Move message

The Move message action moves an email message on your IMAP server to another folder, and can optionally mark it as seen at the same time. It is meant to run in an automation after an imap_content event, using the entry and the message uid from the event data.

Using this action from the user interface

If you prefer building automations and scripts visually, Home Assistant walks you through this action step by step. You pick what to target, tweak a few options, and save. No YAML knowledge required.

To use this action in an automation or script:

1. Go to Settings > Automations & scenes.
2. Open an existing automation or script, or select Create to start a new one.
3. If you’re setting up a new automation, add a trigger in the When section. Scripts don’t need a trigger.
4. In the Then do section, select Add action.
5. From the search box, search for and select IMAP: Move message.
6. Select the Config entry, provide the message UID, and set the Target folder.
7. Select Save.

This action does not support targets. In the UI, you are not prompted to choose an area, device, entity, or label. Instead, you select the IMAP config entry.

Options in the UI

Using this action in YAML

If you work directly in YAML, or you want to know exactly what Home Assistant does under the hood, this section has the technical reference. It lists the field names you use in YAML, their types, and which ones are required.

In YAML, refer to this action as imap.move. A basic example looks like this:

action: imap.move
data:
  entry: 91fadb3617c5a3ea692aeb62d92aa869
  uid: "{{ trigger.event.data['uid'] }}"
  target_folder: "INBOX.Trash"

This moves the message from the triggering event to the INBOX.Trash folder.

Options in YAML

Good to know

• Use the correct IMAP folder separator for your mail server. Common separators are:
  • Gmail: /
  • Dovecot: . (but often /)
  • Courier IMAP: .
  • Cyrus IMAP: /
  • Microsoft Exchange: /
  • Zimbra: /
  • Yahoo Mail: /
• When you have more than one IMAP config entry, filter the triggering events by entry so the correct messages are processed.
• Moved messages cannot always be recovered. Make sure your triggers and filtering are set up correctly before you use this action.

Try it yourself

Ready to test this? Open Developer tools > Actions, search for this action, fill in the fields, and select Perform action. You see what happens on your actual entitiesAn entity represents a sensor, actor, or function in Home Assistant. Entities are used to monitor physical properties or to control other entities. An entity is usually part of a device or a service. [Learn more] without writing a line of YAML.

Still stuck?

The Home Assistant community is quick to help: join Discord for real-time chat, post on the community forum with the action you’re calling and what you expected to happen, or share on our subreddit /r/homeassistant.

Related actions

These actions work well alongside this one:

• Mark message as seen: Marks an IMAP email message as seen.

• Delete message: Deletes an IMAP email message.

• Fetch message: Fetches the text body and part metadata of an IMAP email message.