Comments on: Setting Outlook spam filter to stop junk email

Outlook provides various tools and techniques to help you fight spam. If you're working in a corporate setting, it's likely that your Exchange server has an anti-spam filter to block unwanted emails. However, for your personal computer, it's up to you to set up your own filter. Continue reading →

Comments page 2. Total comments: 113

  1. I keep getting dozens of advertising spam from sender(s) which have an email such as "lolip19@grandmotherr.ddns.net". Every name is different but the "ddns.net" is common in all of them. I have been trying to globally junk them by using forms of "ddns.net", *.ddns.net", "*@*.ddns.net", etc. but they don't work. How can I junk emails with this double-domain format?

  2. After months of struggling with my boss's sent messages ending up in the junk folder in Outlook, I am very relieved to have finally resolved the issue. The culprit was the spam filter on his Samsung (S8) smartphone! For whatever reason, it had identified his own address (and a few other trusted addresses) as spam, and no amount of tinkering with settings in Outlook had any effect. Our fix was to start using the Outlook app on his phone and disable the native email app.

  3. Hi,
    I have done all the settings as you described, still im getting spam mails in Inbox , Im totally fed up with receiving unwanted mails.
    please suggest me any solution for this, Important mails are Automatically going spam folder
    I`m using windows 10, 64bit operating system

  4. I have NOT been receiving emails from all of my contacts in my address book. I hope it's cleared up ASAP. Thanks-Chuck Huddle

  5. Hi team, i have a question why all my sent email goes to junk not inbox but for 1email address only is it means someone block my domain or it might be happen by mistake of recipient? Other people can receive my email only 1adress receiving in junk? May i know the reason why like that? I want to know that is it done by someone who unwanted my email?

  6. Do you not realize there is a MAJOR difference between OUTLOOK and OUTLOOK.COM?
    Dear God wake up!

  7. All my email goes in the Junk mail folder I have the Exclusive setting ticked. I have no mail filter rules. I am using outlook.com for Chrome os If the Exclusive setting supposed to only allow mail from Safe senders and Safe mailing lists then clearing its not working. I have done verious test using diffent email address I have and added them to the Safe senders list. I have also tried added the eemails to my contacts list but what ever I do makes no difference. So my question is why does Microsoft always write rubbish software. With all the money they get its discusting.

  8. how to block emails that have neither a to addressee nor a cc addressee?
    That is, I have spam emails coming in where both of these fields are blank.
    What to do?

  9. My email address had been put on a junk filter even though I'm not spamming any one.

    How can i get my email address removed from outlook's spam/junk filter ?

  10. Hello, I am using office 2013 and I've tried everything to block a particular spam (junkbox@integrity.it). I've block it, made a new rule to delete it and now I have it always in my deleted folder. What to do to make it disappear, I don't want to see it at all.

  11. Why do they even allow the advertising to get through at all? Shouldn't it be our 'choice' seeing as we buy the computer- use the software and just want peace of mind away from this 'pushing' of their wants

  12. I dont have any of those options in my outlook... maybe this is a paid version? Mine is the free one.

  13. Sorry, the words are actually "[unsafe content]" ^^^

  14. Hi and thanks for your invaluable advice. Is there any way to stop the "[unsafe contact]" words being placed into the Subject Line, please. I'm using Outlook Office 365 2016. Junk catches new safe senders emails and then embeds the "[unsafe contact]" words into the subject heading, which then stays there after marking the email safe and returning it to the Inbox folder. Thanks a million in appreciation.

  15. I noticed that their addresses always start with a long list of numbers. Is there a way to set a filter to stop all emails coming from sources with the first 5 characters being numbers? Blocking them individually hasn't stemmed the tide.

  16. I have been receiving more and more junk mail from young ladies wanting to date me. I noticed that their addresses always start with a long list of numbers. Is there a way to set a filter to stop all emails coming from sources with the first 5 characters being numbers? Blocking them individually hasn't stemmed the tide.

  17. Hi I have Outlook 2013 on my desktop, and get a lot of Junk mail that I using click Junk, then Block sender, it will put them all in the box, but then the next time I use it, they are all gone and and I have to put them in the junk folder again. Where does the Junk mail go and how do I get them to remain and not have to redo it every time? Thanks Mike

  18. I have upgraded from Outlook 2010 to 2013 (and now running Windows 10) and for some reason I can't figure out how I can set my JUNK MAIL setting (to Low) for each individual email accounts that I have in Outlook

    I have separate 4 separate email POP/SMTP accounts, and all four of them are connected to one OUTLOOK.PST file.

    So, how can I go and setup each ones JUNK MAIL filter. I seem to be only be able to select for the PRIMARY / DEFAULT one.

    Please advise me on what I may be missing.

  19. How can we stop international rubbish Mail coming on RSS on Microsoft outlook. This is annoying and jams up your computer..

  20. How can I keep spam mail from going to my iPhone 6 out of Outlook 2010?
    Everything I have read is the iPhone can't block it only Outlook can. But how?

  21. outllok 2010 does not move junk mail out of my inbox until I click on it. It used to never make it to my inbox. how do I fix it?

  22. I would like to be able to filter & permanently delete email based on one word or phrase in the From field. However, Outlook doesn't seem to allow this. It's necessary because while I get dozens of spams containing "aig" in the From field, few are phrased exactly the same, much the way no 2 email addresses from spammers are exactly alike. And "aig" appears nowhere else in the email. I have maxed out the filters on my Verizon account, so that's no longer an option.

    1. You CAN send mail to the junk folder or anywhere else using the RULES function. You have a lot more options. I have chosen "specific words appear in the senders address" and just entered a text string that always appears. You can even EXclude other specific words if you have a sender that uses the same mailing list that you want to receive mail from. I have chosen words like "smdlv.net" or whatever always appears at the end. It works. Good luck with "aig"

    2. As I posted above, I have solved this by using the RULES function. You have so many more options. The one I use is "specific words appear in the senders address" and just entered a text string that always appears. Then simply move the e-mail to the junk folder. I have a couple of rules with things like "smdlv.net" or whatever is being used for the mailing list and it is picking up most of the trash. Good luck with "aig"

  23. Hi- the junk email setting works fine for me BUT if I delete all the junk emails then the same spam starts coming back into my inbox and once again I have to start adding them to junk email.

  24. Shame on Microsoft, I regret upgrading to Windows 10, it has no junk mail blocking choice, money, of course, you are diminishing your good name.

  25. Shame on Microsoft, we need to block what we feel as junk; why do you go backwards? Money of course, you are diminishing your good name.Good luck!

  26. I didn't notice if this was addressed or not but we just switched from pop3 to imap for incoming mail. Prior to this switch i rarely received junk in my inbox. Now I'm bombarded and overwhelmed with junk email. I have two offices and I'm using Outlook 2010 on one computer and I believe office 360 on the other. Does that pose any kind of conflict at all. We're thinking maybe we need to switch hosting companies. Any help appreciated, thanks

  27. I really appreciated this page, as somehow my sisters e-mail was accidentally added to the junk bin, I found this page extremely helpful as I searched and searched google for a solution, which I finally found - only on this page, that showed me clearly how to remove her name from the junk list - Thanks AbleBits your help was gratefully appreciated

  28. this relates to outlook 2013

  29. If charlie spammer is sending me emails from ALL of the following (multiple) domains - AND more, do i need to put all those entries in the blocked senders list or is there some shortcut to this madness. I tried putting @domaina.com in the blocked senders list but that does not seem to block any of charlies messages. Any suggestions?

    first.domaina.com
    second.domaina.com
    third.domaina.com
    fourth.domaina.com
    fifth.domaina.com
    sixth.domaina.com
    etc.

    1. If you are being plagued by one particular person or company and outlook's junk filter is not working (usually because the domain changes each time) you should be able to set up a "RULE". Go into rules instead of junk and search for a particular string of letters in the senders address and then simply MOVE it to the JUNK folder.

      I am looking forward to trying this as I am getting lots of mail from domains like "@mail16.atl91.mcsv.net" where the numbers keep changing every time.

      I will report back if it works.

      1. Yes it does work. You CAN send mail to the junk folder or anywhere else using the RULES function. You have a lot more options. I have chosen "specific words appear in the senders address" and just entered a text string that always appears. You can even EXclude other specific words if you have a sender that uses the same mailing list that you want to receive mail from. Hope this idea helps someone.

        1. Thanks you. I will give it a try.

  30. Hi, some of my domain emails do not automatically have a junk folder and others do.
    How can I create a junk folder that junk will automatically go to?
    Thanks
    Sharon

  31. how do I stop emails going into the "Unwanted" file tab when they should be in my inbox?

  32. I have Outlook 2007 by the way...

  33. Hello, is there a way to ensure that .zip files are not accepted in Outlook? We have a virus that is using the names in our contacts list that sends out emails with a .zip file attached which contains the virus... We have run virus scans, removed the viruses, but yet a name will show up from our contacts and the virus file attached. Please help.

  34. how to stop auto send spamming mail in outlook 2003

  35. Svetlana,

    Your article is the most comprehensive one on junk email that I've see so far. Great job!

    I group all the junk emails that I want to block in a folder and I try to click Junk (on the ribbon) and then Block Sender at once. I was able to do this (blocking senders from multiple emails) last week (so I was very happy and recorded the steps) but today, Outlook only allows me to block one email at a time. Very strange. Anyone has any insight? Thanks much!

    1. Hello Scarlett,

      Thank you very much for your feedback!

      Outlook allows you only to block a particular sender, it does not support blocking multiple emails you select. There are third-party tools that let you do this, but no standard way except for blocking them one by one.

  36. I have so many personalized setting in my laptop and i am going to replace the same now. How to transfer all the settings in new laptop.

  37. All of sudden my junk settings became empty.As of my knowledge we will not be able to recover the safer and block sender list.

    Do we have any other option to recover it ?

  38. Hello,
    I have a question: I have over 7000 blocked email in the blocked senders. How do I find the one that I want to get out of it? I copy paste all of them and sorted them in word, found the email but surely cannot find it in the little window. Any tricks? Thanks

    1. Hello Cathy,

      Unfortunately, Outlook does not provide search in the list of blocked addresses. However, the list is sorted, so it may help with finding the right address quicker. You can also export the list to file, edit it in a text editor and save the changes. Then clear the list in Outlook and import the edited file.
      We hope this helps.

  39. I received junk emails with the sender's name WSJwine almost every day but the email addresses are different. I marked blocking this sender but some of them still come to my in box. Is there any way to specify any email with the sender name WSJwine going to junk email folder no matter what the email address is? I think that Outlook is too stupid to do this simple task. Gmail handles this very well.

    1. Hi Lee,

      Surprisingly, Outlook can't block incoming emails by a sender's name. You need a more powerful and flexible anti-spam filter. Generally, filters based on Bayesian's algorithm are considered to be the best.

  40. I have not quite the same problem but one I cant find an answer to anywhere. All my incoming emails are now being marked as SPAM, they dont go to my junk folder, but no matter how often I mark them never block sender (which is the only thing I can find to do) the next time I have an email from that person it comes back marked SPAM. I have to remember to unmark the email when I reply otherwise it goes to them as Spam, How can I stop this spam marking phenonema. Its fairly recent and I use Outlook 2010.

    1. Hello Lisa,
      Please send your Outlook rules and Junk Mail filter settings to support@ablebits.com. If possible, please also attach a sample email that is marked as SPAM.
      We'll see if there is anything we can do to help you.

  41. From what I saw setting it up in Windows 8, the key location was:

    Outlook 2010: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\office\14.0\outlook

  42. Hi Svetlana

    I have a slightly different issue with Outlook 2010 on my note book. I receive mail items through Outlook on my Surface tablet or my iPhone, which I do not receive on my notebook. It does not get filtered to the spam folder, it just doesn't arrive... While this is consistent with some of the senders, often it happens on a random basis with people I correspond with regularly.

    Help ???

    1. Hey Chris,
      Check your email settings on your Surface and iPhone. There is a setting about whether to leave messages on the server or not after downloading them to your device, and often times, it will be set to not leave them on the server by default. Messages need to be left on the server in order for your other devices to see them.

  43. Before when we would report junk mail to Microsoft using the junk mail button in outlook we would get an email within 24 hours from Microsoft about the reported email. We no longer receive those and are getting more and more junk mail and reporting but they are still coming through. Did they stop the acknowledgement?

    1. Hello Tina,

      It looks strange, please try contacting Microsoft support service (support.microsoft.com) for assistance.

  44. is there a way to run the outlook junk processing on your inbox once you've increased the level of checking?

    I would like to up the spam filter, run it, then check the junk mail box for any senders that I might want to set up as safe. Can I do that?

  45. I have the same problem as Mark w/ 2013 and the Spam Filter has NEVER worked. Should I just go back to 2010 as I've tried everything else?

    1. Hi Chris,

      Since each email account in Outlook 2010 and 2013 has its own Junk Mail settings, be sure to configure the junk filter for ALL the accounts you have in Outlook (you do this by selecting a message in the needed account before opening the Junk E-mail Options dialog).

  46. Thanks for the helpful article. I'm using Outlook for the Mac. I can't seem to get Outlook to stop filtering email to the Junk Folder. Junk Filtering is turned off . . . still, emails (legitimate) are often being sent to my Junk Folder. Any idea what is doing the filtering?

    1. Hello Steve,

      I do not have Mac, that is why I cannot advise anything of value. Sorry.

    1. Hi Debbie,

      Thank you very much for pointing to the solution!

  48. I'm getting bombarded by *.*.eu emails. They are changing the domain in all of the junk but, they all end in .eu -- is there any way to simply block that suffix?

    thx!

    j

    1. Hi Joe,

      For some reason, EU is not available in the "Blocked Top-Level Domains" List on the International tab (at least in my Outlook 2013), that is why there is no way to block all emails with the .eu suffix like you can block any other suffixes such as .de, .es, etc. Not sure why Microsoft did not include EU along with all other counties and regions. In this situation, I can only advise you checking out more powerful and flexible antispam software. Sorry for not being able to help better.

  49. tks!

  50. OK. I am going to sound very stupid here, but I do not know how to identify a domain. As you mentioned, spammers may send the same email but from a different email address every time. I think of domain as the part of the email address: @domain.com for example. Well that changes every time. I know that it is one spammer sending thousands of emails to me but I cannot identify that.

    I did your direction of adding "spam-domain.com" to the block senders section of Outlook but it did nothing. Was that just a generic term and that you really had to know the root domain of the spammer - which is obviously hidden? Any suggestions are helpful. Thanks!

    1. Hello Rich,

      This is a very good question! Your understanding is correct, the domain name is part of the email address that comes after the at sign (@), like in your example @domain.com. And yes, I used "spam-domain.com" as the generic term and you have to know the real domain name of the spammer to add it to the Block senders list.

      As you rightly noticed, most often spammers send their messages from different email addresses each time and quite often these are fake addresses. You can try to find the real address of the sender in the internet headers of a message (open the message and go to the File tab > Info > Properties). Very often the email address you will see there will be different from what you see in the From field. You can check the internet headers of several junk emails in this way and if they all are sent from the same domain name, add that spammer to the Block senders list.

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