If you’re not already using Thunderbird to manage your emails, you can download and install it from its website. Note: Thunderbird already has its own filter system, but it can be quite manual and troublesome to set it up. The quickFilters extension is easier to use and can get things done more quickly.
Install QuickFilters
Click on Thunderbird’s “hamburger button” on the top right to access its main menu. Select “Add-ons ->Add-ons.” Choose “Extensions” from the left menu and then use the search field on the top right to seek “quickfilters.” Click on the big, friendly, green “Add to Thunderbird” next to the extension entry to install it. Thunderbird will ask you if you want to install the extension. Click on the “Add” on the pop-up window and then on “Restart now” to complete its installation.
Create Priority Folders
To a few folders emulating the “Priority Inbox” feature in Gmail, right-click on your account’s inbox on the left and select “New Folder … “ Since we want to prioritize our emails, let’s create some folders for that. Assign a name like “Priority-High” to your new folder and then repeat the process, to create one or two more folders, for lower priorities.
Making Filters
Click on the new “quickFilters Assistant” to enable the add-on. A notification will appear at the bottom of Thunderbird’s window to inform you that quickFilters is now active. Click and hold the left mouse button on an email where you want to create a new filter and drag it to one of the priority folders you created before. The quickFilters window will appear, offering different ways to filter your incoming emails. The most popular options that work well in most cases are the first two, “Based on Sender (From)” and “Based on Sender’s Domain.” For this example, the second option was chosen. The next step allows you to customize your filter. You can use the default values for now. As you are getting more familiar with the way filtering works, you will be able to use the rest of the options to create more complex filters that can “catch” more incoming emails in one go. For now, though, keep it simple and, again, go with the defaults. Finally, when your filter is ready, the actual quickFilters GUI will appear, with a list of all your available filters. From here, you can enable, disable, edit, rearrange, or delete them. You can also run them manually by clicking on the “Run Now” button at the bottom right.
“Inbox Zero” with Advanced Filtering
The longer you use it, and the more (and more complex) filters you create, quickFilters can help you achieve the fabled “Inbox Zero”: a fully-clean inbox with zero emails. As you will find, it’s not that hard to pull off. It will start with merging filters. QuickFilters is smart enough to detect when two rules are similar and suggests you combine them (automatically). An easy way to do it manually, though, is by using filters based on domains instead of each sender’s specific address. When creating a new filter for a single domain, click on the “+” symbol next to it and then define another domain on the second row that appears. Leave the options in the two pull-down menus for each domain rule as “From” and “ends with.” Click again on the “+” symbol of your second domain filter to add more filtering rules. This way, you can quickly create rules for each of your priority folders, defining that each should contain “all emails that come from X, Y, or Z domain.” Some emails, especially those that come from an unknown, new sender, will still slip through your filters. But as you learned above, filtering those as well will only be a drag-and-drop away. You can now easily turn your Thunderbird into Gmail.
