Microsoft Outlook Spam Filter
Document ID 683
Introduction
In order to combat the problem of e-mail spam, use the message filter functions on your mail client. This document will guide you through the process of configuring spam filters on Microsoft Outlook 2010. In Outlook 2010, the Junk E-Mail Filter is turned off by default. If you would like to configure Outlook 2010 for use with Neo please refer to our setup guide found here.
Enabling the Outlook Built-In Spam Filter
1. Open Outlook, in the Home tab click on Junk select Junk E-mail Options. [fig. 1]
2. The Junk Email Options Box will now show up. [fig. 2]
3. Choose the level of junk e-mail message protection you want and click OK[fig. 2].
Note: Notice that "Permanently delete suspected junk e-mail". . . is not checked. It is important to check your Junk mail folder on occasion to make sure no legitimate e-mail messages have been accidentally labeled as spam.
Customizing Junk E-mail Handling
You can customize the junk e-mail filtering of Outlook 2010 in the following categories:
- Safe Senders List: If an e-mail message is mistakenly marked as a junk e-mail message by the filter, you can easily add the sender of that message to your Safe Senders List. E-mail addresses and domain names on the Safe Senders List are never treated as junk e-mail messages, regardless of the content of the message. Contacts are trusted by default and messages from them will never be treated as junk e-mail messages. When your company uses Microsoft Exchange Server, messages from within the organization will also never be treated as junk e-mail messages. You can configure Outlook 2010 to accept only messages from the Safe Senders List, giving you total control over which messages you receive.
- Safe Recipients Lists: An e-mailing list or group that you are a member of can be added to your Safe Recipients Lists. Any messages sent to the e-mail addresses or domain names on this list will not be treated as junk e-mail messages, regardless of the sender or content of the message.
- Blocked Senders List: E-mail messages from a certain e-mail address or domain name can easily be blocked by adding the sender to your Blocked Senders List. Messages from people or domain names on your Blocked Senders List will always be treated as junk e-mail messages, regardless of the content of the message.
To add a sender to your Safe Senders List, Safe Recipients Lists, or Blocked Senders List:
- Right-click on a message from the sender.
- Point to Junk E-mail, and click either Add Sender to Safe Senders List, Add Sender to Blocked Senders List, or Add Recipient to Safe Recipients Lists.
Customizing a Message Filter
If you need to handle a specific type of e-mail message in a special way, you may want to customize some message filters on Outlook. The instructions below describe how to use this feature in conjunction with TAMU's spam-tagging service.
1. Open Outlook and under Home select Rules, then select Manage Rules and Alerts . . .
2. Click the New Rule... button on the Rulesand Alerts dialogue box.
3. Select Start from a blank rule in the Rules Wizard dialogue box and click Next [fig. 6].
4. Under Step 1: Select condition(s) select with specific words in the message header [fig. 7].
5. Click the blue, underlined phrase, specific words in the box under Step 2.
6. Enter X-Spam-Flag: Yes in the text box at the top, and then click Add, then OK, then Next [fig. 8].
7. Under Step 1: Select action(s) select move it to the specified folder [fig. 9].
8. Click the blue, underlined word, specified in the box under Step 2.
9. Select Junk and click OK and then Next [fig. 10].
10. To run the filter you just created, click Run this rule now... and press Finish [fig. 11] .
11. Click Apply, then OK, to get back to your Inbox.
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For further assistance, please contact Help Desk Central any time by calling (979) 845-8300 or e-mailing helpdesk@tamu.edu.
