Creating your first rule

Last updated October 2026

A rule checks incoming email and runs actions when it matches. Much gets done this way before you even open the inbox.

A worked example

Goal: all newsletters from one sender get a tag and move to their own folder. Create the tag “Newsletter” beforehand, because in the rule editor you only pick existing tags.

1. Open Settings → Automations.
2. Choose New Rule.
3. Enter a name under Rule name, say “Sort newsletters”.
4. Under Conditions there is already a first condition. Change it to field From, comparison contains, value newsletter@example.com.
5. Under Actions there is already Move to mailbox. Pick your newsletter folder as the target.
6. Add a second action with + add action: Add tag with the tag “Newsletter”.
7. Confirm with Add rule.

The rule takes effect from the next incoming mail of that sender.

When rules run

Rules act as new email arrives, and in every folder YouniqMail syncs, not just the inbox. If they should only act there, add the Mailbox / folder condition. With Mail account you limit a rule to individual accounts.

Rules cannot be applied retroactively to mail that is already there, and there is no test run. One exception is the first sync of a new account: rules also run for the most recent mails whose content comes along right away.

For the rest of your mail, use search instead: open the results, select all, run the desired action.

Moves can lag

If a full sync is running, YouniqMail first performs the actions that are possible right away, such as notes. Moving, flagging and tags follow as soon as the sync has finished. That keeps the two processes from blocking each other.

Several conditions

How several conditions work together is set by the Mode field:

• All conditions match (default)
• Any condition matches
• Exactly one condition matches
• No condition matches

A rule for “invoices from two different senders” therefore needs just two conditions on From and the mode Any condition matches.

Several rules

YouniqMail first checks all active rules against the incoming mail and then runs the actions of every matching rule one after another, in the order the rules were created. If two rules move the same mail, the one created last wins.

The order cannot be changed. To keep any further rule from acting after a rule, turn on Stop after this rule in it.

Each rule has its own switch in the list to turn it off temporarily, plus Duplicate and Delete.

Silent delivery

If a rule immediately moves an incoming mail away, say into a folder, the archive or the trash, YouniqMail suppresses its sound and notification. Otherwise you would be alerted about mail you never get to see in the inbox. This happens on its own; there is no setting for it.

That also explains why a missing email sometimes vanishes without any trace. See My emails are not arriving for details.

Test first, then go live

For rules that move or delete, an intermediate step pays off: create the rule with only the Add tag action at first. After a few days, the tag shows which mail would have been affected. If the selection is right, add the real action. It then applies to all mail arriving from that point on.

Limits without Pro

The free plan allows 10 rules. Some conditions, the comparison matches regex and the actions for integrations belong to advanced automation and require Pro. Without a license they carry the suffix “(Pro)” in the editor.

Rules using Pro components are paused without a license rather than deleted, and resume unchanged after activation.

A complete list of everything available lives under All conditions and actions.