Automate your inbox with filters

A filter is a rule: when a new message matches your conditions, do something with it. Filters run on the mail server as mail arrives, so they work even when you are not signed in and they also apply to mail you read in phone and desktop mail apps.

Create a filter

1. Open Settings and choose Filters.
2. Choose Add a rule and give it a name.
3. Under When a message matches, choose all or any of the conditions.
4. Set each condition. You can test From, To, Cc, Subject or Message body using contains, doesn't contain, is exactly or matches (with * and ? wildcards). You can also test Has an attachment or Size (over or under a number of KB). Use Condition to add more.
5. Under Then, choose what happens. Use Action to add more than one.
6. Choose Save filters. Nothing runs until you save.

What a filter can do

• Move to folder
• Add label (create labels first under Settings, Labels)
• Mark as read
• Star it
• Forward to an address
• Delete it (it never arrives)
• Stop processing more rules

Tip: All is for narrowing: "From contains supplier.com" and "Subject contains invoice" catches only invoices from that supplier. Any is for widening: the same two conditions would catch everything from the supplier plus every message with "invoice" in the subject.

Order matters

Rules run from the top down. Use the up and down arrows to reorder them, the toggle to switch a rule off without deleting it, and the bin to remove it. Add Stop processing more rules when a message should not be touched by anything below.

Check before you save

Choose Check with the server to ask the mail server whether it accepts your rules without changing anything. A plain-English summary of each rule is shown beneath it.

Good to know

• Filters only act on new mail. Mail already in your mailbox is not touched.
• Delete it throws the message away on arrival. It never reaches Trash and cannot be recovered. Be careful with broad conditions.
• Forwarding is done by the mail server and counts toward your mailbox's sending limits. A copy stays in your mailbox.

Common problems

• "Your filters are saved but not running." Another automatic script, such as an out-of-office reply set up elsewhere, may be active. Choose Turn filters on.
• A message was not filtered. It may have arrived before you saved, or a rule above it used Stop processing more rules.
• The label list is empty. Make a label first under Settings, Labels.