Plain-English email rules for iCloud Mail
Sort iCloud Mail with rules you write in plain English. Connect over IMAP with an app-specific password; mail is filed in seconds on every device.
Rules on the server, not in one app
MailRules runs on a server and acts on the iCloud mailbox itself, not inside one mail app. Mail that arrives while your laptop is shut is still filed, and your iPhone sees the result.
Written in words, not conditions
You write “newsletters I never open go to Reading” instead of building sender lists by hand. Rules that can be decided cheaply, by sender or domain, never reach a model at all.
Your Apple Account stays yours
The app-specific password gives MailRules access to mail and nothing else you have to type in. If you change your Apple Account password, Apple revokes it, and MailRules tells you to reconnect rather than failing quietly.
Create an app password
- Turn on two-factor authentication for your Apple Account. Apple requires it before you can make app-specific passwords.
- Sign in at account.apple.com.
- In Sign-In and Security, select App-Specific Passwords.
- Select Generate an app-specific password and follow the steps on screen. Name it MailRules so you can find it later.
Connect it in MailRules
- In MailRules, open the connect wizard and choose iCloud Mail. The server, port and encryption are filled in for you.
- Enter your email address and paste the app-specific 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 iCloud Mail
- Apple says the IMAP username is usually just the name part of your address (johnappleseed, not [email protected]). MailRules tries the full address and then the name on its own.
- Changing or resetting your Apple Account password revokes every app-specific password. MailRules then shows the mailbox as sign-in failed; paste a new app-specific password to reconnect.
- You can have up to 25 active app-specific passwords, and you can revoke the MailRules one at any time.
- iCloud names some folders differently from other providers, such as Sent Messages and Deleted Messages. MailRules looks for these names as well as the standard ones.
- iCloud Mail does not support POP. MailRules uses IMAP only, so this makes no difference.
Questions
Do I need to give MailRules my Apple Account password?
No. You give it an app-specific password that only works for mail and can be revoked on its own at account.apple.com.
Will my iPhone and Mac see the sorting?
Yes. MailRules moves mail on the iCloud server, so Mail on every device shows the same folders.
Does it work with my @me.com or @mac.com address?
Yes. They are the same iCloud mailbox. When MailRules leaves your own sent mail alone, it counts the same name at icloud.com, me.com and mac.com.