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Scholarly & Research Technologies

Academic IT Support Center: Gmail: Setting Up Filters

What Is Filtering?

Gmail filters let you automatically organize your inbox. With filters, you can automatically label, archive (skip the inbox), delete, star, or forward messages that meet specific criteria. Once a filter is created, Gmail will automatically apply the selected actions to incoming messages that match your filter rules.

Create an Email Filter From Settings

  1. In your ISMMS Google inbox, click the gear icon (⚙️) in the top-right corner.

  2. Select See all settings.

  3. Click the Filters and Blocked Addresses tab.

  4. Choose Create a new filter.

  5. Enter your desired filter criteria (for example, a sender’s address or specific keywords).

  6. Click Create filter to set the filter actions.

  7. Select one or more actions:
    • Skip the Inbox (Archive it)
    • Apply a label
    • Delete it
    • Star it
    • Forward it
    • Never send it to Spam

  8. Click Create filter again to save and activate it.

Create an Email Filter Using the Search Box

  1. Open Gmail and click the sliders icon (Show search options) on the right side of the search bar.

  2. Enter your filter conditions — such as a sender’s email, subject, or specific words.

  3. Click Create filter at the bottom of the search box.

  4. Choose the actions you want Gmail to take for matching emails.

  5. (Optional) Check Also apply filter to matching conversations if you want the same rules to apply to existing messages.

  6. Click Create filter to finish.

Create an Email Filter From an Existing Message

  1. Open a message that you want to base your filter on.

  2. Click the three dots (⋮) at the top-right corner of the email.

  3. Select Filter messages like these.

  4. Gmail will open the filter creation window with the sender’s email already filled in.

  5. Adjust any details or add extra criteria if needed.

  6. Click Create filter and select your preferred actions.

  7. Click Create filter again to save.

Manage Your Email Filters

  1. Click the gear icon (⚙️) → See all settings.

  2. Go to the Filters and Blocked Addresses tab.

  3. You’ll see a list of all active filters. From here you can:
    • Edit a filter to change its criteria or actions.
    • Delete a filter you no longer need.
    • Create new or import existing filters.

Note: Messages that have been filtered or archived will still appear under All Mail in your Gmail sidebar.