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5 Ways to Fix Outlook if It’s Not Moving Emails to Folder

Oversized PST files prevent email from moving to folder

5 min. read

Updated onOctober 4, 2023

updated onOctober 4, 2023

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Key notes

Many users have recently reported Outlook not moving emails to folders permanently even after they try to move them out of the inbox.

There are several reasons for Outlook not moving multiple emails to a folder. When the emails you want to copy are already in use in another destination, you may encounter the Outlook not moving emails to folder issue.

If you encounter this problem, worry less, as this article provides the best troubleshooting tips and fixes.

Why is Outlook not moving emails to folder?

One of the primary reasons Outlook is not moving emails to a folder is a large PST file, which can occur when the Outlook app terminates abnormally while the file is still open.

This happens when Windows or the Outlook app crashes or the machine powers down unexpectedly. Additionally, the system Antivirus app may perform a threat check on Outlook files, causing this problem.

Also, when a rule is corrupted, it can affect the copying/moving of emails to a public folder.

If you don’t knowhow to create and use categories in Outlook, the highlighted guide will provide the information you need.

How do I force emails to a folder in Outlook?

1. Create Inbox Rules

And the rules will be applied to your incoming messages. This should fix your Outlook not moving emails to folder rule.

2. Repair Corrupt PST Outlook File

You can now open Outlook to check whether the error is fixed.

3. Create a new Outlook profile

You can now check if the outlook emails moved to folders still appear in the inbox.

4. Clean All Rules for your email

This should delete all your rules, even where you have overlapping rules. Then, you can set new rules.

5. Restart Outlook

You can work through any fixes above to know which works best for you.

Why are my Outlook folders not syncing?

This could result from poor internet connectivity or some other reasons that the content and folders in Outlook do not get updated automatically.

Hence, it will prevent Outlook from syncing the folder. Also, if the OST files are corrupt, the offline works may not sync with the other folders when the connection is turned on.

Syncing might also be responsible for creating duplicate emails. Our guide onhow to delete duplicate emails in Outlookwill help you fix that.

These are the best fixes for Outlook not moving emails to folder problems. Once the steps highlighted have been followed, all your emails should sync without hassles.

You can also check our detailed guide onfixing disappearing emailsif you find some of your emails are missing on Outlook.

If you have managed to fix the issue, you might also be interested in reading our guide onhow to color code Outlook emails for betterviewing.

Leave your comments and suggestions in the section below. We’d like to hear from you.

5 Ways to Fix Outlook if It’s Not Moving Emails to Folder#

Why is Outlook not moving emails to folder?#

How do I force emails to a folder in Outlook?#

1. Create Inbox Rules#

2. Repair Corrupt PST Outlook File#

3. Create a new Outlook profile#

4. Clean All Rules for your email#

5. Restart Outlook#

Why are my Outlook folders not syncing?#