bdphifer

Q: Identifying email as SPAM

How do I prevent OS Mail from sending email to the SPAM folder? To me there seems to be a difference between 'Junk' and 'SPAM.' I have lots of mail that is identified as SPAM and is actually mail that I want. Is there a way to identify an address as one that is OK to be delivered to your inbox?

 

Also, the SPAM folder doesn't sort the mail properly. I have tried to sort it by inbox, so I can more easily move mail out of the SPAM folder and they do not sort properly.

 

TIA

iMac (21.5-inch Mid 2011), OS X Mavericks (10.9.4)

Posted on Jul 1, 2016 12:40 PM

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Q: Identifying email as SPAM

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  • Helpful answers

  • by dianeoforegon,Helpful

    dianeoforegon dianeoforegon Jul 1, 2016 2:52 PM in response to bdphifer
    Level 5 (5,372 points)
    Mac OS X
    Jul 1, 2016 2:52 PM in response to bdphifer

    Junk and Spam are terms that are used to identify messages you receive that are unwanted. Microsoft has a feature called Clutter that sounds like what you are describing. Your issue is emails like newsletters that you want to receive but are being marked as Junk/Spam.

     

    If the sender is in your Contacts, it should not be marked as Junk.

    In Mail you can select to keep messages in the Inbox but maked as Junk or move to the Junk folder.

    If a message is marked by Mail as Junk, you need to select "Not Junk".

     

    Tip: when you add a message for a newletter etc that you don't want marked as spam to Contacts. Assign to a Group "newsletters". You can create a rule to move the messages to a folder rather than leave in your Inbox.

    Create a Rule:

    Sender is member of group   > Newsletters.

    Move Message to Mailbox Newsletters.

     

    If you want to leave in the Inbox instead of Move message you can select "Set Color > Of background or text  so you can easily identify the messages in your Inbox.

  • by bdphifer,

    bdphifer bdphifer Jul 1, 2016 3:09 PM in response to dianeoforegon
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Mac OS X
    Jul 1, 2016 3:09 PM in response to dianeoforegon

    Thanks for the response!!

     

    I understand about marking the mail as 'Not Junk.' Unfortunately when the mail is in the SPAM folder, there is no way to let the system know it is a mail you want to keep.

     

    I will try putting the addresses of the SPAM in the contacts to see if that works.

     

    Thanks again!

  • by bdphifer,

    bdphifer bdphifer Jul 1, 2016 4:55 PM in response to dianeoforegon
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Mac OS X
    Jul 1, 2016 4:55 PM in response to dianeoforegon

    OK, is there some other way to do this besides putting every email that gets directed improperly into my Contacts? I'd rather not have contacts for Arby's, Amazon.com and things like that there. Is there a way to do a secondary, separate Contacts list that I can use for things like this?

     

    TIA

  • by appreciate,Apple recommended

    appreciate Jul 1, 2016 5:49 PM in response to bdphifer
    Level 4 (1,276 points)
    Mac OS X
    Jul 1, 2016 5:49 PM in response to bdphifer

    Mail analyzes incoming messages to identify junk mail, then highlights the messages with color (brown by default) and a banner across the top of the message. Each time you confirm a message as junk or not junk, Mail is able to identify junk mail more accurately.

     

    As Mail learns about your junk mail, it automatically moves the messages to your email account’s Junk mail box available in the mail side bar. You can set a preference that determines when to delete messages from the Junk mailbox.

    Mark messages as junk or not junk

    If Mail incorrectly marks a message as junk: Click Not Junk in the banner, or click the Not Junk button in the Mail toolbar.

    If Mail fails to mark a message as junk: Select the message, then click the Junk button in the Mail toolbar.

     

     

    Change the junk mail filter

    The default settings in Mail’s junk mail filter catch most of the junk messages you receive, but you can customize the filter.

    1. Choose Mail > Preferences, then click Junk Mail.
    2. Specify what Mail should do when junk mail arrives.
      • To verify what Mail identifies as junk mail, select “Mark as junk mail, but leave it in my Inbox.”
      • If you’re sure the filter accurately identifies junk mail, select “Move it to the Junk mailbox.”
      • To set up other actions, select “Perform custom actions,” then click Advanced.
        Note: To make sure the junk mail database is used to identify junk mail, don’t change the default condition “Message is Junk Mail.”

         

    3. In the Junk Mail pane, select options for exempting messages from evaluation, such as messages received from people who use your full name.
    4. To include in the filter any junk mail detection that may already be present in messages, select “Trust junk mail headers in messages.”

    Mail maintains an internal database of information that helps it detect junk mail. When you mark messages as junk or not junk, Mail updates the junk mail database accordingly and your junk mail filter improves over time. If you change your mind about what is junk mail (for example, you want to receive someone’s messages that you previously specified as junk mail), you need to mark them as not junk.

    To reset the junk mail database to its original state and remove everything Mail learned from you about what is or isn’t junk, click Reset at the bottom of the Junk Mail pane in Mail preferences.

  • by dianeoforegon,Helpful

    dianeoforegon dianeoforegon Jul 2, 2016 5:23 PM in response to bdphifer
    Level 5 (5,372 points)
    Mac OS X
    Jul 2, 2016 5:23 PM in response to bdphifer

    Just to be clear...

     

    You want to add good addresses to your contacts. Good contacts will not be marked as spam This is mail you want to keep.

    Be sure to unsubscribe from legitimate services.

     

    Some users add spam contacts to their AddressBook and put in a Group named Spam. Use this with a Rule.

     

    Sender is member of group Spam > Move to Spam (or Trash)

     

    Personally, I use SpamSieve. It learns. After an initial training session if a message goes to your Inbox, you select "Train as Spam". If a message goes to the Spam folder you mark "Train as Good".

     

    http://c-command.com/spamsieve/

     

    I've used SpamSieve for 15 years. I've never had to pay for an update. I can't image how many countless hours it's saved me from having to deal with spam.

     

    Note: even though you turn off the Mail Junk Filter when you install SpamSieve, Apple's iCloud spam filter will still run on your iCloud email. There is no way to disable this.

  • by Lanny,

    Lanny Lanny Jul 2, 2016 2:35 PM in response to bdphifer
    Level 5 (7,935 points)
    Desktops
    Jul 2, 2016 2:35 PM in response to bdphifer

    Note: Apple's Mail app doesn't have a "Spam," folder, just a "Junk," folder. So, if you have a "Spam," folder, you must have created it.

  • by bdphifer,

    bdphifer bdphifer Jul 2, 2016 5:26 PM in response to dianeoforegon
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Mac OS X
    Jul 2, 2016 5:26 PM in response to dianeoforegon

    I have installed the trial of SpamSieve, so far it is working. If it works over the next week or so I will purchase it!

  • by bdphifer,

    bdphifer bdphifer Jul 2, 2016 5:27 PM in response to Lanny
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Mac OS X
    Jul 2, 2016 5:27 PM in response to Lanny

    I suppose I may have created it, but why does Apple Mail continue to move email to that folder, both good and bad?

  • by Lanny,

    Lanny Lanny Jul 2, 2016 6:49 PM in response to bdphifer
    Level 5 (7,935 points)
    Desktops
    Jul 2, 2016 6:49 PM in response to bdphifer

    but why does Apple Mail continue to move email to that folder, both good and bad?

     

    A Spamsieve rule.

     

    If you bought your Mac used, someone may have installed SpamSieve on it. SpamSieve instructs people to create a folder named, "Spam," and instructs you to make a Mail rule that places mail in it. If that is the case, there would be rule listed in your Mail application's system preferences that would need to be removed or deactivated.

     

    You haven't supplied enough detailed information to help any further.

  • by Barney-15E,

    Barney-15E Barney-15E Jul 3, 2016 6:01 AM in response to bdphifer
    Level 9 (50,047 points)
    Mac OS X
    Jul 3, 2016 6:01 AM in response to bdphifer

    If you are seeing both a "SPAM" folder and a "Junk" folder, then your email server is providing the SPAM folder, and it is moving items into that folder on the server before it ever arrives at your Mac.

     

    If you are seeing both folders, then Mail didn't recognize the server SPAM folder when you created the account. You can re-link that server SPAM folder so Mail considers it to be the Junk folder by selecting the SPAM folder, then select Use Mailbox for > Junk from the Mailbox menu.

     

    This will not prevent your server from marking the email as Spam, it will just "Unify" the Junk mailbox in Mail. Your email provider will continue to mark those messages as spam until you log into the web portal and teach it what is and is not spam. Mail has nothing to do with those messages being marked as Spam, so there is nothing in Mail that you can do to teach Mail how to handle them. The messages will not be marked as "Junk" by Mail, and you cannot teach it to recognize them as Not Junk as it made no determination of their spammy status.