A Lighter Workday

Guides

Outlook Rules to Organize Email (and Gmail Filters)

Outlook rules and Gmail filters sort new email for you, the moment it arrives. Three simple ones do most of the work: move newsletters to a "Read later" folder, move automatic notifications to their own folder, and keep messages where you're only copied out of the main inbox. What's left in your inbox is mostly email written to you, by people.

Why let rules sort your email

Many emails in a busy inbox aren't really for you: newsletters, automatic alerts, and threads you're only copied on. Each one still asks for a small decision when it lands next to the emails that matter.

Rules make that decision once, for every future message. You still read everything, just in a batch and at a time you choose.

Three rules to start with

  1. Newsletters → "Read later". Most newsletters contain the word "unsubscribe" at the bottom. A rule that looks for it catches nearly all of them.
  2. Notifications → "Notifications". Alerts from tools and systems often come from addresses with "noreply" or "no-reply" in them.
  3. CC only → "CC". Messages where you're on the CC line, not the To line, are usually for your information. Outlook can sort these for you.

Create the three folders (Outlook) or labels (Gmail) first, then add the rules below.

How to create a rule in Outlook

New Outlook and Outlook on the web

  1. Select the Settings gear, then go to Mail → Rules.
  2. Select Add new rule and give it a name, such as "Newsletters".
  3. Under Add a condition, choose one, for example Message body includes and type unsubscribe.
  4. Under Add an action, choose Move to and pick the folder.
  5. Tick Stop processing more rules if you don't want later rules to act on the same email.
  6. Select Save.

Quicker for one sender: right-click an email from them and look for the option to create a rule. Outlook fills in the sender for you.

Classic Outlook for Windows

  1. Select Home → Rules → Manage Rules & Alerts, then New Rule.
  2. Choose Apply rule on messages I receive and select Next.
  3. Tick a condition, such as with specific words in the body, and set the words.
  4. Tick move it to the specified folder and choose the folder.
  5. On the last screen, tick Run this rule now on messages already in "Inbox" to tidy up existing mail too.
  6. Select Finish.

For the CC rule, use the condition where my name is in the Cc box.

How to create a filter in Gmail

  1. In the Gmail search bar, select the Show search options icon (the sliders on the right).
  2. Fill in the condition. For newsletters, type unsubscribe in Has the words. For notifications, type noreply OR no-reply in From.
  3. Select Create filter.
  4. Tick Skip the Inbox (Archive it) and Apply the label, then choose or create the label.
  5. Tick Also apply filter to matching conversations to sort existing email too.
  6. Select Create filter.

To find filtered email later, open the label in the left sidebar. Archived email is never deleted; it just doesn't sit in the inbox.

Keep your rules simple

A few broad rules are easier to trust than many narrow ones. A good test: can you say in one sentence what each rule does? If not, it's probably too clever.

Once a week, look through the "Read later" and "Notifications" folders. If something important landed there, add an exception or change the condition. If a folder is never opened, unsubscribe from what's in it.

A paid alternative

If you'd rather not build rules yourself, paid services such as SaneBox sort email for you based on your habits. Built-in rules and filters are free and are usually enough for the three rules on this page.

Common mistakes

Get the free guide

The Calmer Inbox adds a 15-minute morning email routine, three settings that stop interruptions and 7 copy-paste AI prompts, free by email.

Related guides