Apply rules to junk folder??

Question

Apply rules to junk folder??

Jace T 20

Will Microsoft ever let us apply filters to the junk folder? I receive hundreds of e-mails to my spam folder with the same 10 fake company names that I have to sift through to make sure no important e-mails were accidentally sent to my spam folder; which happens. Frequently. If I could just send these e-mails straight to the trash, that'd be greaat.....

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Answer accepted by question author

EmilyS726 268.4K Independent Advisor

Hello

You will need to run the rules manually in this case, because otherwise the rules are for inbox only.

Go to https://www.outlook.com > Settings > Mails > Rules, click on the three dots of the rule and choose "run it now". It will ask you what folder to apply to, then you can pick Spam/Junk folder and it will run that way.

As for when or whether Msft will make this feature work automatically on Spam/Junk folder, unfortunately no one knows here since this is community forum. You are not talking to engineers or product people here.

In your outlook.com UI, go to Help, submit a feedback. Or do it here https://feedbackportal.microsoft.com/ That way your request will go to the right team. If there's any update, they typically would indicate via the Feedback platform.

Jace T 20 Reputation points

2026-09-16T10:47:16.7766667+00:00

Unfortunately it seems that with the "new" Outlook you cannot select what folder to apply it to/it doesn't ask you. Thus, it only works for inbox. I've taken your advice and submitted feedback to both, but will likely just start the arduous process of switching everything to Gmail.
Hornblower409 15,520 Reputation points

2026-09-16T15:14:16.46+00:00

@Jace T said

[Run Rule Now] ... with the "new" Outlook you cannot select what folder to apply it to/it doesn't ask you.

If you try to follow the steps in the Answer by "Hornblower409 Apr 18, 2026" in
https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/answers/questions/5863133/junk-phishing-emails-from-ending-in-online-rule-do

Where does what you see not match the instructions?

1 additional answer

Your answer

Jace T 20 Reputation points

2026-09-16T10:47:16.7766667+00:00

Unfortunately it seems that with the "new" Outlook you cannot select what folder to apply it to/it doesn't ask you. Thus, it only works for inbox. I've taken your advice and submitted feedback to both, but will likely just start the arduous process of switching everything to Gmail.
Hornblower409 15,520 Reputation points

2026-09-16T15:14:16.46+00:00

@Jace T said

[Run Rule Now] ... with the "new" Outlook you cannot select what folder to apply it to/it doesn't ask you.

If you try to follow the steps in the Answer by "Hornblower409 Apr 18, 2026" in
https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/answers/questions/5863133/junk-phishing-emails-from-ending-in-online-rule-do

Where does what you see not match the instructions?

Answer 1

@Jace T said

Will Microsoft ever let us apply filters to the junk folder?

In addition to/instead of creating your own Feature Request, you can Vote for and Comment on these existing Request:

Truly blocking a sender
https://feedbackportal.microsoft.com/feedback/idea/fcafdbe4-a053-f011-95f3-7c1e5299279a

Allowing Rules to affect the Junk Folder
https://feedbackportal.microsoft.com/feedback/idea/6a30bc19-85d7-ef11-95f6-0022484d7a88

(You must open the Feedback Portal link and "Sign In" at the top right of the Feedback page before you can vote).

the same 10 fake company names that I have to sift through to make sure no important e-mails were accidentally sent to my spam folder

If Run Rule Now on your Junk folder doesn't solve the problem of getting rid of the "known garbage", there is another approach using an Advanced Search string. It's a little tricky if you aren't familiar with complex Search/Select syntax, but you can fine tune your selection much more than a Rule allows.

See the Answer by "Hornblower409 on Nov 1, 2025 in
https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/answers/questions/5541361/autoworkscoll-com-is-the-latest-abusive-domain-sen?page=2#answers