If you are not already viewing the Message Filters dialog box, begin from the Mail window:

1. Open the Tools menu and choose Message Filters. You see the Message Filters dialog box.
2. If you have multiple mail accounts, choose the one to which you want to apply the filter.
3. Click New. You use the Filter Rules dialog box to specify the types of messages to act on, and the action you want the filter to perform.
4. Type a name for the filter.
5. Select the matching option you want Mail to use: "all of the following conditions" (criteria) you choose, or "at least one" of the conditions.
6. Use the drop-down lists to choose the search criteria (for example, "Subject," "Sender," "contains," "doesn't contain") and then type the text or phrase you want to match.
   Tip: To search for messages that contain a header not listed in the first drop-down menu (for example, if you want to search for messages that include the header Resent-From), choose Customize and type the header you want to search for. Mozilla Mail & Newsgroups adds your custom header to the drop-down list, so you can then choose it to search for matching entries. Make sure you enter the custom header correctly, since Mail will only find entries that exactly match what you type.
7. Click More to add criteria and Fewer to remove them.
8. Use the drop-down list to choose the action you want the filter to perform on the messages (for example, Move to Folder).
   Tip: To automatically label incoming messages, choose "Label the message" from the drop-down list.
9. Choose a destination folder in which to store the messages, or create a new folder.
10. Click OK to confirm your settings.
11. Click OK in the Message Filters dialog box. The filter begins filtering incoming messages as soon as you click OK.

To manage your filters, begin from the Mail window:

1. Open the Tools menu and choose Message Filters. You see the Message Filters dialog box.
2. If you have multiple mail accounts, choose the one to which you want to apply the filter.
3. Choose from the following:
   • To turn a filter on or off: Click the checkbox to the right of the filter name to enable it, or click it again to turn it off.
   • To edit a filter:Select the filter name and click Edit (or double-click the filter name). Use the Filter Rules dialog box to make your changes.
   • To delete a filter:Select the filter name and click Delete.
   • To change the order in which filters are applied: In the filter list, click a filter's name, and click "Move Up" or "Move Down" to move it.
     Note: Filters are applied to each incoming message in the order you choose, until a filter action results in the message being deleted or moved to the Inbox folder.
4. Click OK when you are done managing your filters. If you created a new filter, it begins filtering incoming messages as soon as you click OK.
   Note: If you delete a folder that you've been using to store filtered messages, the filter will no longer work. Incoming messages that match the filter criteria will appear in your Inbox. If you rename or move the folder, the filter will automatically update to use the renamed or moved folder.
   Tip: Filters don't apply to existing messages. If you have existing messages that you want to move to another folder, you can search for those messages and then file them into the other folder.

Filtering Messages From a Specific Sender
You can quickly create a filter for messages from a particular sender. For example, if you want to automatically move all incoming messages from your child's teacher into a folder called "School", you can quickly set up a filter to do this.

To create a filter for messages from a specific sender, begin from the Mail window:

1. Select a message from a specific sender.
2. Open the Message menu, and choose Create Filter From Message. You see the Filter Rules dialog box. Using the sender's email address, Mozilla prefills the filter name, the filter matching criteria, and the filter action (Move to folder).
3. Choose a destination folder in which to store the incoming messages from the specified sender, or create a new folder.
4. Click OK to confirm your settings. You see the Message Filters dialog box, where you can create, delete, or edit message filters.
5. Click OK. The filter begins filtering incoming messages from the specified sender as soon as you click OK.