Learn how to set up automatic email rules on iCloud web to organize and manage your inbox without lifting a finger.
Just like you can set up rules on your Mac for the Mail app, you can do the same for the Mail app on iCloud.com. You can move messages, mark them a certain way, or forward them automatically without even touching them. This is a terrific way to keep your inbox organized and find the emails you need much faster.
The rules for emails on iCloud.com are not as flexible as those in the macOS Mail app, but they can still be quite helpful. And here’s how to set up iCloud.com Mail rules for emails.
Set up your iCloud.com email rules
1) Visit icloud.com/mail/ and sign in using your Apple Account email address and password.
2) Click the gear icon at the top and select Settings.
3) Select Rules from the left sidebar.
4) Click the Add New Rule option or the plus icon (+) to create your first rule.
5) Give a desired name for your rule.
6) Now, click the “Message” drop-down menu and select one of the self-explanatory options:
- is from
- is addressed to
- is Cc’d to
- is addressed or Cc’d to
- has subject containing
- has list-id containing (List ID is a special header used to identify mailing lists. You can find the list-id of an email sent through mailing list software by viewing the full email headers and raw source, and then searching for List-ID.)
7) After setting up the condition in the above step, click the “Action” drop-down menu and select an option:
- Move to Folder
- Forward to
- Mark as Read
- Move to Trash
- Move to Folder and Mark as Read
- Move to Trash and Mark as Read
- Forward to an Email Address and Mark as Read
8) Finally, click the Add button to create your rule.
You can follow the above steps to create up to 500 rules for your iCloud email account.
Note that it may take up to 15 minutes for new and edited rules to come into effect. Rules won’t affect your existing emails.
What happens next?
After you create an iCloud email rule, any new email that falls into that parameter (what you selected in the “Message” drop-down menu in Step 6) will automatically be affected by the “Action” you selected in Step 7. For instance, if I get an email with the subject “iDB Wallpaper,” it will be forwarded automatically to the ‘tips@idownloadblog.com’ email address so my editor can also view that message.
Reorder your email filtering rules
You can create multiple rules (up to 500), and if an incoming message falls into more than one rule, then the rule at the top is applied to that email. You can change the order of your iCloud email rules by clicking the hamburger icon and dragging it up or down.
Edit or delete your iCloud email rules
You can change a rule or delete it anytime you want.
1) Visit icloud.com/mail/ and sign in with your Apple Account details. Then, click the gear icon, followed by Settings > Rules.
2) Select a rule you created earlier.
3) Change the conditions under the “Message” or “Action” drop-down menus and hit Save. In case you don’t want to keep that rule, click the red “Delete Rule” button instead.
What will you be using iCloud Mail rules for?
On the same note: