User profile for user: StearnNDrang
StearnNDrang Author
User level: Level 1
19 points

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

Reply
16 replies
User profile for user: StearnNDrang
StearnNDrang Author
User level: Level 1
19 points

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.

Reply
User profile for user: StearnNDrang
StearnNDrang Author
User level: Level 1
19 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?

Reply
User profile for user: StearnNDrang
StearnNDrang Author
User level: Level 1
19 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.

Reply
User profile for user: janbird
janbird
User level: Level 1
10 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.

Reply
User profile for user: Michael C. Reilly
Michael C. Reilly
User level: Level 1
56 points

Nov 22, 2016 4:53 PM in response to StearnNDrang

I'm having the same issue. There used to be a thumbs up/down button that I could use to train it. Now it has changed to a "move to junk" button. That moves it to the junk folder. But if the message is brown, indicating mail thinks it's junk, I can't say it's not. I can only move it to junk, go to the junk folder, select it, click "move to inbox" at which point, it does clear the junk designation, but it also marks it as read, and since I have my inbox sorted by unread, that causes it sort well beyond the current view, especially if I don't check my junk folder regularly. What was wrong with the way it used to work?

Reply
User profile for user: Kenneth Sebens
Kenneth Sebens
User level: Level 1
10 points

Aug 28, 2017 5:04 PM in response to Lanny

For me, that does not work. It only turns into the not-junk button when I am in the junk mail folder. when I am in the incoming mail folder, it does not change no matter which email is highlighted. If I hit the junk button, it takes the message to the junk folder. So, to make something not junk, I have to move it to junk, then back. This seems much worse than the old way. (using OS X Sierra)

Reply
User profile for user: Lanny
Lanny
User level: Level 6
13,225 points

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.

Reply

This thread has been closed by the system or the community team. You may vote for any posts you find helpful, or search the Community for additional answers.

Where is the Apple Mail "not junk" button?

Welcome to Apple Support Community
A forum where Apple customers help each other with their products. Get started with your Apple Account.
Learn more Sign up