Outlook spam filter misbehaving

V

Vincenzo

Senior Member
Outlook version
Outlook 2016 32 bit
Email Account
IMAP
Operating system::    Windows 11
Outlook version:     2021 LTSC
Email type or host:    IMAP
Outlook 2021 LTSC is occasionally putting emails I send to myself, as well as emails from my wife, into the Junk folder.
I've turned off the Outlook Spam Filtering (see attachment)
Both emails are in the Outlook Contacts.
I've also put our email addresses into the Safe Senders tab.
I've also confirmed it is not being filtered by the webmail app or my phone.
It does not happen on all emails I send to myself, or that wife sends to me. Only occasional ones.
Any ideas?
Thanks



Screenshot 2026-01-13 172144.png
 
That would be your isp filtering it, not outlook. Outlook's filters haven't been updated in like 10 years, which is why no filtering, blocked list only is recommended. Safe list won't apply to IMAP mail because the server moves it before Outlook gets it in the inbox.

The only other cause would be a rule that deletes mail to you / from you.
 
Could my ISP move it to Junk folder?
I was concerned my email host, Hostgator, might be doing it. But I tested that suspicion by only having the Hostgator webmail open - no phone or Outlook. Then sent myself an email from there. It appeared in the Inbox. I waited a minute or two. Then I opened Outlook. As soon as I opened Outlook, I saw in the webmail that the email got moved to the Junk folder.

But that only happened when the email had the same content in it that a previously Junked email had. (Content that seemed innocent enough to me.)
When I created another "clean" email and tested it like that, it stayed in the Inbox when Outlook got opened.
I could post that content if you wanted, but even if it was "spammy" in some way, Outlook should not have moved it, I would think, since my email is a Safe Sender.
Also, when I went through the 46 emails in the Junk folder, there were plenty of not-spammy-looking emails in there, from my wife and friends. and several of those senders were already in the Safe Senders list, from previous instances of this happening that I had caught.
 
Hosts can move mail to the junk folder - but if you are using a custom domain, you would need to enable junk filtering. Gmail, yahoo etc will do it automatically but you are using HostGator, so they shouldn't do it on their own.

Do you have any rules? That could do it too - rules that look for words in the subject or body is a typical culprit, especially if the words are common in legit email. Rules would not be affected by the safe list.
 
I was surprised to hear you say, if I understood correctly, that Safe Senders can still be sent to Junk by rules.

I only have 3 rules on that Inbox.
Based on what you have suggested, one of them is suspect.
It looks for "line of credit" or "loc" in the subject and body. I can see now that "loc" could create false positives. Maybe " loc " would be safer.
And that rule I only created about a month ago. So the time frame fits with this issue.

So I am turning off that rule and I'll monitor for a while.
I've added the Junk folder to my Favorites section in the left column so that I can easily monitor when something goes there.

Thanks for your help.
 
Last edited:
Or remove loc from it. That would apply to any word beginning with loc - locate, location etc. You could try adding it as "loc " - the space should prevent it from matching loc*. It will let some slip in, such as if the word is at the end of a sentence or subject, so no space added.
 
Since I made those changes to my rules, I've not had any problems with the junk mail filter.
Thanks, Diane!
 
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