ENT2001: How to Migrate Rules in Entourage

This article describes how to copy rules in Entourage from one identity to another and from one Macintosh computer to another.

The Rules feature allows you to use many conditions and criteria to manage the storage of messages that you receive in Entourage. In some settings, you may want to create a set of rules that can be implemented within another identity on the same installation of Entourage or on another Macintosh computer.

How to Locate the Rules

As with other user data, rules are stored in the Identity folder. The default location for the Identity folder is:

How to Copy Rules to Another Identity or Computer

Click the folder that corresponds to the identity that created the rules. Within this folder is a file named Rules.

NOTE: There can be only one Rules file in an identity folder. If the identity to which you are copying the Rules file has rules that you want to save, remove the Rules file from the folder before you copy the new Rules file. If you do not remove the Rules file that you want to save, the copy process replaces the existing Rules file.

To copy this Rules file to another identity:

1. Quit Entourage.
2. Position the identity folders so that you can drag them from the source folder to the destination folder.
3. Press the OPTION key, and then drag the Rules file from the source identity folder to the destination identity folder.
4. Restart Entourage.

If you chose to move or copy the Rules file to the destination folder, which replaces the current file, you receive the following message: Click OK to replace the file, or click Cancel if you want to back up the existing file.

How to Move the Rules File to Another Macintosh Computer

Moving the Rules file to an installation of Entourage on a different computer is similar to the steps for moving the Rules file to another identity. The Rules file is small and likely fits on a floppy disk. Other options may include copying the Rules file to a shared network location or sending the Rules file as an attachment in an e-mail message. On newer Macintosh computers that do not have floppy disk drives, you may need to send the Rules file as an attachment in an e-mail message.

Additional Notes About How to Move Rules

In some cases, the Rules file on the source installation of Entourage may move messages to user-defined folders. If such folders do not exist on the destination identity, you receive the following error message when you attempt to run the rule: To resolve this error message, either alter the destination folder in the rule, or create a folder by using the same name that is defined in the rule.