Outlook – How to make Outlook show the unread count of a folder, including its sub-folders

Here it is. Note this is specific to the Junk folder (olFolderJunk is an Outlook constant), and it will run any filter I create prefixed with "JUNK_FILTER_".

It is optimistic and has virtually no error checking, so use it at your peril. Don't use it if you don't understand it :)

Sub runRulesOnJunkFolder()
    Dim st As Outlook.Store
    Dim myRules As Outlook.Rules
    Dim rl As Outlook.Rule
    Dim count As Integer
    Dim ruleList As String
    Dim rulePrefix As String
    Dim ruleFolder As Long

    '
    Dim outlookApp As Outlook.Application
    Dim objNS As NameSpace


    ruleFolder = olFolderJunk
    rulePrefix = "JUNK_FILTER_"

    Set objNS = Application.GetNamespace("MAPI")
    Set objJunkfolder = objNS.GetDefaultFolder(ruleFolder)

    ' get default store (where rules live)
    Set st = Application.Session.DefaultStore
    ' get rules
    Set myRules = st.GetRules

    ' iterate all the rules
    For Each rl In myRules
        ' determine if it's an Inbox rule and rule name prefix matches
        If rl.RuleType = olRuleReceive And Left(rl.Name, Len(rulePrefix)) = rulePrefix Then

            ' if so, run it
            rl.Execute ShowProgress:=True, Folder:=objJunkfolder
            count = count + 1
            ruleList = ruleList & vbCrLf & rl.Name
        End If
    Next

    ' tell the user what you did
    ruleList = "These rules were executed against the folder: " & objJunkfolder.Name & vbCrLf & ruleList
    MsgBox ruleList, vbInformation, "Macro: runRulesOnJunkFolder"

    Set rl = Nothing
    Set st = Nothing
    Set myRules = Nothing
    Set objJunkfolder = Nothing
    Set objNS = Nothing
End Sub

Something is broken or maybe just incorrectly configured.

Messages will be moved in the state they are already in (ie read or unread). You can explicitly include a step in your rules to mark them as read, but not vice-versa. Can you edit your rule to check that it is not set to mark as read every time?

Does it make a difference if the target folder is a sub-folder of your inbox (I have several set up this way and they work fine) or if it just a folder under the root of your mailbox?