Reply To All Emails in a Specific Folder MS Outlook 2010

“We have added a query on our website related to our services. The feedback is received through emails and now there have been a number of mails piled up in a specific folder. We want to reply to those emails with the result of feedback and a thank you note. How can be reply to multiple emails at once Outlook 2010 that is in a certain folder?”

The simplest solution to deal with the problem is to create a rule for it and then run it manually. Another option that can be adopted is to export all contacts from that specific folder to an Excel sheet and then mail merge. We will discuss both the solutions here one by one.

Option 1: Create and Run a Rule Manually

Once you create the rule, you can auto reply to specific senders in Outlook. The rule will be processed for every mail individually in spite of the time when the message is received. This can be done in three steps:

Step #1:

The first step is to create a message template for the reply: 
  1.  Compose a message. Here, type the feedback and thank you message. Make sure that you include a subject but it should be very general (i.e. does not address what is in the message). Also, you can add an attachment (optional).
  2. Now, save this message in an oft file at a suitable location.

Note: If you do not get the option to save message in oft file, then probably you are using MS Outlook 2003 or lower edition and have MS Word as the email editor. To set MS Outlook as the default email editor, click Tools>> Options>> Mail Format.

Step #2:

The next step is to create rule for mass reply in Outlook. This can be done using the rules creation wizard by following the below mentioned steps:

To open rules creation wizard:

Outlook 2007 and lower editions:

In the ‘Tools’ menu, choose ‘Rules and Alerts’

Outlook 2010 and Outlook 2013

In the ‘File’ menu, choose ‘Manage Rules & Alerts’
  1. Start with a blank rule and it will be processed when a new rule is received. Here, do not have to apply any conditions.
  2. Select ‘Apply using a specific template’. At the bottom of the dialog box, click on ‘a specific template’.
  3. A dialog box named ‘Select a Reply Template’ will get opened. In the ‘Look In’ list, select ‘User Templates in File System’
  4. Now, browse for the location where you have saved the oft template (Step1)
  5. When you reach the final step, disable ‘Turn on this rule’.

Step #3:


Now when the rule is created to send reply to multiple messages Outlook, it’s the time to run the rule manually.
  1. Open ‘Rules and Alerts’ and click on ‘Run Rules Now…’
  2. Select the rule that is created to reply to all emails in a specific folder.
  3. Now, select the folder for which the rule has to run.
  4. Click ‘Run Now’. 

Option 2: Export Contacts to Excel and Use Mail Merge

The other option is to send the address from “From” field to Excel sheer or to a CSV file. This will help to collect all mail address for the emails received in that specific folder to which reply has to be sent. To export the contacts to CSV, use the Import/Export Wizard:
  1. Open the Import/Export Wizard:

Outlook 20013 and lower editions:

In the ‘File’ menu, click on ‘Import and Export’

Outlook 2010:

In the ‘File’ menu, click on ‘Export’

Outlook 2013:
In the ‘File’ menu, click on ‘Open & Export’


2. Click on ‘Export to a File’ and then choose to export the contacts into CSV file. 

Once this is done, the contacts can be used for doing Mail Merge that is a facility to send personalized message to a large group of people without letting them know about other to whom the message is sent. 



Labels: , ,