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How Do I 'Whitelist' an Email That Apple is Filtering Out?

When Apple's systems have decided an email should be blocked (and I mean, it doesn't even appear in iCloud Mail junk folder - it is simply filtered out), how do I go about getting Apple to 'Whitelist' this email so that I can actually receive it.

MacBook Air 13″

Posted on May 1, 2023 7:38 AM

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Posted on May 4, 2023 2:15 PM

Thanks, but none of these ideas work.

If you consider that Apple is filtering some emails from a sender, but not all, then making them a VIP doesn't fix that. Apple's algorithm is clearly seeing some of the emails as malicious (not just junk) and there is no simple way to tell Apple that they are mistaken.

Some of the Apple staff I talked to claimed that Apple doesn't filter emails at all, but then I spoke to one who confirmed that Apple does in fact filter out emails (before they get to your iCloud Mail account). There is no 'whitelist' facility, so it required getting Apple to escalate this issue to their engineers to finally get it fixed (and they did finally fix it).

I am now receiving the emails, but surely Apple could offer something like a whitelist facility so we could override the Apple algorithm when it gets it wrong (I will add that I am sure that 99.9% of the time the filtering is great, but when it gets it wrong it should be easy to fix).

11 replies
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

May 4, 2023 2:15 PM in response to jdo_apple

Thanks, but none of these ideas work.

If you consider that Apple is filtering some emails from a sender, but not all, then making them a VIP doesn't fix that. Apple's algorithm is clearly seeing some of the emails as malicious (not just junk) and there is no simple way to tell Apple that they are mistaken.

Some of the Apple staff I talked to claimed that Apple doesn't filter emails at all, but then I spoke to one who confirmed that Apple does in fact filter out emails (before they get to your iCloud Mail account). There is no 'whitelist' facility, so it required getting Apple to escalate this issue to their engineers to finally get it fixed (and they did finally fix it).

I am now receiving the emails, but surely Apple could offer something like a whitelist facility so we could override the Apple algorithm when it gets it wrong (I will add that I am sure that 99.9% of the time the filtering is great, but when it gets it wrong it should be easy to fix).

Jan 16, 2024 5:40 PM in response to Ali_E1

But it took way too long and lots of wasted time with Apple staff who told me that Apple doesn't filter out emails, when they clearly do. I shouldn't have to chase and chase Apple staff to get their engineers to override a system that is blocking an email I want to receive. I should have the ability to choose to override this system myself.

Most email systems allow the user to set the strictness of any filtering, but Apple has decided it knows best and won't let users make changes. I find that unacceptable.

May 3, 2023 8:06 AM in response to phil mustang

Hello Phil mustang,


Is the sender included in your contact list? If not, go ahead and add them and that will help allow them through. Here's how to add a contact: Add people and companies to Contacts on Mac - Apple Support


1. In the Contacts app  on your Mac, click the Add button  at the bottom of the window, then choose New Contact (or use the Touch Bar).
2. To enter contact information, click the gray text next to a field label.
3. You don’t need to fill in every field—empty fields don’t appear in the contact card.
* Add a company: Click the Company checkbox. You can enter a company contact person in the First and Last name fields below the Company name field.
* Add an international phone number: Enter the plus sign (+), country code, and phone number.
* Tip: If you travel often to other countries or regions, make it easier to call your family and friends back home by adding the plus sign (+) and your country code to their phone numbers in Contacts.
* Include a phone number extension: After the phone number, enter a semicolon (;), then the extension number.
4. To add a picture, click the circle next to the contact name.
5. Click Done to save the changes.

Thanks!

May 4, 2023 10:52 AM in response to phil mustang

Thanks for replying, phil mustang, and that additional info, it really helps! An option that might help with this could be to assign this contact as a VIP and it will be filtered into it's own folder: Make a sender a VIP in Mail on iCloud.com - Apple Support


If you are still having an issue, please see if any of the steps from this Apple resource for this situation help: If iCloud Mail isn't working - Apple Support


If you are still having this issue after following those points, please contact Apple directly for further investigation: Get Support


Have a great day and thanks for using the Apple Support Communities!

May 4, 2023 10:38 AM in response to ShannonM1

Hi Shannon,

The sender is in my contacts, so this isn't what is causing them to be filtered out by Apple. I do receive some emails from this sender, but not the important ones, e.g. 'Reset Password links.'

It seems like Apple algorithms have decided to block certain emails that I actually want to receive and I can find no simple way to get around this.

If anyone has a simple way to get Apple to stop blocking specific emails, please share.

Jan 16, 2024 5:45 PM in response to SAQIB_JABBAR

Sorry, Saqib. I don't fully understand your question. If you think or know that Apple is filtering out emails that you want to receive, you need to speak to Apple directly. Initially they denied that they do this, but I actually knew emails were being sent and they weren't getting to my iCloud Mail (not even in the junk folder).

Eventually I got to speak to someone who said they Apple actually does filter out emails if it thinks they are malicious. The trouble is that they sometimes get it wrong and filter emails they you want to receive, but there's no way to override this without getting Apple engineers involved. This seems crazy to me. I should be allowed to set any filtering controls myself and not have them set by Apple.

Jun 25, 2024 7:57 AM in response to MorrisWilliam

If you know someone is sending you an email, but it's not showing up at all in iCloud Webmail (not in any inbox or junk folder), then it could be that Apple is filtering the email before it gets to iCloud Webmail.

This was happening to me with very specific emails being sent from just one sender (I could receive other emails from this sender). It took about 3 calls to Apple Support to get this fixed. The first 2 call had me talking to support staff who claimed that Apple doesn't do this filtering at all, but this made no sense since I knew the emails sere being sent and I couldn't see who else could be stopping the emails appearing.

The third call was when I spoke to someone who admitted that Apple actually does filter out emails it thinks might be malicious. There was no simple way to stop them filtering out the emails I wanted to receive, so they required me to tell them who the emails were from and when they were sent. They passed this problem on to the Apple engineers and eventually they fixed the problem and I started the receive these emails.

BUT I believe there should be a facility that allows ME to override the Apple filtering if it has made a mistake.

Hope this is helpful.

How Do I 'Whitelist' an Email That Apple is Filtering Out?

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