How to manage and filter email spam in Outlook

What is a spam filter?

Spam filters automatically move emails that seem suspicious or unsolicited, known as spam, to your junk email folder. This cleans up your inbox so that you only see important messages in it. Spam filters look for specific keywords in an email that seem suspicious (for example, “free money” or “million dollars”) and may be a phishing scam. If they contain suspicious keywords, they may be moved to your junk folder. Additionally, your spam filter may recognize IP addresses that have previously been flagged for spammy messages and automatically move those emails to your spam folder.

Your Outlook can change everything

Spend less time organizing your life and more time enjoying it with Outlook

Learn more

How to stop spam emails in Outlook

If you’re finding too much junk mail in your inbox or you feel that Outlook’s spam filter is not working, it’s time to reevaluate your settings. You can edit Outlook’s spam filtering settings to make them more aggressive and move more emails into the spam folder.

By default, Outlook is set to No automatic filtering. In this setting, the automatic junk email filter is off. Only emails from addresses in your Blocked Senders list will go to the Junk folder.

There are three other spam filtering options available:

• Low-level. In this filtering option, emails that are obviously junk mail will be moved to the Junk folder. This setting is recommended if you occasionally receive junk messages.
• High-level. If you are looking for maximum protection from spam messages, this filter is recommended. The downside to selecting this filter is that important emails from actual people may be moved to the Junk folder. If you select this spam filter, it’s important to frequently review your junk mail to make sure you didn’t miss any important messages.
• Safe lists only. When you select this spam filter, you’ll only receive messages from those on your Safe Senders or your Safe Recipients List. If you receive an email from someone who is not on one of those lists, it will go to your Junk folder.

To select one of these spam filters, open Outlook. Under Home, select Junk > Junk email options. From there, choose whichever filter you prefer.

How to stop junk email that makes it to your inbox

If junk mail is arriving in your inbox, consider opting for a more vigilant filter setting. If it still gets through, you can always mark specific email addresses as junk. To do this, simply right-click the email in your inbox and select Junk > Block sender.

How to prevent legitimate emails from going to junk

While spam filters are a great tool to prevent unwanted messages, they can unintentionally stop you from seeing important emails. Avoid this by adding the email addresses or domains of legitimate people to your Safe Senders list. No matter how your Outlook spam filters are set, you will always receive emails in your inbox from addresses saved in the Safe Senders list.

To add email addresses to your Safe Senders list, go to Home > Junk > Junk email options. Select Safe Senders to safeguard email addresses or domains you trust. You can also select Safe Recipients to prevent your own emails from being treated as junk.

If you’ve been bombarded by spam in your inbox, rest assured that it isn’t permanent. Adjust your Outlook spam filters and sender lists to make sure you are only receiving emails you really want. Try out more privacy and safety tips with a free trial of Microsoft 365.