clipped from: lifehacker.com 
by Gina Trapani
I receive hundreds of email messages a day, but only a couple dozen actually make it into my inbox. Thanks to the automated power of full-strength email filters, just the messsages that are important enough to deal with catch my attention when I'm busy.
It's not that I don't read every message I receive eventually, it's that I want to do it on my own terms and in my own time. Low-priority, unsolicited email shouldn't suck up brain cycles when I'm under deadline. Only the "important" messages should be let through the gate. Here's where email filters save the day.
It's taken me years to polish and perfect this set of tried and true armed guards who protect my inbox from undesirables. Today I'll share some of my favorites - and then I want to hear about yours.
The examples here use Gmail's format because of its superior searching capabilities that allow for complex, specific filters. Many can be applied to most modern email clients.
Receive these right away.
Let these gather quietly out of sight till you're ready to deal.
Messages you don't ever want to see. (MWAHAHAHA!)
For: Anyone with a spouse, boss, co-worker or receiving messages about an urgent issue.
How it works: Set any message from a set of Very Important People or containing keywords to forward to your phone or pager.
Example: Forward messages from your boss or your wife or with the words "Your check" to your phone.
Matches: from:(boss@1ifehacker.com OR wife@home.com) OR subject:"Your check"
Do this: Forward to 7185551212@teleflip.com
Matches: from:(boss@1ifehacker.com OR wife@home.com) OR subject:"Your check"
Do this: Forward to 7185551212@teleflip.com
For: Anyone with a published email address (like on a web site) that anyone in the whole world might Google up and use to contact you.
How it works: Send any email to your "public-facing" email address into a "cold callers" folder or label.
Example: Any email that comes to the tips at lifehacker.com address go into the "tips" label (or folder.)
Matches: to:(tips@lifehacker.com)
Do this: Skip Inbox, Apply label "tips"
Matches: to:(tips@lifehacker.com)
Do this: Skip Inbox, Apply label "tips"
Exclude VIP's from this filter like this:
Matches: to:(tips@lifehacker.com) from:(-wendy@lifehacker.com AND -adam@lifehacker.com)
Do this: Skip Inbox, Apply label "tips"
Matches: to:(tips@lifehacker.com) from:(-wendy@lifehacker.com AND -adam@lifehacker.com)
Do this: Skip Inbox, Apply label "tips"
For: Anyone subscribed to mailing list(s).
How it works: Set any messages to the mailing list addresses to skip the Inbox. (Note: The "Not to Me" filter below works for mailing lists as well.)
Example: Send messages to (not from!) list1@example.com or list2@example.com to "mailing list" folder/label.
Matches: to:(list1@example.com OR list2@example.com)
Do this: Skip Inbox, Apply label "mailing list"
Matches: to:(list1@example.com OR list2@example.com)
Do this: Skip Inbox, Apply label "mailing list"
For: Anyone with CC-happy co-workers, or correspondents who like to send out mass BCC'ed email messages to a group of people.
How it works: If none of your legitimate email addresses aren't in the To: field, file away in "Not to me" folder/label. See also how to color-code messages only to you.
Example: If none of my email addresses are in the To: line, it skips the Inbox.
Matches: to:(-(ginatrapani@myfirstaddress.com OR gina@mysecondaddress.com OR gtrapani@mythirdaddress.com))
Do this: Skip Inbox, Apply label "not to me"
Matches: to:(-(ginatrapani@myfirstaddress.com OR gina@mysecondaddress.com OR gtrapani@mythirdaddress.com))
Do this: Skip Inbox, Apply label "not to me"
For: Anyone whose Aunt Bertha insists on forwarding poems and kitten pictures.
How it works: Send any message with "Fwd" in the subject line to a "later" folder/label.
Example: Shuttle messages from Aunt Bertha and Uncle Hal with "fwd" in the subject line to a "later" folder/label.
Matches: from:(auntbertha@aol.com OR unclehal@aol.com) subject:Fwd
Do this: Apply label "later"
Matches: from:(auntbertha@aol.com OR unclehal@aol.com) subject:Fwd
Do this: Apply label "later"
For: Anyone who automates (crons) jobs that email them every night with the results.
How it works: Send any automated messages to the "Automated" folder.
Example: If the from field contains "Cron Daemon," move it to Automated.
Matches: from:("Cron Daemon")
Do this: Skip Inbox, Apply label "automated"
Matches: from:("Cron Daemon")
Do this: Skip Inbox, Apply label "automated"
Note: You can filter out the messages that indicate a problem. For example, if my nightly backup fails, I want to know about that. So you can add exceptions to the filter, like this:
Matches: from:("Cron Daemon") AND -subject:"SyncBack Status - PROBLEM"
Do this: Skip Inbox, Apply label "automated"
Matches: from:("Cron Daemon") AND -subject:"SyncBack Status - PROBLEM"
Do this: Skip Inbox, Apply label "automated"
For: Anyone who uses their email as a backup solution, like GSpace or Gmail Drive users.
How it works: Shuttle any messages with the file storage subject line into a "backup" folder.
Example: Send messages with "GSPACE" in the subject line to backup folder.
Matches: subject:("GSPACE" OR "EMAILBACKUP")
Do this: Skip Inbox, Apply label "backup"
Matches: subject:("GSPACE" OR "EMAILBACKUP")
Do this: Skip Inbox, Apply label "backup"
For: Anyone who's had the misfortune of being added to an email list from which they can't seem to unsubscribe, or who get badgered by *cough* PUBLIC RELATIONS BULLDOGS *cough* who spam you with messages every day.
How it works: Messages from anyone who you never want to hear from again under any circumstances get deleted.
Example: Messages from folks on my blacklist get automatically deleted.
Matches: from:(annoyingperson1@example.com OR annoyingperson2@example.com) Do this: Skip Inbox, Delete it
Matches: from:(annoyingperson1@example.com OR annoyingperson2@example.com) Do this: Skip Inbox, Delete it
What are your most effective email filters? Tell us all about 'em in the comments or to tips at lifehacker.com.
Gina Trapani, the editor of Lifehacker, loves a good strong filter. Her semi-weekly feature, Geek to Live, appears every Wednesday and Friday on Lifehacker. Subscribe to the Geek to Live feed to get new installments in your newsreader.
Read more: Email, Email apps, Email Forwarding, Feature, Geek to Live, Top
Ha! You know, I was wondering if someone would bring that up! I actually use these in conjunction with the TT.
One other annoyance I've happened on is the conehead you can't twit that insists on copying everything they send to both your work and personal addresses.
I redirect their emails to the correct account and then bounce them (on the inappropriate address) until they're properly trained.
My email client bounces and redirects natively, but those unable to bounce messages with their mail client can accomplish the same thing with MailWasher. It comes in both free and Pro versions.
I use the + in Gmail all the time. If you are gonna give your email to a company, add a +company to the address. So for your bank you could do tips+mybank@lifehacker.com. Basically it gives you on the fly special addresses. Then you can filter and label based on those "additions". I have all my electronic statements come in with a +bills so they get filed away properly. Saves me from having to worry about them changing what email address they send from, or the subject line. No matter what a 3rd party changes about thier mail, they arent going to change your email address. It's been pretty foolproof.
When you are composing your filter in Gmail, put your +keyword on the To line.
Ah, nyxsi, you've hit upon one of my biggest pet peeves. I get an insane number of Lifehacker-related messages to my personal address.
I've actually got a template that reads "Hey, do me a favor, and send Lifehacker tips to tips@lifehacker.com. This is my personal address." and I fire it off a few times a week.
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