macOS Mail app "rules" question

[outskirtsofinfinity]

I created a "rule" in Mail app (v15) to have all my substack subscriptions go to a Substack folder on my iCloud mail. It's my only rule. The Active checkbox is checked. I log out of the Mac at the end of the day. When I arrive to work the next day, I log in, and notice there are 10-15 substack messages (mixed in with a dozen other emails) sitting in iCloud Inbox. Why are they there? Should they not have been automatically routed to the Substack folder in the cloud throughout the night (or the moment I fired up Mail app, if nothing else)? I did some searching and a forum post told me I had to type option-command-L to make the rule "take". I tried that, but the substack messages did not budge. Then I went through and meticulously selected each substack message (quite a labour intensive process, though I suppose I could have used a search filter) and then pressed option-command-L. Voila!, the messages disappear from Inbox and appear in Substack folder. But, the thing is, at that point, with all the messages manually highlighted, I could just as easily have dragged them over into the Substack folder myself. Can someone explain to me what the point of the Mail rules are,... or what am I misunderstanding?

 

[jdb8167]

Just do a select all on the overnight emails. If your rule is correct then applying the rule will only move the appropriate emails.

 

[outskirtsofinfinity]

Just do a select all on the overnight emails. If your rule is correct then applying the rule will only move the appropriate emails.

Ah, of course, that makes sense. Thank you.

Would be nice if this could be automated, somehow (i.e., happens automatically when I first open Mail app). I thought that was what the "Active" checkbox was for.

 

[jdb8167]

Ah, of course, that makes sense. Thank you.

Would be nice if this could be automated, somehow (i.e., happens automatically when I first open Mail app). I thought that was what the "Active" checkbox was for.

I agree but the fact that the automatic part only runs while Mail is open is probably leftover from years ago when macs were much slower.

If you are using iCloud for email, you might be able to use the web version of Mail to create the same rule and have it run automatically.

 

[outskirtsofinfinity]

I agree but the fact that the automatic part only runs while Mail is open is probably leftover from years ago when macs were much slower.

If you are using iCloud for email, you might be able to use the web version of Mail to create the same rule and have it run automatically.

Thanks again! This is helpful. I will experiment with the web version.

(The fact that when I created the rule on my Work Mac, it also automagically showed up on my Home Mac (mis)led me to believe that the rule somehow now existed in the icloud and was constantly working behind the scenes... it's an IMAP type setup, after all, so should be possible).

 

[jdb8167]

Thanks again! This is helpful. I will experiment with the web version.

(The fact that when I created the rule on my Work Mac, it also automagically showed up on my Home Mac (mis)led me to believe that the rule somehow now existed in the icloud and was constantly working behind the scenes... it's an IMAP type setup, after all, so should be possible).

The rules are synced over iCloud but not run on the iCloud servers like the web version of iCloud mail is.

I use Fastmail.com as my primary email provider and they have similar rules to the ones in iCloud Mail.

 

[Ruggy]

Normally, when you create a rule you get a message popping up asking you if you 'want to apply it now'. Did you not see that?
Also, if you want to test a rule the 'Apply' function is in in the 'message' tab on the address bar- I'm not sure from your message if you tried that.

 

[outskirtsofinfinity]

Normally, when you create a rule you get a message popping up asking you if you 'want to apply it now'. Did you not see that?
Also, if you want to test a rule the 'Apply' function is in in the 'message' tab on the address bar- I'm not sure from your message if you tried that.

Yep, that message popped up a few months back, when I first created the rule. I was more referring to day to day operations since then.

I believe the option-command-L that I referred to is equivalent to using the menu item you refer to (I generally don't use Menus). I assume that by address bar you meant Menu bar.