Managing Your Account: Using Filters

What is a filter?
How do I use filters?
How do I create a filter?
How do I turn a filter off?

What is a filter?

An email filter allows you to define rules to manage incoming email messages. Filtering applies a set of rules to incoming email and then executes a specified action.
You can filter your incoming email messages to:

•  Sort them into folders
•  Automatically tag them
•  Forward them
•  Discard them

How do I use filters?
Each filter rule consists of one or more conditions and one or more actions.
For example, if your supervisor sends you emails from more than one address, such as jane.smith@company.com or jane-smith23@personal.com, you could create one filter called Supervisor that has two conditions, one for each email address.

Conditions
Each filter rule can specify one or more conditions. Conditions include:

•  Specific addresses in the From, To, and Cc addresses in the email header

•  The presence or absence of file attachments

•  Words or character strings in the subject or body

of the email message
All conditions allow you to specify not as a negative condition. For example, you can specify email that does not contain a particular word.
You can combine conditions to search for email with more complex characteristics.

Actions
Each filter rule can specify one or more actions. Actions include:

•  Leave the message in the Inbox (no action)

•  Move the message to another specified folder

•  Tag the message

•  Mark the message as read or as flagged

•  Discard the message. This action drops the email message silently, which means that the message does not reach your mailbox. It is not the same as the Delete action on your menu. Deleting an item moves it to the Trash folder.

•  Stop further evaluation. This action prevents the application of any additional filter rules to email messages that match the current rule.

How do I create a filter?
To create a new filter from an email message:

1. Right-click on the message, and choose New Filter.

 The Edit Filter dialog displays with From and Subject set with the information from the selected email message.

2. Enter a name for the filter in the Filter Name field.

3. Change any filter conditions and actions necessary using the drop down menus in the Edit Filter dialog.
4. Click .

How do I turn a filter off?
All filters are listed on the Preferences > Mail Filters tab.
Click the Active check box to turn filters on or off without having to delete the filter rules.