Plain-English email rules for Fastmail
Add plain-English sorting to Fastmail. Connect over IMAP with an app password, keep your existing filters, and let unclear mail wait for you.
Filters for what you can name, rules for what you can describe
Rules built from conditions work when you know the exact sender or subject. They are harder to write for “job alerts from anyone” or “receipts, but not from my bank”. MailRules takes the sentence and decides each email against it.
It waits when unsure
When the decision model is not confident, the email stays in your inbox and appears in Needs review with a suggested rule. Nothing is moved on a guess.
Same folders in every client
MailRules moves mail on Fastmail’s server, so the Fastmail app, the web and any other client all show the same result.
Create an app password
- Log in to Fastmail on the web and go to Settings, then Privacy & Security.
- In Connected apps & API tokens, click Manage app passwords and access.
- Click New app password. Enter your password if Fastmail asks you to verify it's you.
- Name it MailRules, keep the access set to Mail, Contacts & Calendars, and click Generate password.
- Copy the password into MailRules, and click Done in Fastmail once the mailbox connects.
Connect it in MailRules
- In MailRules, open the connect wizard and choose Fastmail. The server, port and encryption are filled in for you.
- Enter your email address and paste the app password.
- MailRules tests the connection and finds your Junk, Trash and Archive folders.
- Pick starter rules or write your own in plain English, check the preview, then go live.
- New installs start in dry-run: MailRules shows what it would do and changes nothing until you switch it live.
Good to know about Fastmail
- Fastmail's Basic plan does not include IMAP and cannot create app passwords, so MailRules needs a plan above Basic.
- Your normal Fastmail password and two-step verification codes do not work over IMAP. Use an app password.
- Your username is your full Fastmail address, including the domain.
- You can review when the app password was last used, and pause or remove it, from the same Fastmail settings screen.
Questions
Do I have to give up my Fastmail filters?
No. MailRules works on the mailbox over IMAP alongside them. Keep exact filters you trust, and use MailRules for rules that are hard to write as conditions.
Which Fastmail plan do I need?
Any plan that includes IMAP. Fastmail's Basic plan does not.
Can I stop MailRules from reaching my mailbox?
Yes. Remove or pause its app password in Fastmail's Privacy & Security settings, or pause the mailbox in MailRules.