Message filters act like outllook rules and allows you to set up Thunderbird to organize your messages automatically. Filters can move messages to folders, delete them, forward them to other email addresses, and more.

To create a new filter:

1. In the Menu Bar, click Tools, then click Message Filters.

2. Click New. A Filter Rules dialog box will appear.

3. In the "Filter Name" field, type a name for your filter.

4. In the "Apply filter when" dropdown, click on one of the options.

5. Choose a property, a test and a value for each rule you want to apply:

• A property is a message element or characteristic such as “Subject” or “From”
• A test is a check on the property, such as “contains” or “is in my address book”
• A value completes the test with a specific detail, such as an email address or keyword

6. Choose one or more actions for messages that meet those criteria.

7. Click OK.

8. In the Message Filters dialog, click Run Now if you want the new filter to be applied to messages you’ve already received. The filter will automatically be applied to all new messages after it's saved.

Example filters

Add a star

You might want to automatically add a star to all messages from your workplace domain, making them stand out from the rest of your Inbox messages. You could create this filter:

Move to a folder

You may like to filter out lower-priority messages from your Inbox to reduce clutter. For example you may have chosen to receive notifications from businesses you patronize, but like to keep them in a separate folder.

First, create a folder called “Promotions” (or something similar) by clicking File | New | Folder. You could then create a filter like this:

Because you selected the "Match any of the following option", all messages that meet any one of these criteria will be automatically be moved from the Inbox to the Promotions folder:

• Are from the address sales@software.biz, or
• Have “discount” in the subject line, or
• Have the word “customer” somewhere in the address or display name (“customer.service”, “Customer Support” etc.)