cPanel Filters Email Intermediate

Email filters in cPanel: block, redirect, sort

Create cPanel email filters and global filters to discard spam, redirect messages, sort mail by subject or sender, and avoid overbroad rules.

UnderHost NOC Network Operations

7 min read Updated June 2026

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Overview
Filter types
Create a filter
Actions
Examples
Safety checks

cPanel email filters let you act on incoming mail automatically. You can discard spam, redirect specific senders, sort messages by subject, or pipe messages to a script. Filters are powerful, so test narrowly before using broad delete rules.

Filter types

Filter	Scope	Use case
Email Filters	One mailbox	Rules for a specific user mailbox.
Global Email Filters	All mailboxes in the cPanel account	Account-wide spam or routing rules.

Create a filter

Open cPanel.
Choose Email Filters for one mailbox or Global Email Filters for all mail.
Click Create a New Filter.
Name the filter clearly, such as Discard fake invoices.
Choose a field such as From, Subject, To, Any Header, or Spam Status.
Choose a match rule such as equals, contains, begins with, or matches regex.
Enter the text to match.
Choose the action and save.

Common actions

Discard Message: deletes the message during delivery.
Redirect to Email: forwards matching mail to another address.
Deliver to Folder: moves mail to a specific IMAP folder.
Pipe to Program: advanced script handling; use only for maintained scripts.
Fail with Message: rejects the message with a bounce.

Examples

Goal	Rule	Action
Move SpamAssassin-tagged mail	Spam Status begins with Yes	Deliver to folder Junk
Discard a known sender	From equals sender@example.net	Discard Message
Sort invoices	Subject contains invoice	Deliver to folder Invoices
Redirect support mail	To equals support@example.com	Redirect to Email