Which activity should be used to show only filtered MailMessage variables?

The activity that should be used to show only filtered MailMessage variables is Get Outlook Mail Messages. This activity allows you to retrieve email messages from an Outlook account, and while it might not immediately appear as a filtering function, it does enable you to specify parameters such as specific folders, date ranges, and even search criteria.

When you use this activity, you can effectively limit the set of MailMessages to those that meet your specified criteria right from the outset of the retrieval process. This method is efficient because it pulls only the relevant email data into your workflow, allowing for easier management and processing later in the automation.

In contrast, activities like Filter Mail Messages are designed to filter an already retrieved collection of MailMessage variables. It operates on data that has already been fetched, meaning it doesn't reduce the incoming dataset initially. This is why the Get Outlook Mail Messages is the right choice for creating a filtered view of emails as they are being gathered.