Outlook Rules let you automatically organise incoming messages and perform actions based on conditions you manually set up. But there are some issues with creating new rules, since they don't always work properly. Instead, they show the “We can’t create your rule right now. Please try again later.” error message. As always, there are a ton of random reasons this might happen, so follow along as we guide you through the steps you can take to fix this issue in Outlook to get Rules working again.

Takeaways:

  1. What is causing Outlook to show the error “We can’t create your rule right now. Please try again later.” whenever you try to set up rules?
  2. What is the limit to the number of Rules you can add in Outlook before it starts showing error messages?

How to Fix Outlook Rules Not Working Please Try Again Later Error Message

Outlook has a storage limit of approximately 256 KB for all rules combined. So if you have a lot of rules, delete old or unnecessary ones. You can also shorten rule names to reduce the amount of space they use.

  • You can try clearing Outlook's local rules data.
  • Close Outlook, press Win + R, and enter: %appdata%\Microsoft\Outlook
  • Look for local Outlook data files related to rules, such as Rules.dat or .srs files.
  • Rename the relevant file before deleting it so you can restore it if necessary.

Update Microsoft Office

This is a pretty obvious potential solution, but it only has a 50/50 chance of working, so get it done, but don't put all your faith in it solving the problem for you.

  • Check for available updates by opening Outlook and going to File > Office Account > Update Options > Update Now.

If Office is already up to date, Outlook will display a message saying that you are using the latest version. If this pops up, move on to the next step.

Check whether you are using a third-party email account

If you are trying to create a rule for a third-party email account in the New Outlook app, the account may not support inbox rules.

Most of the time, you will get an error message that says something like: Inbox rules are not supported for the selected account.

If this happens, you can try adding the account to classic Outlook and creating the rule there. Alternatively, create the rule through your email provider's own service. For example, Gmail users can create filters directly in Gmail. Again, as with most things, this may or may not be an option depending on the email service you are using.

  • To add an account to classic Outlook, select File > Add Account, enter your email address, and follow the sign-in instructions.

Check if the rule feature is supported

The New Outlook app does not support every rule condition and action available in classic Outlook. This means that you will need to reevaluate all of the rules that you are using until you figure out which ones you can keep, and which ones you need to get rid of or redesign. You can probably use ChatGPT or something similar to create rules that work. Just make sure you mention which version of Outlook you are using.

Try another Outlook client

If you cannot create the rule in New Outlook or Outlook on the web, try classic Outlook. After adding the account, select Home > Rules > Create Rule and follow the instructions.

Conversely, if a rule fails in classic Outlook, try creating it through Outlook on the web or the New Outlook app. This can help determine whether the problem is specific to the Outlook client you are using.

Disable Outlook add-ins

It's quite possible that one of your add-ins is causing the problem, so disable everything and re-enable them one by one until you find the one that is causing the problem. It might be none, it might be 1, or it could be multiple add-ins. You won't know until you check.

  • Open Outlook and go to File > Options > Add-ins. At the bottom of the window, select COM Add-ins and click Go. Clear the checkboxes for the installed add-ins and click OK.
  • Restart Outlook and try creating a rule.

Repair Microsoft Office

If you've gone through everything in this guide so far and haven't solved the problem, it's time to repair or clean install Outlook. Whatever the issue is it's bigger than simple troubleshooting. You need to start from a clean slate that doesn't have any junk files and settings floating around.