Creating message rules:

Message filters can help you organize your e-mail messages as well as delete unwanted messages automatically.  They work in conjunction with folders.  To learn how to create folders, click the 'Folders' link above.

In this example we'll create a message filter that will allow Thunderbird to automatically send e-mail to a specified folder.  Do the following:

On the Toolbar, click Tools and select Message Filters from the menu.

The Message Filters window appears.

Let's create a new filter.  Click the New button.

Filter name  =  Give the filter a name.  Make it distinctive, especially if you plan on creating other filters.  In this example, I named the new filter 'Family'.

Under For incoming messages that, select Match any of the following.

Note the three fields.

In the first field, I selected From from the menu.
In the second field, I selected contains.
In the third field, I typed grandma@ispname.com.

This means that when the 'Sender' field of an e-mail 'contains' the word 'grandma@ispname.com', Thunderbird will perform some action.

Under the section Perform these actions, check the box Move to folder.

Note:  since I named the e-mail account 'Work', Work appears in the field to the right.  You may have a different name.

Click the down arrow to the right of your e-mail account name, select the name of the e-mail account to which you'd like to send the message.  Next, select Inbox and then choose the folder in which you'd like to store the message.  In this example, I chose the folder we created in the 'Folders' tutorial earlier.

You can now see the completed filter.

Any e-mail that contains grandma@ispname.com as the sender, Thunderbird will move automatically to the folder Family.

Click OK to save the filter and close the window.

We return to the Message Filters window.

You can see the new filter has been added to the list.  You can create as many as you need.

Click the red box with the 'X' to close the window.

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