Outlook - How to fix rule that will not work when someone is copied on the email

Question

Outlook - How to fix rule that will not work when someone is copied on the email

Sophie Taylor 0

Hello! We have a rule set up to forward emails to a separate group when the email is sent to a particular distribution group. This rule did NOT work when someone was also copied on the email, even though the email WAS sent to the distribution group. There are no exceptions selected and I do not see any options to make this rule work even if someone is copied. Please advise.

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Answer 1

Jess-Q 12,415 Microsoft External Staff Moderator

Hi @Sophie Taylor

Regarding your issue, may I kindly ask a few questions to help understand it better:

What is the "separate group" you forward to? Is it a shared mailbox, a Microsoft 365 group, or a distribution list?
Where is the rule configured is it a mail flow (transport) rule in the Exchange admin center, or an inbox rule set up in Outlook?
How did you tell the rule which emails to act on? Did you pick "The recipient is," or "To box contains," or "To or Cc box contains"?
When it fails, does the email still reach the main distribution group okay? Or does that break too?
Was the person copied (CC) a member of the group, or someone outside it?
Could you provide a screenshot of the rule, if possible (make sure to hide personal information)

Hope to hear back from you soon.

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Sophie Taylor 0 Reputation points

2026-07-02T15:04:03.0333333+00:00

Hello! Thank you so much for your quick response.
The rule is currently set up as an inbox rule in Outlook. We'll call the first distribution group MainGroup. I am included in the distribution group MainGroup. The rule is set up so that when I receive an email that is sent to MainGroup, it forwards to a list of people we'll call Essential, who are not in MainGroup. I have included a screenshot of the rule with all names redacted.

This rule worked yesterday when the person sent an email just to MainGroup. However, today the person sent it to MainGroup with Other Staff Person copied. Other Staff Person is not in MainGroup.
MainGroup still received the email this morning; however, the Essential people did not receive the forwarded email from me.
We are trying a work around and have instructed the sender to not include anyone else initially, and then forward their message to Other Staff Person after it has been sent to MainGroup. However, if there is a way to fix the rule, it will help mitigate user error on the sender's end, as the sender will rotate based on shift changes.