Sending, receiving, and organizing email in Outlook.com
For Outlook.com/Hotmail in a browser on iMac, junk mail can be reduced but not completely stopped. Use the built‑in junk controls and blocked senders list rather than trying to block each message one by one.
- Confirm junk mail is being filtered correctly
Mail identified as junk is automatically moved to the Junk Email folder; malware is disabled. Junk mail is retained for a limited time (14–30 days depending on client) and then automatically deleted, so it will clear out without needing to delete each message manually. - Tighten junk filtering and block common senders/domains
In Outlook.com (web):- Select Settings (gear icon) at the top.
- Select Mail > Junk email.
- Under Blocked senders and domains (or Blocked senders):
- Select Add blocked sender and enter email addresses or domains that appear frequently (for example,
example.comto block all senders from that domain). - Select OK, then Save. Messages from these senders/domains will go directly to Junk Email.
- Select Add blocked sender and enter email addresses or domains that appear frequently (for example,
- Use Safe Senders to protect legitimate mail
To prevent wanted messages from going to Junk while junk filtering is stricter:- In Settings > Mail > Junk email.
- Under Safe senders and domains, select Add safe sender and enter addresses or domains you trust.
- Select OK, then Save.
Messages from safe senders will stay out of Junk.
- Rely on automatic junk deletion instead of manually clearing
Since junk is automatically deleted after a short retention period and cannot be recovered after that, it is not necessary to clear the folder every time; it can be left to auto‑purge.
If junk messages are still landing in the Inbox instead of Junk, adjust junk handling in Settings > Mail > Junk email (for example, temporarily set incoming mail handling to a stricter level, save, sign out and back in, then return to standard) so that spam is routed correctly to Junk.
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