Filter rules

Rules that act on new mail, with conditions in the search syntax, and how to preview and apply them.

A rule has a condition and an action. FOLD applies the action to new messages that match.

Where to find rules

• Mac: Settings (⌘,) > Rules.
• iPhone and iPad: tap your avatar, then General > Rules under Automation.

Rules are stored on each device and are not synchronised between your Mac, iPhone and iPad.

Creating a rule

Choose New rule and fill in:

• Name, for example “File newsletters”.
• Condition (search syntax): any query that works in the search field, such as from:newsletter@example.com or subject:invoice OR subject:receipt. See search syntax and operators.
• Action, one of Mark as read, Mark as unread, Add flag, Remove flag, Move to folder and Delete. Every action except the two read states can be combined with Also mark as read.
• Stop subsequent rules when matched: later rules skip the message.

For Add flag and Remove flag, type a tag name such as important, or \Flagged for the flag itself. For Move to folder, type the folder name or full path. FOLD looks it up in the account of the first matching message, so if a rule matches mail from several accounts, all of it goes there; use to: to limit a rule to one account.

Rules run in the order of the list, from top to bottom. On iPhone and iPad, swipe a rule to the left to delete it.

When rules run

• On new mail: whenever FOLD fetches new messages on this device, it runs the rules on exactly those messages, once each.
• On existing mail: Preview counts what the rules would match in all mail stored on the device and changes nothing (“Preview: 12 matches across 2 of 3 rules (no changes made).”). Apply now runs them for real (“Applied 12 actions to 12 messages.”), up to 10,000 matches per rule.

Preview is optional; use it before Apply now.

Limitations

• Conditions use the local search index, which does not contain the text of received messages yet; conditions on message text rarely match.
• in:, account:, list:, file: and from-identity: are accepted but ignored. A condition made only of them, such as in:Newsletter, matches every message. The hint under the condition field mentions list: and has:attachment, but neither works yet.
• A rule fails if its condition cannot be run, for example with has:attachment or a minus in front of a word or address (see excluding). Preview and Apply now then report “Could not apply rules because there is no active session.”; on new mail, that rule and all rules after it are skipped without notice. Test a condition in the search field first.
• Delete currently removes messages only from FOLD’s store on this device; they stay on the server and in other mail apps. To delete on the server, move them to your Trash folder.
• Forwarding and automatic replies are not available as rule actions. The rules run in FOLD on your devices; FOLD does not create rules on the mail server.