MacBound / Scriptly
August 19, 2026 · Luke Welch

How to Automate Email Organization on Mac

The problem: Invoices, newsletters, and work emails all land in one inbox. Sorting them manually eats up real time every week.

The fix: A short AppleScript that automatically moves emails into folders based on who sent them — running in seconds instead of minutes.

Before You Start

This works with Apple Mail (not Gmail’s web interface, though Mail can connect to Gmail accounts). You’ll need:

  1. Mail.app set up with your account
  2. A destination folder (mailbox) already created — e.g. “Billing”

To create a mailbox: open Mail → Mailbox menu → New Mailbox → name it (e.g. “Billing”) → choose “On My Mac” or your account.

The Script

tell application "Mail"
    set sourceMailbox to inbox
    set targetMailbox to mailbox "Billing"

    set matchingMessages to (every message of sourceMailbox whose sender contains "stripe.com")

    repeat with aMessage in matchingMessages
        move aMessage to targetMailbox
    end repeat
end tell

What this does: Looks at every message in your inbox, finds ones where the sender’s address contains “stripe.com”, and moves each one into your “Billing” mailbox.

How to Use It

  1. Open Script Editor (Applications → Utilities)
  2. Paste the script above
  3. Change "Billing" to your actual mailbox name
  4. Change "stripe.com" to the sender you want to filter (a company domain, or a full email address)
  5. Click Run (▶)
  6. macOS will ask for permission to control Mail — click OK

Your matching emails move instantly.

Filtering by Multiple Senders

Want to catch several senders at once? Use or:

tell application "Mail"
    set targetMailbox to mailbox "Billing"
    set matchingMessages to (every message of inbox whose sender contains "stripe.com" or sender contains "paypal.com")

    repeat with aMessage in matchingMessages
        move aMessage to targetMailbox
    end repeat
end tell

Filtering by Subject Instead of Sender

tell application "Mail"
    set targetMailbox to mailbox "Receipts"
    set matchingMessages to (every message of inbox whose subject contains "Receipt")

    repeat with aMessage in matchingMessages
        move aMessage to targetMailbox
    end repeat
end tell

Running It Automatically (No Manual Clicking)

To run this every morning without opening Script Editor:

  1. In Script Editor: File → Export
  2. File Format: Application
  3. Save as EmailOrganizer.app
  4. Open Automator → File → New → Calendar Alarm
  5. Search for and add the “Run AppleScript” action, paste your script in
  6. Save — this creates a Calendar event that triggers the script
  7. Set the event to repeat daily at your preferred time

Now your inbox files itself before you’ve had coffee.

Troubleshooting

“Mail got an error: Can’t get mailbox ‘Billing’“ The mailbox doesn’t exist yet, or the name doesn’t match exactly (check capitalization). Create it via Mail → Mailbox → New Mailbox first.

Nothing happens, no error Your filter condition didn’t match anything — double check the sender/subject text is exactly right (it’s case-sensitive for exact matches, though contains is fairly forgiving with partial text).

“Not authorized to send Apple events to Mail” Go to System Settings → Privacy & Security → Automation, find Script Editor (or your exported app), and enable Mail.

Want More Filters Without Writing Them Yourself?

Scriptly includes ready-made email templates (auto-archive, flag, forward, and more) — or describe your rule in plain English and it writes the script for you.