What Are the AOL Filter Rules?
AOL mail filters are rules you set up to sort email messages based on specific criteria. When you set up these AOL rules, messages that meet the criteria you’ve noted will go into the folder you select instead of going into your main inbox. In other words, AOL filters are automations you set to sort messages into dedicated folders so you can organize your mailbox.
AOL filter settings allow you to sort messages based on keywords in the subject line or email body. You can also sort and filter AOL messages based on the sender's email address, or email addresses the message was sent to or carbon copied to. You can enter any words, phrases, or addresses you want, then select whether you want it to contain or not contain the specified word or phrase.
You can create up to 500 AOL filters for each mailbox you own.
How to Create a Rule in AOL Mail
Filters are managed in AOL Mail on the web, where you can create, edit, reorder, and delete them from the same Filters page.
Create New AOL Email Filters in AOL Mail:
- Go to https://mail.aol.com/ and sign in.
- Click the Settings icon.
- Select More Settings.
- Click Filters.
- Click Add new filters.
- Enter a filter name, set the filter rules, and choose a folder for matching emails (or create a new one).
- Click Save.
To change a filter later, go back to Settings → More Settings → Filters. Select a filter to edit its name, rules, or folder, use the up and down arrows to change its priority, or click the Delete icon to remove it.
Create a Rule in AOL Desktop Gold App
AOL Desktop Gold is AOL’s paid desktop app. It costs $9.99 per month after a 30-day free trial and adds security features such as two-step verification and anti-keylogging protection. It has its own mail filter tool, which you open through the Keyword menu rather than the AOL Mail settings.
To create AOL mail filters in AOL Desktop Gold:
- Sign in to your AOL Desktop Gold account.
- Click the Keyword menu at the top of the screen.
- Select Go to Keyword.
- Type the phrase “mail filters” into the box, then press Go.
- Click Create Filter.
- Name the filter and choose the criteria to match, then use the Move to Folder menu to pick where matching messages should go.
- Press Save at the bottom to create the new filter.
Can I Create Rules in AOL Mobile App?
No. The AOL app lets you check your email on the go, but it doesn’t allow you to create AOL mail rules for filtering. To add or change a filter, sign in to AOL Mail on the web from a browser.
However, that doesn’t mean you’re out of options — you just need to try out a third-party tool like Clean Email. Once you set up Clean Email, you can easily use the Auto Clean feature to establish as many AOL filters as you need.
Filter Emails in AOL with Clean Email App
Setting up AOL email rules can be a very time-consuming process. However, Clean Email is an email management application that makes it easy to set up as many AOL rules as you want thanks to the Auto Clean feature.
Auto Clean lets you apply any action to your inbox messages. Once saved, these advanced filters automatically apply the rules you set to any new or updated messages in your mailbox. This can save you tons of time, not to mention help you keep your inbox more organized.
To create AOL email rules using the Auto Clean feature, simply:
- Go to https://app.clean.email/ and log in to your email account.
- Now, navigate to your Inbox.
- Select a message (or group of messages) and the action you want to perform (ex. Mark As Spam).
- A pop-up menu will appear to ask you if you want to apply this rule to only the selected emails or selected and future emails. Choose Selected and future similar emails. You can also select Create advanced Auto Clean rule to have more setting options.
- When you’ve got everything set, press Create Rule.
The nice thing about AOL filter settings you create with the Clean Email Auto Clean feature is they will run automatically and you can edit them at any time. You can also program as many of these auto-clean rules as you want to your mailbox.
The Auto Clean feature isn’t the only tool that can help you establish automated rules for your AOL Mail, though. In fact, the Unsubscriber tool is even better than your AOL email spam filter because it completely removes you from bulk mail lists instead of just moving them to a dedicated AOL junk mail filter.
If you give Clean Email a try, you’ll see just how handy of an app it is for inbox management.
How to Use Rules in AOL - FAQs
How many filters can I create in AOL Mail?
You can set up 500 AOL mail filters per mailbox. However, Clean Email allows you to set up unlimited AOL filters that will automatically run for you.
Why is my AOL spam filter not working?
Unfortunately, no spam filter is foolproof. If you notice your AOL spam filter is not working, select the message in AOL Mail and click Mark as Spam. AOL moves it to the Spam folder and routes future emails from that sender there too. Alternatively, you can use the Clean Email Unsubscriber to permanently remove messages from spam senders.
How do I create a rule to sort emails by keywords in AOL Mail?
Creating AOL mail rules by keyword in AOL mail is fairly simple. Just go to Settings → More Settings → Filters. When you create a new filter, enter the keyword into the appropriate spot, and save the settings.
Why isn’t my AOL filter sorting emails?
AOL filters only act on new incoming emails, so messages already in your inbox stay where they are until you move them yourself. If new emails still aren’t sorted, check the filter order: when two filters match the same message, only the one higher in the list is applied.
