Regarding RULES on emails.

mateo Garcia 0 Reputation points
2026-10-07T13:33:58.4433333+00:00

When i go into my rules for emails, 100's of rules are set to different emails that I've never heard of .(Not mine) so I am not receiving any emails. Some emails begin with the word (amazon). I've tried deleting and turning them off and nothing. I reset password also. And also my language was set to Russian.

Outlook | Web | Outlook.com | Account management, security, and privacy
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  1. EmilyS726 271.5K Reputation points Independent Advisor
    2026-10-07T14:14:20.9833333+00:00

    Please sign into www.outlook.com on a computer, and click on the gear icon on the upper right to launch Settings.

    Then use this screenshot to guide you to the right location to change the language settings back to your prefered language.

    Outlook Language

    After that, please go through these items to review and further secure your account.

    Please feel free to skip those you already did.

    This process can take 24 hours to take effect. So please do not expect immediate results.

    Please complete these steps on a computer, not on a smartphone or tablet.

    ====================

    First, go to https://www.outlook.com and sign in.

    Click the gear icon in the top right corner to open Settings.

    Under Mail, review the following areas:

    Rules

    If any rules are listed, delete all of them.

    Conditional formatting

    If anything is set up there, delete it.

    Forwarding and IMAP

    If you see any entries or settings you did not create, remove them. Turn off POP and IMAP.

    Junk

    Review Safe sender and blocked list. If you don't recognize any, remove them.

    After that, exit Settings and return to outlook.com.

    Open the To Do section by clicking the blue checkmark icon on the left side. Delete anything there that was not created by you.

    ====================

    Go to https://account.live.com.

    Under Your info > Sign-in preferences, review all aliases on the account. If you see any alias you do not recognize, remove it.

    Next, go to the Devices section of your Microsoft account and remove any devices you do not recognize.

    ====================

    Please also do the following in Security section

    Change your password

    Enable two-step verification

    ====================

    Go here https://account.microsoft.com/privacy/app-access Click on "Don't allow" for anything you don't recognize.

    =======================

    Then go to Security > Manage how I sign in and make sure all contact information belongs to you.

    On that same page, scroll down to App passwords and remove any existing app passwords.

    Also on the same page, click on Sign out everywhere. This is intended to disconnect any active sessions that may still be connected. Please note that this can take up to 24 hours to fully take effect.

    ====================

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  2. AI answer

    2026-10-07T13:34:16.8633333+00:00

    This pattern strongly indicates the account was compromised. The key signs are unknown rules, mail not reaching the Inbox, and the language being changed.

    Do these steps in Outlook.com in a desktop browser:

    1. Go to Settings > Mail > Rules.
    2. Review every rule and delete all rules that were not created intentionally.
    3. If a rule cannot be edited or shows “This rule can't be edited or viewed”, create a new supported rule if needed and remove suspicious ones that can be removed. Outlook.com does not support client-side rules migrated from classic Outlook.
    4. In Settings > Mail > Rules, use the rule list to make sure no unwanted rule is still enabled. If needed, use the toggle to disable rules temporarily.
    5. If legitimate rules are needed later, recreate them directly in Outlook.com.

    Because mail is still not arriving after deleting rules, also check for other mailbox changes commonly made after compromise:

    1. Check Forwarding in Outlook.com settings and make sure nothing is forwarding mail elsewhere.
    2. Check for suspicious aliases and sign-in details in the Microsoft account security/sign-in settings, and remove anything unrecognized.
    3. Change the password again if needed and enable two-step verification.
    4. Change the Outlook language back under Settings > General > Language and time.

    Important rule behavior to check if mail starts returning but still goes to the wrong place:

    • Rules run in the order shown in the list; the top rule runs first.
    • In Outlook.com, if Stop processing more rules is selected, only the first matching rule is applied.
    • Reorder rules with the Up and Down arrows if needed.

    If the bad rules keep reappearing after deletion, that usually means the account is still not fully secured, so checking aliases, forwarding, and sign-in/security settings is essential before recreating any rules.

    References:

    AI-generated content may be incorrect. Read our transparency notes for more information.

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