Rules in Apple Mail

A great feature of most email programs is they have rules which allow you to filter an email to send it where you want it to go even before you read it. Maybe you have an LIT folder and every email that has LIT in the subject (agenda, minutes) you want to go to that folder and be automatically deposited there. You can also use rules to make an automatic reply, say for every time your significant other sends you an email you can have a reply automatically sent back to him/her saying, "Thanks for the email, Honey. I'll be sure to pick up milk on the way home." (tongue firmly planted in cheek)

You can also use rules to get rid of spam by looking for key words or the names of certain senders. Examples of rules that I use are:

• Moodle - I have a Moodle rule so that any assignment turned in by my kids via Moodle gets dropped into Moodle folder instead of cluttering up my Inbox.
• Viagra - Anytime an email comes in with Viagra in the subject it automatically gets deleted.
• Tech Support - Any Tech Support emails get dropped in a separate folder called Tech Support but a copy also goes into my inbox.

Here's how to do it (I will be demonstrating it in Apple Mail):

• In Mail open your Preferences (go up to Mail and then Preferences... or press Apple + , (comma) in any program
• In the tabs across the top click on Rules
• Click Add Rule
• Give it a name and then start adding the ways that you want Mail to move your messages around