Mail Filtering Howto


Mozilla's mail filtering system is useful for processing messages without any interaction. Using the mail filtering system, you can move messages to a different folder, label them, delete them, and mark them as Junk to help organizing your messages a little easier.

The Mozilla Mail filtering system is accessed through the Tools - Message Filters menu.



There are 3 basic steps required to create each filter:

- Create a new filter
- Tell Mozilla the criteria to filter messages on
- Tell Mozilla what to do with messages that match the filter


1. To create a new filter, click on the New button.


2. At the top, give your filter a name.

This name is just used to display the filter in the filter list, so call it anything you'd like.

3. If you're going to have multiple criteria to match on, decide whether you want the filter to match All or Any criteria that you're about to specify.

For example: Let's assume that you want to create a filter to do something to messages from ksnders@clas.ufl.edu or to messages that are sent to the clas-contactz@clas.ufl.edu mailing list.

    The two criteria that you have to filter on are:

        Sender: ksnders@clas.ufl.edu
        To: clas-contactz@clas.ufl.edu

If you tell Mozilla to filter on ALL criteria, the filter will only run if the Sender (or From line) is ksnders@clas.ufl.edu AND the To: line is clas-contactz@clas.ufl.edu.

If you tell Mozilla to filter on ANY criteria, the filter will apply to any message that has a Sender field containing ksnders@clas.ufl.edu OR the To: link is clas-contactz@clas.ufl.edu

4. The first criteria line is in the middle box

The first box on the criteria line is for the field that you want Mozilla to try to match the pattern to. This defaults to the subject line. If you want to match a field other than the subject line, such as the Sender , pull down the first box and choose a different field.

The middle box contains the operator to use on the field. It defaults to "contains", which affects any part of the subject line.  You can change this to "is" or "isn't" for an exact match on the subject line. "begins with" or "ends with" might be handy for list traffic that always includes a prefix or suffix on the message subject line.

The last box is blank by default. This is where you type in the pattern that you want this line to match with. This is typically a word, or an email address.

Once you've chosen entries for these boxes, you have the option to add another line of criteria to match.  To add another line to match, click on the More button. If you accidently click on More and want to remove an extra line, click on Fewer to remove it.

5. After you're satisfied with your criteria line(s), you have to tell Mozilla what to do with messages that match this filter.

Check the box that applies to the action that you want to perform. If you choose one of the top actions, you also have to choose a value from the pulldown box next to it. For example, if you choose "Move to Folder", you'll also need to tell it which folder to move the message to. The "New Folder" button will allow you to create a new folder to move the message to, if you haven't already created one.

6. Click on OK to save the filter when you're satisfied with it.

You'll return to the list of filters screen. You can close this screen by clicking on the X in the upper corner.

Filters are automatically applied to messages in the In box when the client checks for new mail messages. To apply filters to other folders, highlight the folder, then click on "Tools" - "Run Filters on Folder".

back to top