Outlook offers significant configuration options for handling incoming messages. In this guide, you will find instructions on blocking a sender, marking a sender as safe, and creating or removing inbox ruless.
Blocking or Marking a Sender as Safe
If you notice legitimate emails ending up in your Junk Email folder in Outlook, you can mark the sender of these emails as safe. Conversely, if spam messages appear in your inbox, you can block the sender or domain. Blocking or marking a sender as safe is a quick and straightforward process, but has more limited configuration options. If you require a more complex rule, please see Creating an Inbox Rule.
In addition to blocking or marking a sender as safe, you may follow the steps detailed in this guide to report an email as malicious, or to report a false positive or false negative: https://www.uvm.edu/it/kb/article/spam-and-phishing.
Marking a Sender as Safe in Outlook on the Web
- In Outlook on the Web, select Options under the the gear icon in the top right corner
- Expand the Mail subheading, and then expand Accounts and select Block or allow
- Under the section marked Safe Senders and Recipients, enter the sender or domain, and then add them by clicking the plus sign (+)
- Click Save to confirm your changes
Blocking a Sender in Outlook on the Web
- In Outlook on the Web, select Options under the the gear icon in the top right corner
- Expand the Mail subheading, then expand Accounts and select Block or allow
- Under the section marked Blocked Senders, enter the sender or domain, then add them by clicking the plus sign (+)
- Click Save to confirm your changes.
Enable Automatic filtering of Junk Email
For the instructions above to be effective, automatic filtering of junk email must be enabled. This option is typically enabled by default. If it is not, you can enable it by following these instructions.
- In Outlook on the Web, select Options under the the gear icon in the top right corner
- Expand the Mail subheading, and then expand Accounts and select Block or allow
- In the section marked Block or allow, select Automatically filter junk email, and then click Save
Marking a Sender as Safe in Outlook for Microsoft 365
Blocking a Sender in Outlook for Microsoft 365
Creating an Inbox Rule
Inbox rules can automatically move mail from your inbox to a selected folder, categorize messages by custom criteria, forward mail to another address, and much more.
Click here if you are looking for specific instructions on how to Forward Email to Another UVM or COM Email address.
Creating an Inbox Rule in Outlook on the Web
- In Outlook on the Web, select Options under the the gear icon in the top right corner.
- Expand the Mail subheading, and then expand Automatic processing and select Inbox and Sweep Rules
- Create a new inbox rule by clicking on the plus sign (+)
- Once you’ve clicked the plus (+) sign, you will see a similar dialogue box to the one below
- The Name box is used to identify this rule in your list of Inbox rules on the previous page, so you should use a descriptive name
- To configure the triggers for this rule, make the proper drop-down selection under the When a message arrives, and it matches all of these conditions option
- Select It was sent or received if you want to filter messages from specific senders, or messages with specific recipients
- Select It includes these words if you want to filter messages that contain specific words or phrases
- Select My name is if you want to filter messages sent to your account, messages where your account is the only recipient, where your account is CC’d, or messages where your account is not the primary account being contacted
- Select It’s marked with if you want to filter messages that have elevated importance or sensitivity based on the message options
- Select It’s if you want to filter messages with attachments, or messages of a specific type, classification, or flag
- Select Its size is within the specified range if you want to filter messages based on size
- Select It’s received within a specific date span if you want to filter messages based on when they were received
- To configure the effects for this rule, make the proper drop-down selection under the Do all the following option
- Select Move, copy, or delete if you want the filtered messages to be moved or copied to a specific folder, or deleted
- Select Pin the message if you want to pin the filtered messages
- Select Mark the message if you want the filtered message to be marked as read, marked as junk, marked with a specific level of importance, or marked with a specific category
- Select Forward, redirect, or send if you want the filtered message to be forwarded to a specific address, forwarded as an attachment to a specific address, redirected to a specified address, or sent as an SMS text message to another address
- To add an exception, click Add Exception under Except if it matches any of these conditions
- After your inbox rule is properly configured, click OK at the top of the screen to create the rule
You should now see the rule with a check mark next to it in the list of Inbox and Sweep Rules.
Creating an Inbox Rule in Outlook for Microsoft 365
- Select the Home tab
- Expand the Rules drop-down and click Manage Rules & Alerts
- In the Rules and Alerts window, click New Rule
- Some popular rules have templates you can select; otherwise, select one of the blank rules at the bottom and click next
- On the first page of the Rules Wizard, select any conditions that you would like to trigger the rule, make any necessary edits, and click Next
- On the next page, select any actions that you would like to perform when the rule triggers, make any necessary edits, and click Next
- On the third page, select any exceptions to the rule that you would like to add (if any), make any necessary edits, and click Next
- On the final page, specify a descriptive name for the rule, ensure Turn on this rule is checked, and click Finish
You should now see the rule with a check mark next to it in the list of Email Rules.
Removing Client-Side Rules
In Outlook (and other email clients), it’s possible to create rules that only affect the client on which they are configured. This typically happens if you try to create a rule that can’t be processed by Exchange, such as one that prints an email. If you try to create a rule like this, Outlook will warn you that the rule will be client-side only, and it will ask you to confirm.
Client-side rules will not carry over to a new computer, device, alternate email client, or Outlook on the Web. Additionally, it’s difficult to troubleshoot mailbox issues when IT does not have a complete view of the rules impacting your account. Thus, it’s highly recommended to use only server-side rules.