Lost in Spam

There is no question about it: Spam is annoying. However, it is even more annoying when legitimate emails end up in your junk email folder. Here are some simple steps to make sure desired emails get delivered to your Inbox.

In Outlook select "Junk | Junk E-mail Options" listed under the "Home" menu.

Select the desired level of junk email protection:

Make sure the "Permanently delete ..." option is turned off. You could lose some legitimate emails if this option is turned on.

Unless you have selected "No Automatic Filtering" above, add the desired email address (e.g. oliver@casinosoftware.com) or domain (e.g. @casinosoftware.com) to your "Safe Senders" list:

SInce it is unlikely that people that you are communicating with are the ones that are sending you spam, turning on the "Also trust ..." and "Automatically add ..." options will make sure you receive those emails.

You can also access these options by right-clicking an email that's already in your "Junk Email" folder and selecting the "Junk" option:

Selecting "Not Junk" will move the email to your Inbox, but future emails from that sender may still end up in your "Junk Email" folder, unless you select one of the "Never Block ..." options first.

Since no spam filter is perfect, it is also good practice to regularly review the emails in your Junk Email folder.

If you are still unable to receive some emails (I generally answer emails within 24 hours), you need to talk to your computer department as they may be filtering certain emails before they even get to you. Just ask them to "white-list" the desired domains or email addresses.

Additional information can be found in Microsoft's Overview of the Junk Email Filter article.