StearnNDrang

Q: Where is the Apple Mail "not junk" button?

All -

 

In Apple Mail, Yosemite 10.5.5. There is no option to mark an email in the Junk folder as Not Junk. I have the built-in junk filter enabled. When I select the message and select "Message -> Mark..." in the menu bar, there is an option to mark as junk, but not to mark as not junk. Similariy, if I control-click or right-click on the message itself, the only "Mark..." option is to mark as junk. If I attempt to customize the toolbar, the only button I'm offered is a thumbs down/junk button. Left to right, on the top row of the customization palette, the buttons are Delete, Junk as a pair, Delete alone, Junk alone, Archive, Reply, Reply All, Forward as a triplet, Reply alone, Reply All alone, Forward alone, Flag, Move, Copy. No thumbs up/Not Junk.

 

Many of the items I've found on the Web about this, including from recent OSes like Yosemite, imply that some people see a Not Junk button.

 

What's going on?

 

Thanks in advance.

Posted on Feb 19, 2016 6:59 PM

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Q: Where is the Apple Mail "not junk" button?

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  • Helpful answers

  • by StearnNDrang,

    StearnNDrang StearnNDrang Feb 19, 2016 7:13 PM in response to StearnNDrang
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    Feb 19, 2016 7:13 PM in response to StearnNDrang

    I should add that in this thread:

     

    My "Not Junk" button is missing

     

    there's a good deal of confusion about what the problem is. I should clarify that my Mail preferences do indeed say "Trust junk mail headers", but a good deal of the mail that's ending up in my Junk folder is explicitly NOT identified as spam by the headers, so that's not why the messages can't be marked as junk. Some of the posters in the other thread seemed to believe that the Junk button is a toggle, that it marks a message as not junk if it's in the Junk folder (assuming no headers interfere) and as junk if it's not in the Junk folder, or something like that. I could believe this for other OSes, but Apple is typically not nearly that careless with its icons and their labels; and in no case does the MENU item in "Message -> Mark..." ever change; it always reads "As Junk Mail". In other words, there's absolutely no evidence whatsoever that Apple Mail, at least my installation of Apple Mail, has any idea how to mark a message as Not Junk - nor is there a way of telling what the message's current marking is.

  • by Eric Root,

    Eric Root Eric Root Feb 20, 2016 9:38 AM in response to StearnNDrang
    Level 9 (72,578 points)
    iTunes
    Feb 20, 2016 9:38 AM in response to StearnNDrang

    If the e-mails aren't brown/tan, then your e-mail provider may have marked them as junk, which would explain why the not junk option isn't there. Try going to the e-mail provider's website to see if you can adjust the junk settings there.

  • by StearnNDrang,

    StearnNDrang StearnNDrang Feb 20, 2016 10:00 AM in response to Eric Root
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Feb 20, 2016 10:00 AM in response to Eric Root

    Thanks for replying.

     

    Conveniently enough, my email provider is my own server. SpamAssassin is running on my server, and it's very clear which emails have been marked as spam and which haven't been, both from the email headers and because I have ***SPAM added to the subject line when it's identified spam. The emails I'm concerned about have not been marked as spam by my server.

     

    And that doesn't explain why I can't add a "Not Junk" button to the toolbar. It's not just that these individual emails don't seem to be markable as not junk; it's that the option to do that seems to be completely missing from Apple Mail.

     

    Does your version of Mail have a "Not Junk" button available in the toolbar customization panel?

  • by Eric Root,

    Eric Root Eric Root Feb 21, 2016 10:24 AM in response to StearnNDrang
    Level 9 (72,578 points)
    iTunes
    Feb 21, 2016 10:24 AM in response to StearnNDrang

    You are welcome. I'm using 10.11.3 and Mail 9.2 and there is no option for the toolbar for Not Junk.

  • by Lanny,

    Lanny Lanny Feb 21, 2016 4:02 PM in response to StearnNDrang
    Level 5 (7,979 points)
    Desktops
    Feb 21, 2016 4:02 PM in response to StearnNDrang

    You need to turn on Junk Mail Filtering before you can see the Thumbs up & down buttons for Not Junk and Junk.

     

    Screen Shot 2016-02-21 at 6.49.40 PM.jpg

     

    Screen Shot 2016-02-21 at 6.59.54 PM.jpg

  • by StearnNDrang,

    StearnNDrang StearnNDrang Feb 21, 2016 4:51 PM in response to Lanny
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Feb 21, 2016 4:51 PM in response to Lanny

    Thanks for replying.

     

    Perhaps I wasn't specific enough. I have the built-in junk filtering enabled, and I have junk mail filtering enabled. Still no "Not Junk" button, anywhere.

  • by Lanny,Solvedanswer

    Lanny Lanny Feb 21, 2016 6:12 PM in response to StearnNDrang
    Level 5 (7,979 points)
    Desktops
    Feb 21, 2016 6:12 PM in response to StearnNDrang
    Does your version of Mail have a "Not Junk" button available in the toolbar customization panel?

    Yes, it's the Junk button, it turns into the Not Junk button when you highlight something that is marked Junk.

     

    There is only one button, it is both the Junk and the Not Junk button depending on what you have highlited.

  • by StearnNDrang,

    StearnNDrang StearnNDrang Feb 21, 2016 6:17 PM in response to Lanny
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Feb 21, 2016 6:17 PM in response to Lanny

    I see that now - but it's only with the mail that I've marked explicitly as junk. So, for instance, there's a bunch of stuff in my Junk folder - some of it is black text which was placed there by the Junk filter, and some of it is brown text which I marked as junk explicitly in the Inbox. If I highlight the brown text items - the ones I marked explicitly - yes, indeed, the button turns to Not Junk. But if I highlight any other item in the junk folder - all the things that were placed there automatically - the button still says "Junk", and if I press it, it changes to "Not Junk".

     

    But this doesn't make any sense. I've got the junk filtering enabled, and it puts things in the Junk folder that it thinks are junk. I want to keep training it, by telling it that things that IT DECIDED WERE JUNK are not junk. But it doesn't seem to think they're junk, even though they're in the junk folder.

     

    Thanks to all who responded.

  • by Lanny,Helpful

    Lanny Lanny Feb 22, 2016 5:49 AM in response to StearnNDrang
    Level 5 (7,979 points)
    Desktops
    Feb 22, 2016 5:49 AM in response to StearnNDrang

    The last part of the equation depends on whether iCloud is your email.

     

    iCloud mail's junk filtering has become very accurate, as of late, it puts email that it thinks is junk in the junk mail folder. That's why they're are not marked as junk. If you think the email is not junk, then just move them to your inbox.

     

    Else where in these forums, I don't remember where, someone said that, if you use iCloud email, Apple recommends turning off Junk Mail filtering. Then you unjunk mail by dragging it to your inbox, and you junk mail by dragging it to your junk mail folder.

     

    In other words, iCloud is doing the filtering instead of the Mail app.

  • by StearnNDrang,

    StearnNDrang StearnNDrang Feb 22, 2016 5:49 AM in response to Lanny
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Feb 22, 2016 5:49 AM in response to Lanny

    Interesting. I wasn't aware of that. It doesn't apply to me, but it's good to know.

  • by janbird,

    janbird janbird Sep 21, 2016 5:52 PM in response to StearnNDrang
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Sep 21, 2016 5:52 PM in response to StearnNDrang

    Any plans to bring back the "NOT JUNK" option? That sure was easy.

    Now all my new memberships and invitations end up in the Junk folder. This never happened before.

    Moving them to the email folder does not always work.

     

    I am begging you bring back the "Not Junk" option. Love change but only when it saves time or make something easier. This is not an improvement.

  • by Eric Root,

    Eric Root Eric Root Sep 22, 2016 10:56 AM in response to janbird
    Level 9 (72,578 points)
    iTunes
    Sep 22, 2016 10:56 AM in response to janbird

    If the e-mails aren't brown/tan, then your e-mail provider may have marked them as junk, which would explain why the not junk option isn't there. Try going to the e-mail provider's website to see if you can adjust the junk settings there.