Outlook doesn't process meeting requests with rules active

Meeting requests, meeting changes, and meeting cancellations are not added to your calendar.

Outlook processes meeting requests when it is idle for a short period of time. If a rule exists that moves a meeting request to another folder, the process to record that item in the calendar fails.

To keep this from occurring, create rules to keep these items in the Inbox instead of moving them to another folder. To do this, create rules that include the types of forms associated with appointments.

Create five rules to cover all of the types of forms that are associated with appointments changes and cancellations. To work properly, the rules must be the first ones that run. Rules run from top to bottom in the order they are listed in the Rules Wizard dialog box.

Use the following steps to create the five exception rules:

1. Start Outlook and open your Inbox.
2. In Microsoft Outlook 2000 and in Microsoft Outlook 2002, click Rules Wizard on the Tools menu.
   
   In Microsoft Office Outlook 2003, click Rules and Alerts on the Tools menu.
3. In Outlook 2000 and in Outlook 2002, click New. Then, under Which type of rule do you want to create?, click Check messages when they arrive, and then click Next.
   
   In Outlook 2003, click New. Then, click Start from a blank rule, click Check messages when they arrive, and then click Next.
4. Under Which condition(s) do you want to check?, click to select Uses the form name form, click the form name link in the lower pane, and in Choose Form, click Application Forms in the list. Click to select the following appointment associated forms, using one form for each of your five rules:
   Accept Meeting Response
   Decline Meeting Response
   Meeting Cancellation
   Meeting Request
   Tentative Meeting Response
5. Click Add, click Close, and then click Next.
6. Under What do you want to do with the message?, click to select move it to the specified folder, and stop processing more rules. Select the Inbox as the folder, and then click OK and Next.
7. Under Add any exceptions (if necessary), do not make a selection and then click Finish to complete the rule. Repeat these steps using a different form type for each rule, until all five rules are completed. Make sure these rules are at the top of your Rules Wizard List, so that they run first.

Rules designed to move messages from the Inbox to other folders, particularly those that move messages directed specifically to the recipient (as opposed to messages to an alias), can cause meeting requests not to be automatically added to the Calendar.

Typically, if a meeting request is received in the Inbox, a tentative meeting will be placed on the calendar until the meeting request is dealt with by selecting Accept, Tentative, or Decline. Even with this setting on, the meeting request will move to another folder before Outlook can process this request and place it tentatively on the Calendar.

By creating rules that process these meeting requests first, keeping them in the Inbox, you give background processing time to act on the messages from the Inbox.