Show AllThe new Junk E-mail Filter replaces the rules used in previous versions of Microsoft Outlook to filter e-mail messages. The Junk E-mail Filter feature is on by default, and the protection level is set to Low, which is designed to catch the most obvious junk e-mail messages. Any message that is caught by the Junk E-mail Filter is moved to a special Junk E-mail folder, where you can retrieve or review it at a later time. You can make the filter more aggressive, which may mistakenly catch legitimate messages, or you can even set Microsoft Office Outlook 2003 to permanently delete junk e-mail messages.
There are two parts to the Junk E-mail Filter: the Junk E-mail Lists and the state-of-the-art technology developed by Microsoft Research that is used to evaluate whether an unread message should be treated as a junk e-mail message based on several factors, such as the time it was sent and the content of the message. The filter does not single out any particular sender or type of e-mail message. The filter is based on the content of the message in general and uses advanced analysis of the message structure to determine the probability that it is a junk e-mail message.
There are three Junk E-mail Filter Lists: Safe Senders List, Safe Recipients List, and Blocked Senders List. If a name or e-mail address is on both the Blocked Senders List and the Safe Senders List, the Safe Senders List takes precedence over the Blocked Senders List to reduce the possibility of messages that you want mistakenly being marked as junk e-mail messages.
Safe Senders List If the filter mistakenly marks an e-mail message as a junk e-mail message, you can add the sender of that message to the Safe Senders List. E-mail addresses and domain names on the Safe Senders List are never treated as junk e-mail, regardless of the content of the message. E-mail message addresses in Contacts are included in this list by default. Therefore, messages from people in your Contacts folder will never be treated as junk e-mail messages. If you are using a Microsoft Exchange Server e-mail account, names and e-mail addresses in the Global Address List are automatically considered safe. You can also configure Outlook to only accept messages from people on your Safe Senders List, giving you total control over which messages are delivered to your Inbox.
Safe Recipients List If you belong to mailing lists or distribution lists, you can add these names to your Safe Recipients List so any messages sent to these e-mail addresses or domain names will never be treated as junk e-mail messages, regardless of the content of the message.
Blocked Senders List You can easily block messages from a certain e-mail address or domain name by adding the sender to this list. Messages from people or domain names on this list are always treated as junk e-mail messages, regardless of the content of the message. When you add a sender's name or e-mail address to the Blocked Sender's List, Outlook moves the message to the Junk E-mail folder.
If Automatic Picture Download is turned off, messages from or to e-mail addresses or domain names on the Safe Senders and Safe Recipients Lists will be treated as exceptions and the blocked content will be downloaded.
If you have existing lists of safe or blocked names and addresses, you can import this information into Outlook 2003 by saving the list into text or Tab Separated Values (.txt) file format, and then importing the list. If you want to share your Junk E-mail Filter Lists, create a copy for backup purposes, or print a list, you can export the e-mail addresses on the list into a text or Tab Separated Values (.txt) file.
E-mail addresses are matched exactly, and specific address entries take precedence over domain name entries. To block an entire domain but still see specific safe addresses, add the specific entries to the Safe Senders List. For example, add someone@example.com to the Safe Senders List and @example.com to your Blocked Senders List.
E-mail account types and the Junk E-mail Filter
The Junk E-mail Filter can be used with the following types of e-mail accounts:
The Junk E-mail Filter is not available if you are using an Exchange Server e-mail account, working online, and using a version of Exchange Server earlier than Microsoft Exchange Server 2003 or using an e-mail account of third-party MAPI providers.
All e-mail accounts in the same Outlook user profile share the same Junk E-mail settings and Junk E-mail Lists, but each e-mail account has its own Junk E-mail folder. For example, if you have both an Exchange Server e-mail account and a Hotmail account, each e-mail account has a Junk E-mail folder. If you change your profile, you should export a copy of your Junk E-mail Lists before making the changes and then import the information into Outlook 2003 to avoid having to recreate your Junk E-mail Filter Lists.
Different versions of Exchange Server and the Junk E-mail Filter
Versions earlier than Exchange Server 2003
Note If you work online or use Cached Exchange Mode and download to a Personal Folders file (.pst) as your default delivery location, the Junk E-mail Filter Lists will be available only on the computer used to add the names and addresses.
To obtain the maximum protection possible from using the Junk E-mail Filter and other enhanced privacy features, set the protection level of the Junk E-mail Filter to Safe Lists Only and permanently delete all messages suspected of being junk e-mail messages. Verify that Outlook is not set to automatically download pictures and other content in HTML messages, and that the "downloads from Web sites in security zones" setting is turned off. Turn off automatic processing of meeting requests and read and delivery receipts.