How to Filter & Organize Emails in Yahoo! Mail

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Your guide to making new filters on the website & mobile app

Co-authored by Glenn Carreau

Last Updated: January 30, 2026 Fact Checked

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Making a Filter

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Making Filters on Mobile

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Organizing Filters

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Common Filters

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Creating Folders

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Video

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Q&A

Most of us get lots of emails every day—and filtering them helps prioritize the ones that need our attention most. Yahoo! Mail has a built-in filtering system that allows automatic sorting of incoming e-mails into corresponding folders. With filters, you can put work emails into a separate, specifically-designated folder. And, at the same time, you can sort emails you don’t want into a junk or spam folder. In this guide, we’ll show you how to create convenient filters in Yahoo! Mail and sort them according to your needs!

Quick Steps for Creating a Filter in Yahoo! Mail

Open your Yahoo! account and select … More from the left-side menu.
Select Settings from the dropdown menu.
Select Filters → Add to create a new filter.
Enter a name for the filter.
Choose condition(s) and rules for the new filter.
Pick a destination folder for the filter to send emails to.
Select Save to finalize the filter.

Section 1 of 5:

Creating New Filters in Yahoo! Mail

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1
Open your Yahoo account and click ... More. You’ll need to access your account settings to create filters for Yahoo! Mail—but your settings can be a little tricky to find if you don’t know where to look! To begin, click … More located at the bottom of the menu on the left side of the page.^{[1]
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- This will open another menu with a list of options.
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Select Settings from the dropdown menu. You’ll be brought to the Settings window with another list of settings options on the left side of the page—starting with “Appearance” by default.^{[2]
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In the Settings menu, click on Filters from the left panel. On the Filters page, you’ll be able to view any existing filters (as well as add new ones).^{[3]
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You’ll see the Add button at the top of the page, to the right of the Your filters heading.
Type a unique name for the filter in the first text box—and make sure it’s short yet descriptive.^{[4]
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Select a condition for the filter. You can choose conditions like From, To/CC, Subject, or Body—and use multiple conditions if needed. Click on the condition you need to expand it.
- For each filter condition you select, you’ll also need to fill out specific criteria and values. We’ll explain the details below!
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Select the filter’s rules. Once you click on a condition, you’ll be prompted to select a filter criterion and filter value. Here’s what to do for each:^{[5]
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- Filter criterion: You can choose from “contains,” “does not contain,” begins with,” or “ends with.”
- Filter value: Type in the text value for your filter. For instance, if the condition you selected above is “From” or “To,” you might enter a person’s email address. If the condition is “Subject,” you might enter a keyword related to the relevant subject.
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Choose the destination folder. Now, it’s time to select the folder that you want this new filter to direct emails to. You have a couple of options to choose from:
- Choose a folder to move to: If you have an existing folder that you want Yahoo to direct filtered emails to, select it from the dropdown menu here.
- Create new folder to move to: Alternatively, if you want to make a new folder for Yahoo to direct filtered emails to, type a name for it into the text box.
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Click Save to finalize the filter. After you’ve set all the rules for the new filter, click the purple Save button at the bottom of the panel. This will apply the filter and make sure Yahoo! Mail remembers it.^{[6]
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Section 2 of 5:

Creating Yahoo! Mail Filters on Mobile (Android)

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Open the mobile app and tap on your profile icon. In the Yahoo! Mail app, your profile icon is located at the top left corner of the screen. Tap on it to open a side menu.
- For iPhone and iPad users: The ability to create filters isn’t available on Yahoo! Mail’s iOS app. You’ll need to do so via desktop!
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Navigate to Settings → Filters. Tap on the Settings option (with the gear icon next to it) in the menu. Then, in the Settings menu that appears, scroll down to the General heading and tap Filters.
- If you have more than one Yahoo! account, you’ll also have to select the account you want to add filters to.
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Tap the + (plus sign) to add a filter. You’ll see the + (plus sign) icon at the top-right corner of the screen. Tap on it to begin creating a new filter for your Yahoo! Mail account.
- On this page, you can also see existing filters.

Section 3 of 5:

Organizing Yahoo! Mail Filters

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Yahoo! Mail’s filter limit is 500, which should be more than enough for most people. Create as many new filters as you need; just make sure they complement one another (and none of them have contradicting settings).
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Use the up and down arrow icons to sort your filters. You’ll see the up (↑) and down (↓) arrow icons to the right of the Your filters header. Select a filter and press the up (↑) icon to raise its priority, or the down (↓) arrow to lower its priority.
- The filter on top will take priority before the one under it, and so on, until the very last filter (which is the lowest priority).

Section 4 of 5:

Common Yahoo! Mail Search Filters

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If you need some extra pointers on the types of filters to create for your Yahoo! account, look no further. Here’s a list of the most popular types of email filters and how they’re used (with formatted examples):
- from: - This type of filter is great for sorting messages from specific senders. Ex: from:sender@yahoo.com
- to: / cc: - This filter can sort emails sent to specific people. Ex: to:recipient@yahoo.com
- subject: - This filter can look for keywords in a subject line. Ex: subject:project
- has:attachment - This filter will only show messages that have attachments.
- has:image: - This filter will only show messages with image files.
- before: / after: - This filter sorts results within a specific date range. Ex: after:01/01/2026
- “[keyword]” - This filter looks for an exact word or phrase within an email. Ex: “team update”

Section 5 of 5:

Creating Yahoo! Mail Folders

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Click on the Folders tab to create a new folder. From your Yahoo! inbox, look for the Folders tab (with a folder icon next to it) on the left side of the screen. Click on it, and the + New Folder option will appear; select that to continue.^{[7]
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- Mobile app: Tap your profile icon at the top-left corner of the screen. Then, scroll down and tap New folder.
Next—whether you’re on a computer or the mobile app—you can enter a name for the folder that’s short and descriptive. You should be able to figure out what’s inside the folder just by looking at the name!
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Hit the Add button. Once you’ve typed in the name, click on the purple Add button (if you’re on the computer website). This will officially create the new folder!^{[8]
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- Mobile app: After typing in the name, tap the Create button to make the new folder.

Community Q&A

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Question

I use filters on the desktop, but it seems the mobile site and the app don't provide access to them. Do you know where I can find them?

Community Answer

You can't use the filters on mobile. You must do it from a desktop computer.

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Question

I do not want any unsolicited email. How can I stop them?

Community Answer

You really can't stop them; once spammers get a hold of your e-mail address, they'll keep sending unsolicited e-mail. Follow the steps listed above to redirect the spam into a junk folder.

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Question

My incoming mail keeps going into my trash. How can I get it to go to my inbox?

Community Answer

You may have accidentally created a filter. Double check your existing filters and delete or change them as needed.

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