Gmail filter to Outlook rule converter

How it works

Paste the search from a Gmail filter, or the filters.xml file Gmail exports, or fill in Gmail's own filter form. Then tick the actions the filter takes. The page matches each part to an option in Outlook's rule editor and prints the result as steps you can follow.

Every match is marked Exact or Approximate. A part with no Outlook equivalent is listed under its own heading with the reason, and the rule it affects carries a warning that it'll match more mail than the Gmail filter did. The converter runs in this page. It doesn't connect to Gmail or Outlook, and nothing you paste is sent anywhere.

What carries over

Here's how each part is handled.

• from: becomes the From condition, and subject: becomes Subject includes.
• Plain words become Subject or body includes, and has:attachment becomes Has attachment.
• to: and cc: become Recipient address includes. Outlook checks To and Cc together, so that one's approximate.
• A minus sign, as in -draft, becomes an exception.
• from:amy OR from:david becomes one condition with two values. An OR across different operators, like from:amy OR subject:invoice, becomes separate rules with the same actions, because every condition in an Outlook rule has to match.
• Skip the Inbox turns into a move to the Archive folder, Mark as read stays Mark as read, Star becomes a flag, Delete stays Delete, and Forward becomes Forward to.
• A Gmail label becomes a move to a folder with the same name. A message sits in one Outlook folder while Gmail can give it many labels, so that's approximate too.

What doesn't carry over

You'll have to handle these yourself.

• label:, category:, is: and the Gmail inbox tabs have no Outlook rule condition.
• after:, before:, older_than: and newer_than: have no equivalent either, because a rule only sees mail as it arrives.
• filename: can't be matched.
• Never send it to Spam, Never mark it as important, Categorize as and Send canned response have no rule action. For spam, Outlook has a Safe senders list under Settings, Mail, Junk email.
• Gmail can apply a filter to conversations already in your mailbox. Outlook on the web rules act on new mail. Microsoft describes running a rule on messages already in the folder only for classic Outlook for Windows.

Google lists every search operator on Search operators you can use with Gmail, and the actions a filter can take in the Gmail API filter guide.

Set the rule up in Outlook on the web

1. Select Settings, then Mail, then Rules.
2. Select Add new rule.
3. Type a name in the Name your rule box, then choose a condition and an action from the drop-down lists.
4. Use Add a condition or Add an action for more, and Add exception for the exceptions.
5. Leave Stop processing more rules on unless several rules should apply to one message. It's on by default.
6. Save the rule.

These steps come from Microsoft's Manage email messages by using rules in Outlook. That page doesn't list every condition and action by name, so the converter uses the names in the Outlook on the web rule editor. They can differ a little between Outlook.com, Microsoft 365 and classic Outlook, so check each against your own editor. Microsoft covers forwarding rules in Use rules to automatically forward messages.

To find a filter in Gmail, open Settings, See all settings, then Filters and Blocked Addresses. Google's Create rules to filter your emails also explains Export, which gives you the file this page can read.

Moving between Gmail and Outlook

The two services organise mail differently, so you won't often get an exact rule-for-rule copy. If you read both in one app, see an email app for Outlook or for Gmail, and the Outlook alternatives and Gmail alternatives pages. Those pages are ours, and Otto is our app. To test a search before you build the rule, use the Gmail and Outlook search builder.