How to filter meeting invites/updates/responses from emails in Outlook?

Author Kelly Last modified 2025-04-14

Let’s say you need to find out all meeting invitations, meeting responses, and meeting updates from hundreds of messages, how to quickly get it done? Here I will introduce three methods to filter meeting invitations/responses/updates from email messages in Microsoft Outlook.

Filter meeting invitations/responses/updates with a custom search folder

Filter meeting invitations/updates with a rule

Filter meeting invitations/responses/updates with Filter feature

Filter meeting invitations/responses/updates with a custom search folder

The Search Folder feature is quite helpful in Microsoft Outlook, and enables you to automatically filter all meeting invitations, responses, and updates from a specified mail folder easily.

Step 1: Shift to the Mail view and open a mail folder that you will filter meeting invitations, responses and updates from.

Step 2: Click the "New Search Folder" on the "Folder" tab (or "File" > "New" > "Search Folder" in Outlook 2007).

Step 3: In the popping up New Search Folder dialog box, click to highlight the "Create a custom Search Folder", and then click the "Choose" button.

the screenshot of step about filtering meeting invitations/responses/updates with a custom search folder 1

Step 4: In the coming Custom Search Folder dialog box, enter a name for the custom search folder in the "Name" box, and then click the "Criteria" button.

the screenshot of step about filtering meeting invitations/responses/updates with a custom search folder 2

Step 5: Now you get into the Search Folder Criteria dialog box, go to the "Advanced" tab, and:

(1) Click the "Field" >"All Appointment fields" > :"Duration";

(2) Click the "Conditior" (or "Condition") box, and select the exists from the drop down list;

(3) Click the "Add to List" button;

(4) Click the "OK" button to close this dialog box.

the screenshot of step about filtering meeting invitations/responses/updates with a custom search folder 3

Step 6: Click the other two "OK" buttons to close both dialog boxes.

Then it creates a new search folder with filtering all meeting invitations, meeting updates, and meeting responses inside. What’s more, the meeting invitations/updates/responses will display in this search folder automatically if you receive them in future.

Filter meeting invitations/updates with a rule

A rule is also able to help you filter all meeting invitations and meeting updates from a specified mail folder to the other folder automatically in Microsoft Outlook.

Step 1: Shift to the Mail view, and open a mail folder that you will filter meeting invitations and meeting updates from.

Step 2: Click the "Rules" > "Manage Rules & Alerts" on the "Home" tab (or "Tools" > "Rules and Alerts" in Outlook 2007).

Step 3: In the Rules and Alerts dialog box, click the "New Rule" button on the E-mail "Rules" tab.

Step 4: In the new Rules Wizard dialog box, click to highlight the "Apply rule on messages I receive" (or "Check messages when they arrive" in Outlook 2007), and then click the :"Next" button.

the screenshot of step about filtering meeting invitations/responses/updates with a rule 1

Step 5: In the second Rules Wizard dialog box, check the option of "which is a meeting invitation or update", and then click the "Next" button.

the screenshot of step about filtering meeting invitations/responses/updates with a rule 2

Step 6: In the third Rule Wizard dialog box, see screen shot below:

(1) Check the option of "move it to the specified folder";

(2) Click the text of "specified";

(3) In the coming Rules and Alerts dialog box, click to highlight a mail folder that you will move meeting invitations and updates to, and click the "OK" button.

(4) Click the "Next" button.

the screenshot of step about filtering meeting invitations/responses/updates with a rule 3

Step 7: Click the "Next" button in the next Rules Wizard dialog box; and then in the last Rule Wizard dialog box, check the option of "Run this rule now on messages already in “your folder name”", and click the "Finish" button.

Step 8: Close the Rules and Alerts dialog box with click the "OK" button.

After running this custom rule, all meeting invitations and meeting updates in opened mail folder are filtered and moved to your specified folder.

Filter meeting invitations/responses/updates with Filter feature

Actually, you can apply the Filter feature to filter meeting invitations, meeting responses, and meeting updates from email messages directly.

Step 1: Shift to the Mail view, and open a mail folder that you will filter meeting invitations and meeting updates from.

Step 2: Click the "View Setting" button on the "View" tab (or "View" > "Current View" > "Customize Current View" in Outlook 2007).

Step 3: In the Advanced View Settings dialog box, click the "Filter" button.

the screenshot of step about filtering meeting invitations/responses/updates with filter feature 1

Step 4: In the coming Filter dialog box, go to the "Advanced" tab, and:

(1) Click the "Field" > "All Appointment fields" > "Duration";

(2) Click the "Conditior" (or "Condition") box, and select the exists from the drop down list;

(3) Click the "Add to List" button;

(4) Click the "OK" button to close this dialog box.

the screenshot of step about filtering meeting invitations/responses/updates with filter feature 2

Step 5: Close the Advanced View Settings dialog box with clicking the OK button.

Then all emails with meeting invitations, meeting responses, and meeting updates are filtered and listed in the current email folder automatically.

Note: You can save this customizing view with filter by clicking the "Change View" > "Save Current View As a New View" on the "View" tab in Outlook 2010 and 2013.