Filtering applies a set of matching rules to incoming mail and then executes a specified action.
You can filter your incoming mail messages to sort them into folders, automatically tag them, forward them, or discard them. For example, you could create a rule as follows:
All mail from your supervisor goes in "Management Directives" folder.
All mail from the "corporate-events" mailing list is tagged with the "Events" tag.
Click the Options tab.
Open the Mail Filters tab and click New Filter.
The Add Filter dialog displays.
In Filter Name, type the name for the rule.
In the If the following conditions are met area, choose a grouping preference.
Any conditions means that if any of the conditions in the filter are met, apply the action.
All conditions means that all of the conditions in the filter must be met in order to apply the filter action.
The following steps can be repeated to set up multiple conditions and actions within a single filter.
Select from the first drop-down list which condition to use.
Choose a comparison method. The options shown depend on your choice in the previous drop-down. For example, "is" or "is not" could be shown.
Enter a word or phrse to compare against in the text field.
Click, Add to add more conditions. You can continue to add more conditions or proceed to the next part, which is to add one or more actions.
In the Perform the following actions area, choose an action from the drop-down list.
Specify a folder or tag name, if necessary. What you specify depends on the action you choose.
Click, Add to add more actions. You can continue to add more actions or click OK to finish.
Check the Active box to turn on the filter rule.
The filter will be applied automatically to all new incoming mail messages as they arrive.