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A few months ago I decided to set junk email filtering to the lowest available level possible. I can't recall whether I did this on Outlook.com or the desktop app( currently running Outlook for Mac 16.69.1). Fast forward to today and I get so much spam on my inbox that I want to change that setting again. However, I simply can't find the settings on either app anymore. I have of course googled and stacked the hell out of this question, but to no avail. Posts that are actually useful mention options that simply don't show up in my case.

Help me out of junk hell by answering the following:

  1. Are levels still a thing for Outlook.com and Outlook for Mac?
  2. Where do I manage these settings?

These are the only junk-related options I currently have; no "levels", only blacklists or whitelists (excuse the large images; couldn't find a better size/readability compromise):

Desktop Web

Web Web

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  • Just checking in to see if above information was helpful. If you think my reply is helpful to you, please remember to mark it as an answer. Warm thanks.
    – Christy
    Commented Feb 16, 2023 at 8:33
  • None of the links have info on the filter levels, unfortunately, only to blacklists/whitelists. The only options I have are the ones in the images.
    – Zweifler
    Commented Feb 16, 2023 at 19:15
  • I mean the below to links which mentioned the related info for Outlook for Windows and Outlook web app but not for Outlook for Mac.
    – Christy
    Commented Feb 17, 2023 at 8:58
  • None helped, unfortunately. The protection level options simply aren't there.
    – Zweifler
    Commented Feb 18, 2023 at 21:09
  • I mean the two links about Outlook for Windows and Outlook web app: support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/…, support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/….
    – Christy
    Commented Feb 23, 2023 at 9:26

2 Answers 2

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Sorry, but outlook for mac does not include spam levels. Neither does the outlook web client. Microsoft reserves such features to paying clients

That leaves you with some alternative options:

a. Train your outlook to recognize spam by classifying it as such. This might be time consuming, and not always efficient.

b. Use a third party tool for spam filtering when the email arrives on your mac. This article features some possibilities, of which for sure SpamSieve will work with outlook (have not checked the others), but it's not free.

c. Use a different mail client such as thunderbird, which allows to set up filter rules based on the x-spam-score or spam confidence level in the header of the email.

d. If you use this email account for work, I'd consider switching to an alternative provider, possibly a paid one, which offers more possibilities of filtering spam.

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  • I see. These options were there not so long ago, which is the only reason I was trying to find them. Do you know of anywhere where one can track feature changes?
    – Zweifler
    Commented Feb 27, 2023 at 10:40
  • @Zweifler Sorry, no. But given that hotmails spam filters seem not to be the best (of what I read), probably anyway using a third-party tool is the best option: that way you can control your spam without depending on choices you can't influence.
    – 1NN
    Commented Feb 27, 2023 at 22:09
  • True. It's just silly that they remove access to features that actually did what I wanted. I'm pretty sure they're still there but there is no way for the user to set them up. It is also wild to think that customer service has been delegated to fora, communities and fake-internet-points-experts and the company is unreachable about such simple questions.
    – Zweifler
    Commented Feb 28, 2023 at 14:24
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Junk e-mail protection settings are listed in this article, which is same as you mentioned:

Customize junk e-mail protection in Outlook for Mac

And i notice that you have set junk email filtering to the lowest available level possible and forget where to set it. I know that it can be set in Outlook for windows and Outlook for Web. Please check if it is you want to find:

Change the level of protection in the Junk Email Filter

Block or allow (junk email settings)

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