Today we continue with our column MM Answers.
The question of the day:
How to create junk e-mail rules in OS X Mail?
Junk messages
Filtering unwanted messages in your Inbox is one of the best ways to optimize your time in relation to emails. In this post I will explain how to make rules that can filter, according to your definitions, those unwanted emails.
In addition to being able to be used for different ways of displaying messages in your Inboxes (color, letter, sound, etc.), email rules can also move your messages to specific folders or even delete unwanted items. Being created on your Mac, the computer must necessarily be turned on (with Mail open) and connected to the internet for the rules to be applied; if created on iCloud, the process works independently and is centralized on the server.

To start the work, we will separate the messages into two basic and unwanted patterns at least as I like to do:
- Stores: registrations you make for which generate dozens of weekly emails with offers and advertisements in general.
- Spam: messages from other companies or services that you haven't even contacted.
If you want to move emails to a specific folder of unwanted messages where they will be sorted later, the rule will be a little different and there will be a need to create a folder in Mail that is synchronized with your other devices as long as your account is IMAP or Exchange.
To create this folder, click Mailbox New Mailbox. Set the location (iCloud, for example), then set the folder name and click OK.
Creating a rule
On your Mac, follow these steps (IMAP or Exchange accounts):
- Open Mail, go to Mail Preferences Rules Add Rule.
- We will call it Garbage in the description field and the rule will be as follows:

- If you want to move the messages to a folder (in order to later do that sorting that I said), follow the model below, in which I move my messages to the folder Trash:

- To create a pattern of messages so that they follow the new rule, select a message and, yes, click Mail Preferences Rules Add Rule / Edit because the process is facilitated with the information already imported from the message itself. When creating the rule based on the email address, I still recommend removing everything that precedes @, making it even more extensive and efficient.

- Once the rule is created, just edit it and add other senders or criteria that meet your needs.
Note that there is a button by which we can choose whether the rule should follow all the conditions you have created or if it is applied only if any of the conditions is true. This makes all the difference to the correct functioning of the created rule.
It is also very worthwhile to browse / play with the dozens of options available so that the most accurate and satisfactory rule is created.

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