, Message: ...all fields are blank.
    Please help me to resolve this problem.

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