Yes, this kind of filter should work in Thunderbird.

After you select Tools > Message filters and then select the name of the filter, what folder is set for it to operate on (bottom of the window)?

There seems to be quirks in Thunderbirds message filtering. If you create a filter to run on Folder A, then run it manually when you are looking at Folder B, Thunderbird changes the folder that it is set to operate on.

You may find other useful information here: https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/organize-your-messages-using-filters

Its running on the Inbox which seems to be the only folder it can run in automatically although I see you can manually run it in other folders. Yes I read the filter article. This rule still isn't catching the emails unless I manually run it.

I do not see anything wrong. Maybe someone else can help.

I wouldn't think the "Periodically..." option would be necessary, since the filter has already checked the message during fetching. Also, I'm surprised the filter works when you manually run it, even though the "Manually Run" option is disabled.

I would create a test filter identical to this one but use Subject criteria like "TESTTEST1", "TESTTEST2", "TESTTEST3", and send myself some test messages to see if they work. I might also change the action to something else, like 'Tag Message' or 'Move Message To'.

There is the "Filter Log" feature that you can enable in the Message Filters dialog that might show where things are going wrong.

Thanks, Lin.