Every morning, I watch some of the important emails get buried under promotional clutter. While most people rely on basic folders or labels, there’s a more powerful solution hiding in plain sight: domain filter rules, yet surprisingly few people know about them.

What’s a Sender Domain Filter Rule?

A sender domain filter rule automatically sorts emails based on the domain they come from—that’s everything after the @ symbol in an email address. Instead of creating filters for individual senders, you’re organizing by entire companies or services.

Consider this: when Amazon emails you, it may come from addresses such as no-reply@amazon.com or orders@amazon.com, among dozens of others. Creating individual filters for each would be exhausting, so a domain filter catches them all by targeting @amazon.com instead.

It is helpful for managing newsletters, work emails, and shopping notifications. You can create and use rules in Outlook to manage inbox organization, and most major email providers offer similar functionality.

Most people miss this feature because they focus on filtering specific senders. But when you realize that companies use multiple email addresses for different purposes, domain filtering suddenly makes perfect sense.

How to Set Up a Domain Filter

Setting up domain filters takes just a few minutes, as both Gmail and Outlook offer built-in tools. However, each platform has its quirks, but the key is targeting the domain, not individual addresses.

Setting Up Domain Filters in Gmail

Gmail doesn’t have a dedicated filter-by-domain button. Instead, you use its powerful search operators within the filter creation tool. It’s a simple workaround that works flawlessly once set. Here’s how I set mine up:

1. Click the filter icon on the right of the search bar at the top. This opens the advanced search menu.
2. In the From field, type *@domain.com. The asterisk (*) acts as a wildcard for any sender at that domain.
3. Click Create filter and select what happens to these emails. Deleting it is my go-to for actual spam. You can also apply labels to categorize them neatly.
4. Check Also apply filter to matching conversations to clean existing emails, and then click Create filter.

The asterisk before the @ symbol is crucial as it tells Gmail to catch all emails from that domain. Otherwise, the filters won’t work correctly.

Over time, outdated rules can hinder email clients or cause errors. Here’s how to purge them:

1. Go to the Settings by clicking the gear icon, then select See all settings.
2. Click on Filters and blocked addresses, and find the filter you want to delete from the list.
3. Click the Edit or Delete button next to the filter.
4. To remove labels, hover over the label name in the left sidebar and click Remove label.

Gmail lets you combine multiple domains in one filter. Just separate them with OR (in caps), like: *@amazon.com OR *@ebay.com. This feature has proved handy for managing all my shopping emails in one sweep.

Setting Up Domain Filters in Outlook

Outlook’s browser version buries rules deeper than the desktop app—a mild frustration. But once you know where to look, it’s simple. Follow these steps to set up domain filters:

1. Click the Settings icon in the top-right corner.
2. Go to Mail and then select Rules.
3. Click + Add new rule and name it (e.g., Shopping).
4. Under Add a condition, select From and then type @domain.com.
5. Under Add an action, select Move to and then choose a folder (create a new folder first via right-click in your folder list). You can also add multiple actions.
6. Check the Run rule now and click Save ​​​​​​to create the rule.

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The wildcard character (*) works similarly to Gmail’s asterisk. After creating a domain filter, you can apply it retroactively to clean up your current inbox. But if you no longer need a rule, you can delete that unwanted rule by following the first two steps.

Both platforms also support exceptions, which is essential. For instance, you can filter all emails from your company’s domain into a work folder, except those from your boss, which stay in your primary inbox.

How I Use Domain Filters Beyond Basic Organization

The domain filters keep newsletters out of your inbox, but that’s the baseline win. My deep work hours are sacred. I filter domains like @news.site straight to a Read Later folder. It’s not about ignoring them forever; it’s about choosing when they get my attention. This deliberate separation drastically cuts down on context switching and allows me to concentrate.

Secondly, not all @bankname.com emails are equal. I created a rule that filters anything not from @secure.bankname.com or @alerts.bankname.com (the official channels my bank uses for critical communications) into a Verify folder. It instantly flags potential phishing attempts using look-alike domains, forcing me to scrutinize them before they hit my main view.

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On the other hand, I allow specific domains to bypass all other filters and land directly in my inbox, marked as important. Doing so ensures truly urgent or personal messages never get lost in the automated shuffle and they rise to the top immediately.

Filtering @every.retailer.ever straight to an archive or trash folder keeps your inbox clean.You can check that folder only when you’re actively looking to shop, turning relentless marketing into something you control, not something that controls you.

Setting up your first domain filter might seem like a small step, but it’s a better way to organize emails. Don’t wait until you’re drowning in a sea of unread messages. Take five minutes today to set up that first filter for which your future self will thank you.