How does mail identify junk?

Question

Level 1

41 points

How does mail identify junk?

I have a simple junk rule that if an email is not in my contact list and is considered junk by mail it goes to the junk folder. Recently much that is not junk goes there. Most of it is mail I have been receiving for a long time but now is classified as junk. This has been happening with much increased frequency since going to Mavericks.

How does mail determine "junk" and can I change it? It was much better with Mountain Lion.

Thanks

Geoff

iMac, OS X Mavericks (10.9.2)

Posted on Dec 1, 2014 6:45 AM

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Answer 1

Geoff K Author

Level 1

41 points

Dec 1, 2014 8:41 PM in response to Eric Root

How does it learn? Apparently something I am doing is teaching it. When I first asked it to put junk mail in the junk folder it was quite good. As time goes on it puts more and more of my desirable mail in the junk folder. That's not good. Perhaps I'm better off going back to putting nothing in the junk folder and just deleting the junk as I read my mail?

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Answer 2

Dec 3, 2014 12:54 AM in response to Eric Root

So let me ask the reverse question ... I am now getting perfectly good mail marked as Junk - I click Not Junk (which marks the individual mail as Not Junk) but subsequent mails from the same sender (but not all!) are still marked Junk - is my only option to reset the filter and start again?

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Answer 3

Sep 13, 2016 12:38 PM in response to Geoff K

Since going to El Capitan, it's putting a lot in the Junk folder that should go there and leaving things that should be junk alone. I have some listservs that I never have marked as junk yet all of them are now going to junk. I've just reset the junk filter and set it to mark things as junk but leave them in the inbox. This way, at least, when I read my mail on an iOS device, I can see it.

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Answer 4

tbirdvet

Level 6

17,295 points

Dec 1, 2014 6:50 AM in response to Geoff K

Usually you mark mail as junk (or not junk) and then the program will remember. There are no other settings except rules you can set.

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Answer 5

Eric Root

Level 10

685,293 points

Dec 1, 2014 8:47 AM in response to Geoff K

You can go Mail/Preferences/Junk Mail and reset the filter, but then it will have to learn everything from scratch.

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Answer 6

Geoff K Author

Level 1

41 points

Dec 1, 2014 8:38 PM in response to tbirdvet

That's interesting. I haven't marked any as junk and much of what ends up in the junk folder is stuff I receive frequently and want to receive.

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Answer 7

Eric Root

Level 10

685,293 points

Dec 2, 2014 7:02 AM in response to Geoff K

It learns by what you mark as junk. Your last sentence is what I do after marking the e-mail as junk.

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Answer 8

Geoff K Author

Level 1

41 points

Dec 2, 2014 10:06 AM in response to Eric Root

Ah, maybe that's my problem. I've never marked things as junk, just delete. Perhaps that leaves mail confused? Well, I'll start teaching it and mark junk as junk after I reset the filter.

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Answer 9

Eric Root

Level 10

685,293 points

Dec 3, 2014 9:42 AM in response to AdamBellC

If you add the sender to your Contacts, you can then do Mail/Preferences/Junk Mail and check Sender of message is in my Contacts.

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