How to Use Rules in AOL to Filter Emails

Learning what AOL filters do and mastering how to create email rules in AOL isn’t a difficult process. With the help of Clean Email, though, you can set up AOL rules in a flash!

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 sort messages based on keywords in the subject line or email body. You can also filter 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

If you use the AOL Mail web application, you have the option to create new AOL mail rules, edit existing rules, or delete rules you would no longer like in place. However, if you haven’t clicked through the advanced settings of your AOL account, you may not know how to establish these AOL filter settings. Luckily for you, you can create filters in just a few steps.

Create New AOL Email Filters in AOL Mail:

  1. Go to https://mail.aol.com/ and login.
  2. Click on Settings on the right sidebar.
  3. Click on More Settings at the bottom.
  4. AOL Filter RulesAOL Filter Rules
  5. On the left side, scroll down and select Filters.
  6. Under Your Filters, click on Add New Filters.
  7. Click on Add New FiltersClick on Add New Filters
  8. Fill in all the data to create the filter.
  9. How to Use Rules in AOLHow to Use Rules in AOL
  10. Scroll to the bottom and press Save.

Create a Rule in AOL Desktop Gold App

AOL Desktop Gold is an enhanced, subscription-based version of AOL Mail. For just $5 per month, you get everything you love about AOL Mail, along with enhanced security, and additional customization options. Furthermore, you can establish advanced filters with AOL Desktop Gold above and beyond what is possible in AOL Mail.

To create AOL mail filters in AOL Desktop Gold:

  1. Sign in to your AOL Desktop Gold account.
  2. Click the Keyword menu at the top of the screen.
  3. Now, choose Go To Keyword from within the menu.
  4. Type the phrase “mail filters” into the box, then press Go.
  5. Now, select Create Filter.
  6. Complete the data to create the filter, then use Move To and set where you want these messages to filter to.
  7. Press Save at the bottom to create the new filter.

Can I Create Rules in AOL Mobile App?

Most people love using their chosen email client on their mobile device, and AOL is no exception. Although the AOL Mobile app makes it easy to check your email on the go, it doesn’t allow you to create AOL mail rules for filtering.

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:

  1. Go to https://app.clean.email/ and log in to your email account.
  2. Now, navigate to your Inbox.
  3. Select a message (or group of messages) and the action you want to perform (ex. Mark As Spam).
  4. Mark emails as spam in Clean EmailMark emails as spam in Clean Email
  5. 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.
  6. Create advanced Auto Clean rule to mark emails as spamCreate advanced Auto Clean rule to mark emails as spam
  7. 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, you can try marking messages as spam or selecting “Remove the sender and mark as spam” from within your AOL inbox. 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.

How do I edit existing filters in AOL Mail?

You can edit AOL email filters at any time by going to Settings → More Settings → Filters and selecting the preestablished filter you’d like to edit.

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