How to Stop Emails Going to Junk in Outlook (2026)
When real mail keeps landing in Junk, the fix is to teach Outlook the sender is safe and, if needed, ease the filter. The most reliable move is adding the address to your Safe Senders list — that overrides the filter for good.
1. Mark a Message as Not Junk
This rescues the current message and signals Outlook about the sender.
- Classic Outlook: Right-click the message in Junk Email > Junk > Not Junk. Confirm to move it back to the Inbox.
- New Outlook / web: Select the message in Junk Email, then click Not junk in the toolbar (or right-click > Report > Not junk).
- Mobile: Open the message in Junk, tap the … menu, and choose Move to Inbox / Not junk.
2. Add the Sender to Safe Senders
A safe sender always reaches your inbox.
Classic Outlook: Home tab > Junk > Junk E-mail Options > Safe Senders tab > Add, then type the email address or @domain.com. Click OK.
New Outlook / web: Settings (gear) > Mail > Junk email > under Safe senders and domains, click Add and enter the address or domain.
Adding the whole @domain.com is useful when a company sends from varying addresses.
3. Lower the Junk Email Filter Level (Classic Outlook)
- Home > Junk > Junk E-mail Options.
- On the Options tab, choose a less aggressive level — No Automatic Filtering or Low.
- Optionally check Safe Lists Only behavior carefully (it filters everything except your safe lists).
- Click OK.
In new Outlook/web, there’s no slider — rely on Safe senders and Not junk instead.
4. Check Blocked Senders and Rules
Sometimes the sender was accidentally blocked, or a rule is moving the mail.
- Blocked senders: Junk E-mail Options > Blocked Senders (classic) or Settings > Mail > Junk email > Blocked senders (new/web). Remove the address if it’s there.
- Rules: Settings > Mail > Rules — delete any rule sending the sender to Junk.
5. Troubleshooting
Mail still goes to Junk after marking Not Junk
Add the sender to Safe Senders explicitly. Marking Not Junk once isn’t always enough if the filter scores the message highly.
Safe Senders won’t stick / resets
Server-side filtering (Exchange Online Protection) can override client lists. Ask your admin to allow the sender at the organization level.
A whole newsletter domain keeps getting filtered
Add @theirdomain.com to Safe Senders rather than a single address, since bulk senders rotate addresses.
Related Outlook guides: How to block emails in Outlook · How to create rules in Outlook · How to report phishing in Outlook · How to unsubscribe from emails in Outlook · How to filter emails in Outlook
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