Fix my safe senders' emails going to junk!!! I know this question has been asked before and seconded by over 40 people:

Question

Fix my safe senders' emails going to junk!!! I know this question has been asked before and seconded by over 40 people:

ShaZ 5

I am getting very frustrated with the Junk Mail and Safe Senders list in Outlook. Emails from people and groups that are on my safe senders list keep going to Junk, and end up back in Junk even after I mark them Not Junk , Then, they end up being deleted along with the other SPAM. I have tried adjusting my filters, adding to safe senders list multiple times in multiple ways and this issue still persists. I have seen may other folks with this same issue and it seems to be a problem on MicroSoft's side rather than the user side. How can we get this fixed? I have copied this from an unanswered question which 40+ people have agreed with - where is the answer?

ShaZ 5 Reputation points

2026-08-18T14:49:42.3733333+00:00

Ha! Microsoft's answer to this question went to JUNK!
And just suggested what I've already done - come on Microsoft! Answer the question!!
ShaZ 5 Reputation points

2026-08-19T12:10:14.72+00:00

Hi there thank you both
It's outlook.live.com but my email address ends in outlook.co.uk.
No online chat available tho?
Hornblower409 14,715 Reputation points

2026-08-19T14:45:31.9866667+00:00
@ShaZ said

No online chat available

Try this route?

Logon to https://outlook.live.com/

From the main menu: Help -> ? Help

{This should open the Help side panel}

Search Help -> {Your problem} and press Enter

Still need help? [Yes]

If you get "We're here to help": Tell us your problem -> {Your problem, again} [Get Help]

[Sign In] {Use any Outlook/Microsoft account}

Choose a support option -> Chat with a support agent in your web browser
Chloe-V 12,700 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2026-08-20T03:19:17.07+00:00

Hi ShaZ

I recommend trying the support route suggested by Hornblower. Sign in to Outlook.com, open Help, describe the issue, and check whether any contact options are presented. If chat is not available, please let us know what options you see.

Answer recommended by moderator

ShaZ 5

Resolved.
Had to share my screen but all done in the end. They set a restore date, then deleted all my 'Rules' under email settings and I'll be able to set new ones after 24 hours.

Chloe-V 12,700 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2026-08-30T22:58:57.2466667+00:00

Hi ShaZ

Thank you for coming back to share the outcome. I'm glad to hear the problem has been resolved. Deleting the existing rules and allowing time for the mailbox settings to refresh appears to have addressed the behavior.

Thank you as well for sharing the solution, as it may help other community members who encounter the same situation in the future. Have a great day!

2 additional answers

Your answer

ShaZ 5 Reputation points

2026-08-18T14:49:42.3733333+00:00

Ha! Microsoft's answer to this question went to JUNK!
And just suggested what I've already done - come on Microsoft! Answer the question!!
ShaZ 5 Reputation points

2026-08-19T12:10:14.72+00:00

Hi there thank you both
It's outlook.live.com but my email address ends in outlook.co.uk.
No online chat available tho?
Hornblower409 14,715 Reputation points

2026-08-19T14:45:31.9866667+00:00

@ShaZ said

No online chat available

Try this route?

Logon to https://outlook.live.com/

From the main menu: Help -> ? Help

{This should open the Help side panel}

Search Help -> {Your problem} and press Enter

Still need help? [Yes]

If you get "We're here to help": Tell us your problem -> {Your problem, again} [Get Help]

[Sign In] {Use any Outlook/Microsoft account}

Choose a support option -> Chat with a support agent in your web browser
Chloe-V 12,700 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2026-08-20T03:19:17.07+00:00

Hi ShaZ

I recommend trying the support route suggested by Hornblower. Sign in to Outlook.com, open Help, describe the issue, and check whether any contact options are presented. If chat is not available, please let us know what options you see.
Chloe-V 12,700 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2026-08-30T22:58:57.2466667+00:00

Hi ShaZ

Thank you for coming back to share the outcome. I'm glad to hear the problem has been resolved. Deleting the existing rules and allowing time for the mailbox settings to refresh appears to have addressed the behavior.

Thank you as well for sharing the solution, as it may help other community members who encounter the same situation in the future. Have a great day!

Answer 1

Hornblower409 14,715

@ShaZ said

I am getting very frustrated with the Junk Mail and Safe Senders list in Outlook

In addition to the suggestions from Chloe-V, for Classic Outlook ONLY, there are three other things you can try.

But don't expect miracles if you are using a Microsoft hosted account (e.g. outlook.com, hotmail.com), since the Microsoft mail servers will send an email straight to Junk, ignoring all of your client settings, if Microsoft's calculated Spam Confidence Level for that email is high enough. See: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/defender-office-365/anti-spam-spam-confidence-level-scl-about

1 -- Lowest Junk Setting

User's image

2 -- Disable the Junk filter entirely

[External Non-Microsoft Site] https://www.slipstick.com/outlook/how-to-disable-outlooks-junk-email-filter/

If you do it right, the Junk button will be disabled.

User's image

3 -- If you have any third party Anti-Virus program that includes email filtering (e.g. Norton 360, McAfee+, Bitdefender)

Turn off the email filtering entirely and see if that changes things. Some (not all) don't respect the Outlook Safe Senders List and you have to either use their Safe list or disable email filtering.

ShaZ 5 Reputation points

2026-08-28T15:57:54.29+00:00

Hi thanks but I'm going round in circles. Sorry I'm using new outlook :(
Will try to get onto live chat again.
Hornblower409 14,715 Reputation points

2026-08-28T16:09:48.9233333+00:00
@ShaZ said

Can find no options for live support

Try this route

Logon to https://outlook.live.com/

From the main menu: Help -> ? Help

{This should open the Help side panel}

Search Help -> {Your problem} and press Enter

Still need help? [Yes]

If you get "We're here to help": Tell us your problem -> {Your problem, again} [Get Help]

[Sign In] {Use any Outlook/Microsoft account}

Choose a support option -> Chat with a support agent in your web browser

If that fails, try:

Open a browser to https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/home/contact

Tell us your problem: {Whatever}

[Get Help] {Scroll down to the bottom of the page} [Sign in to Contact Support]

Sign in with any Microsoft account

Products and services: "Microsoft 365 and Office"

Category: "Outlook"

[Confirm]

Choose a support option -> "Chat with a support agent in your web browser"
ShaZ 5 Reputation points

2026-08-28T17:15:08.89+00:00

Hey finally got on to online chat. Had to share my screen - eek! - but all done in the end. They set a restore date, then deleted all my 'Rules' under settings and I'll be able to set new ones after 24 hours. So if this happens again I'll start with that. Thanks for all your help :)

Answer 2

Hi ShaZ

I understand how frustrating this is, especially since you have already added the affected senders to Safe Senders, marked their messages as Not Junk, and checked your rules.

Please note that this is a user-to-user support forum. Moderators, contributors including external Microsoft employees cannot directly intervene in Microsoft product features or access back-end systems. Our role is limited to providing technical guidance on reported issues, requests, or ideas only.

Since the thread is categorized as “For home,” could you please confirm whether the affected address ends in @outlook.com, @hotmail.com, @live.com, or @msn.com, or is provided by another email service?

Meanwhile, please sign in to Outlook.com and go to Settings > Mail > Junk email. Confirm that the sender is listed under Safe senders and domains and not under Blocked senders and domains.

If these settings are already correct but messages from the same senders continue to be moved to Junk, please contact Outlook.com Support directly from the web mailbox.

Go to Contact Us: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/contactus
Click Show expanded list of products
Select Outlook > Get Home support
Type Outlook live chat in the search box, then select Get Help > Contact Support
If you can’t sign in to the affected account, sign in with a different Microsoft account to access support options
Under Products & Services, select Other Products > Outlook, then choose Chat with a support agent via web browser

Please move important messages out of Junk promptly, as they are automatically deleted after 30 days and cannot be recovered afterward.

Note: Please follow the steps in our documentation to enable e-mail notifications if you want to receive the related email notification for this thread.