I've discovered ways of creating shortcuts to a lot of Windows functions, so that I don't have to click on menus and sub-menus to get things to happen, e.g. 'Safely Remove Hardware' is:'C:\WINDOWS\system32\rundll32.exe shell32.dll,Control_RunDLL hotplug.dll'But I've always applied message rules manually to clear out my OE Inbox. This involves clicking on 'Tools / Message Rules / Mail', followed by 'Apply now' and selecting which rules I want to apply.Is there a way to get this function to work with a single click - a 'shortcut'?Regards, Roger.1 person needs an answerI do too

While there may be a way, I have never seen one mentioned in the eight years I have followed the OE newsgroups and forums.Does the message rule in question delete all messages in the Inbox? While in the Inbox, Ctrl+A and then Delete and they're all gone.Bruce HagenMS-MVP Oct. 1, 2004 ~ Sept. 30, 2010Imperial Beach, CA

Hi Bruce,Thanks for your reply.I thought it was pretty unlikely that there would be a way, but I thought I'd ask! :)My message rules (202 in all!) merely move messages to the appropriate folders in my message store, which is a well-structured group of folders, sub-folders, sub-sub-folders, etc.I do delete a lot of messages straight out of my Inbox, by selecting all (Ctrl+A) and then Delete, but I like to keep the more important ones for future reference.Regards, Roger.

Hi Bruce,I'm sure I replied yesterday - but what I wrote isn't here! So I'll post it again...Thanks for confirming what I guessed was the case.I have about 200 message rules that move emails from the Inbox to the appropriate subject folder in my message store for future reference.My message store has many folders, sub-folders, sub-sub folders, etc. But it's logically arranged and I can usually find what I want quickly.So I reckon I must click on 'Tools / Message Rules / Mail / Apply now' several times a day - after I pick up my mail - so that's why I asked the question.I guess an alternative approach would be a Macro program that tracked mouse movements and/or windows and did all the clicking for me. I'll see what I can find.

Hi Bruce,I'm sure I replied yesterday - but what I wrote isn't here! So I'll post it again...Thanks for confirming what I guessed was the case.I have about 200 message rules that move emails from the Inbox to the appropriate subject folder in my message store for future reference.My message store has many folders, sub-folders, sub-sub folders, etc. But it's logically arranged and I can usually find what I want quickly.So I reckon I must click on 'Tools / Message Rules / Mail / Apply now' several times a day - after I pick up my mail - so that's why I asked the question.I guess an alternative approach would be a Macro program that tracked mouse movements and/or windows and did all the clicking for me. I'll see what I can find. I got the alert yesterday, but found no message either. You repost and Poof!!! Your missing message appears. Go figure these forums.Anyway, there may well be a way to do what you want. A command perhaps, but that is out of my area of expertise.You could have the rules sort the messages into the correct folders right off the bat, but then you would have to go to each folder with unread messages to delete the unwanted ones. That would be more work I would think.I can only offer one word of caution that is off-topic. Whenever you move or delete a message, the space it took up is not reclaimed until you compact. With that in mind, I would suggest you backup OE and compact a lot sooner than the 100 closings that triggers the prompt, or your Inbox id going to go poof sooner or later.Hopefully someone else will see this post that has an idea of what you can do.Bruce HagenMS-MVP Oct. 1, 2004 ~ Sept. 30, 2010Imperial Beach, CA

Ah, I hope this message doesn't get stuck in the pipe, too! If I can't see it in a few minutes, I'll send a plunger down to unblock it!How I miss those newgroups... :)Yes, I do sort some messages straight into their folders, but they are the unimportant ones that I may look at one day, or just delete. And, as you say, if I 'checked' each message rule so it worked immediately the email arrived, I would have to go searching through all the folders to read them. Leaving them in the Inbox to read and then applying the rule is much simpler.re. Compaction - yes, I check the count (HKCU\Identities\...\5.0) every week and do it as soon as the count gets above 50.Thanks for your help again. If I find a good solution, maybe a Macro of some sort, I'll come back and post it here.

Sorted! Thanks to AutoHotkey.com :)I wrote a macro which checks if OE is running, and if not the macro runs it. Then the macro activates the window and sends alt-T, R, M and alt-A. Job done!The Windows key + space bar activates the macro:#space::IfWinExist Inbox - Outlook Express{ WinActivate}else{ Run "C:\Program Files\Outlook Express\msimn.exe" WinWait Inbox - Outlook Express WinActivate}Send !T R M !AReturnI can see me doing a lot more with this free utility!

Kudos for your determination and thanks for posting that for others to see.Bruce HagenMS-MVP Oct. 1, 2004 ~ Sept. 30, 2010Imperial Beach, CA

I did something similar with my OETool program (www.oehelp.com/OETool/) to invoke some of those options, but it took me about 6 weeks working over 12 hours a day to get it to work. I guess you can give some kudos to those folks. steve <Phuket Roger> wrote in message news:Email removed for privacy...Sorted! Thanks to AutoHotkey.com :)I wrote a macro which checks if OE is running, and if not the macro runs it. Then the macro activates the window and sends alt-T, R, M and alt-A. Job done!The Windows key + space bar activates the macro:#space::IfWinExist Inbox - Outlook Express{ WinActivate}else{ Run "C:\Program Files\Outlook Express\msimn.exe" WinWait Inbox - Outlook Express WinActivate}Send !T R M !AReturnI can see me doing a lot more with this free utility!

I did something similar with my OETool program (www.oehelp.com/OETool/ ) to invoke some of those options, but it took me about 6 weeks working over 12 hours a day to get it to work. I guess you can give some kudos to those folks. steve Absolutely, Steve - all kudos to the guys at AutoHotKey.com! And for "SciTE4AutoHotkey" - a Scintilla based text editor that makes writing macros simpler.Off topic (re. OE) but here's another little macro that makes columns in Windows Explorer's right pane resize to fit the width of the contents.Instead of pressing the two keys "Ctrl-NumericKeypadPlus" (or, in the case of my laptop, the three keys "Ctrl-Functionkey-SemiColon") just click on a shortcut to this macro and then click on the Explorer right pane:KeyWait, LButton, D ; Wait for the left mouse button to be pressed downKeyWait, LButton, U ; Ditto, but released on Explorer rt. pane or title barSend ^{NumpadAdd} ; Send ^+ to active window - make columns fitThe shortcut target would be something like: "AutoHotKey.exe Columns.ahk", where Columns.ahk contains those macro lines above.