Why is my outlook not filtering junk mail

Frustrating! There could be several reasons why your Outlook isn't filtering junk mail effectively. Let's troubleshoot together:

  1. Check your Junk Email settings:
    • Go to Outlook's Settings (gear icon) > View all Outlook settings > Mail > Junk email.
    • Ensure that the "Junk email filtering" is enabled.
    • Check the "Trust level" setting. If it's set to "Low", it might not catch all junk emails.
  2. Update your Junk Email Options:
    • Go to Outlook's Settings (gear icon) > View all Outlook settings > Mail > Junk email > Junk email options.
    • Click "Update" to refresh the junk email list.
  3. Check your Safe Senders and Recipients lists:
    • Go to Outlook's Settings (gear icon) > View all Outlook settings > Mail > Junk email > Safe senders and recipients.
    • Ensure that the senders of legitimate emails are added to the "Safe senders" list.
    • Remove any unwanted senders from the "Safe senders" list.
  4. Check for updates to your Junk Email Filter:
    • Outlook's Junk Email Filter is updated regularly. Ensure that your Outlook is up-to-date.
    • Go to Outlook's Settings (gear icon) > View all Outlook settings > Office 365 settings > Update options.
  5. Check for third-party add-ins:
    • Some third-party add-ins might interfere with Outlook's junk email filtering. Try disabling any recently installed add-ins.
    • Go to Outlook's Settings (gear icon) > View all Outlook settings > Add-ins.
  6. Check your email account settings:
    • Ensure that your email account is set up correctly in Outlook.
    • Check your email provider's settings to see if they have any specific junk email filtering settings.
  7. Try resetting your Junk Email Filter:
    • Go to Outlook's Settings (gear icon) > View all Outlook settings > Mail > Junk email > Reset junk email filter.
  8. Check for any email rules:
    • Email rules can sometimes interfere with junk email filtering. Check your email rules and ensure that they're not blocking or moving legitimate emails to the junk folder.
  9. Contact your email provider:
    • If none of the above steps resolve the issue, contact your email provider's support team to see if they can help you troubleshoot the issue.

By following these steps, you should be able to resolve the issue and get your Outlook junk email filtering working effectively again.