How to Auto-Forward Emails in Yahoo Mail

Updated April 2026 · 4 minute read

Yahoo Mail lets you forward specific emails to another address automatically. You set it up once with a filter, and from then on every matching email gets copied to the destination — hands off. Works in Yahoo Mail, AT&T Mail, Rocketmail, and a few other Yahoo-hosted accounts that all share the same interface.

Heads up: Yahoo makes you do this in two steps. First you add a forwarding address at the account level (and verify it), then you create a filter that uses it. It's not as direct as Gmail, but it's not hard either. We'll walk through both parts.

Just want to try PostalDetox right now?

You don't need a filter to get started. Forward one Informed Delivery email manually, and you'll get your first PostalDetox report tomorrow morning. Here's the fast path in Yahoo:

Open your latest Informed Delivery email from USPS.
Click the Forward button at the bottom of the email (or press F).
In the To field, type mailroom@postaldetox.com
Click Send. That's it.

Tomorrow morning you'll get your first PostalDetox daily report back. Once you see it, come back and set up the filter below so you never have to do it manually again.

Ready for the one-time filter setup that forwards every future matching email automatically? Keep reading.

In this guide:

Open Yahoo Mail settings
Add a forwarding address
Verify the forwarding address
Create a filter that uses the forwarding address
Save the filter and test it
Common problems and fixes
Use case: auto-forward USPS Informed Delivery

1. Open Yahoo Mail settings

A quick menu opens. Click "More Settings" at the bottom of that menu. This opens the full Yahoo Mail settings page.

2. Add a forwarding address

In the left sidebar of the settings page, click Mailboxes. You'll see your Yahoo mailbox listed. Click on it.

Scroll down to the Forwarding section. There's a text field labeled "Forwarding address". Type the destination address here — for PostalDetox users, that's:

mailroom@postaldetox.com

Click Verify. Yahoo sends a verification email to that address to make sure you own it.

3. Verify the forwarding address

Yahoo sends a verification email to the forwarding address. For PostalDetox, we handle this on our end — log in to your PostalDetox account, and the verification code shows up in your dashboard. Copy it and paste it back into Yahoo.

For any other forwarding destination, check that inbox, find the Yahoo verification email, and click the confirmation link inside.

Once verified, Yahoo shows the forwarding address as active in your settings. You can now use it in filters.

4. Create a filter

Back in the left sidebar of settings, click Filters. You'll see a list of any existing filters (empty if this is your first) and a button labeled "Add new filters". Click it.

A form appears. Fill in:

Filter name: something memorable like "Forward USPS to PostalDetox".
From: choose contains from the dropdown, then paste the sender address. For USPS Informed Delivery: USPSInformeddelivery@email.informeddelivery.usps.com
Send to folder (forward): Yahoo puts the forwarding action here. Choose your verified forwarding address from the dropdown.

Leave the other fields (To/Cc, Subject, Body) blank unless you want to filter even more precisely.

5. Save the filter and test it

Click Save at the top of the filter form. Your new filter shows up in the Filters list. Yahoo starts applying it to every new email from that moment forward.

To test it, wait for your next Informed Delivery email (or any email that matches your filter) and check whether it shows up at the destination address. If it does, you're set.

Common problems and fixes

"Yahoo says my forwarding address can't be verified."

Double-check the address for typos. If it's correct, make sure you (or the service you're forwarding to) are looking in the right inbox for Yahoo's verification email. It can sometimes land in spam.

"My filter saved but nothing is forwarding."

Yahoo filters run on incoming mail, not on mail already in your inbox. Wait for the next matching email to arrive and see if it forwards. Also confirm your From condition exactly matches the sender address USPS uses. Open an Informed Delivery email, click the sender name at the top, and copy the full address.

"I don't see a Forwarding option under Mailboxes."

Yahoo requires a paid Yahoo Mail Plus subscription for forwarding on some accounts. If you're on the free tier and you don't see Forwarding, that's why. The manual path (forward each Informed Delivery email by hand) still works on any account — see the "try it right now" section at the top.

"The forwarded email arrives but the images are missing."

Some email clients strip embedded images on forward. If this happens, try the Gmail or Outlook path instead (or use the manual forward button directly, which usually preserves images). PostalDetox needs the inline images to read your mail.

Use case: auto-forward USPS Informed Delivery

The main reason people read this guide is to automatically forward their daily USPS Informed Delivery email to PostalDetox. We read those previews, flag what's important, and help you opt out of the junk — free.

The filter you'd create:

From contains: USPSInformeddelivery@email.informeddelivery.usps.com
Forward to: mailroom@postaldetox.com

Don't have Informed Delivery yet? Start with our step-by-step USPS signup guide. Most people get it working in about 2 minutes.