Change the level of protection in the Junk Email Filter (2024)

Junk e-mail messages, also known as spam, can be a nuisance in your Inbox. The Junk E-mail Filter in Outlook identifies messages that are likely junk and moves them to the Junk E-mail folder. You can easily change the level of junk email protection or automatically delete junk email.

Change the level of junk email protection

By default, the Junk Email Filter protection level is set to No Automatic Filtering. You can make the filter more aggressive so that it catches more junk messages. The higher you set the protection level, the greater the risk of some legitimate messages being identified as junk and moved to the Junk E-mail folder.

1. Click Home > Delete group > Junk > Junk E-mail Options.

2. Choose the level of protection you want.

   • No Automatic Filtering Although this turns off the automatic Junk Email Filter, messages are still evaluated by using the domain names and email addresses in your Blocked Senders List.

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     Note:If you want to turn off the Junk Email Filter, you must also remove names from the Junk Email Filter lists.

   • Low If you don't receive many junk messages, or want to filter only the messages that are the most obvious junk, select this option.

   • High If you receive lots of junk messages, but don’t want to restrict messages from senders on your safe lists, select this option. We recommend you occasionally check the Junk E-mail folder to make sure that a message you wanted isn’t moved in error.

   • Safe Lists Only This is the most restrictive option. Any message that isn't from someone on your Safe Senders List or isn't to a mailing list on your Safe Recipients List, is classified as junk.

Just delete them!

You can tell Outlook to delete all suspected junk messages instead of moving them to the Junk E-mail folder. This takes away your ability to review messages for possible false positives, so consider the risks of using this option.

1. In Mail, click Home > Junk > Junk E-mail Options.

2. On the Options tab, check the Permanently delete suspected junk email instead of moving it to the Junk E-mail folder box.