Tidy Orders

Receipt forwarding

Forward receipts from iCloud Mail to Tidy Orders

iCloud Mail supports server-side rules that can forward matching messages, so receipts reach Tidy Orders even when your Mac and iPhone are asleep. The rules engine is simpler than Gmail's, which changes how you should set it up.

5 min read Updated August 19, 2026
Goal: purchase confirmations forward themselves into your review queue, while everything else stays in iCloud Mail.

Before you start

Open Tidy Orders and go to Integrations.

  1. Find the Email Forwarding card.
  2. Copy your unique address — receipts+your-alias@inbound.tidyorders.com.
  3. Then open icloud.com/mail in a browser. Rules can only be created there — not in the Mail app on iPhone, iPad, or Mac.
Know this first: an iCloud rule matches on one condition — sender, or a word in the subject — not a combination. So build one rule per merchant sender rather than one clever catch-all.

Step 1: test one receipt manually

  1. In iCloud Mail, open a recent receipt or order confirmation.
  2. Forward it to your Tidy Orders address.
  3. Check Review Queue for the new pending transaction.

Good receipt candidates

  • Include merchant, date, and total amount.
  • Come straight from the merchant, not a screenshot.
  • Contain the full thread when the total is in an earlier message.

Step 2: create an iCloud Mail rule

  1. At icloud.com/mail, click the settings icon in the sidebar and choose Rules.
  2. Select Add a Rule.
  3. For the condition, pick is from and enter a merchant sender — for example auto-confirm@amazon.com. Alternatively pick subject contains and enter receipt or invoice.
  4. For the action, choose Forward to — or Forward to and mark as read if you don't want receipts sitting unread — and paste your Tidy Orders address.
  5. Click Done.

iCloud allows one action per rule, so a rule can forward or file into a folder, not both. Forwarding is the one that matters here — the original stays in your inbox regardless.

is from: receipts@stickerapp.com → Forward to: receipts+your-alias@inbound.tidyorders.com

Step 3: work around iCloud's limits

  • Rules apply to new mail only. There's no "run on existing messages" option, so backfill older receipts by forwarding them by hand or using the Upload tab.
  • Rules run on the iCloud server, so they keep working with every device off. Rules created in the Mac Mail app run only while that Mac is awake with Mail open.
  • Junk is filtered first. iCloud applies its spam filter before your rules, so a merchant that lands in Junk will never be forwarded — mark it Not Junk once.
  • Hide My Email and custom-domain aliases deliver into the same inbox, so a sender-based rule matches no matter which of your addresses the merchant used. Rules can also match is addressed to a specific alias if you shop with a dedicated one.
  • One condition per rule means a keyword rule like subject contains "receipt" is broad — expect some marketing mail and prune it after a week. iCloud caps you at hundreds of rules, so one rule per vendor is fine.

Which rules are worth creating

  • Sender rules for your top recurring vendors — highest precision, create these first.
  • Subject rules for order confirmation or invoice — good coverage, some noise.
  • Skip: shipping notifications, newsletters, and "your subscription is ending" nudges that don't state a charge.

Step 4: review the first week

Match Confirm vendors and amounts landed correctly in the queue.
Trim Delete keyword rules that forward promotional email.
Tune Set vendor defaults after approving repeat purchases.

Apple references

Apple documents rule creation and its one-condition limit in its guide to setting up rules in iCloud Mail.