Emails being sent to Junk no matter what rule I apply

Question

I am using the Microsoft 365 Apps for Enterprise version of Outlook on a laptop with the most up-to-date version of Windows.

I have somewhere just short of 70 rules for Outlook that move incoming mail into various folders based on From, Subject, and Body (mostly). I have very carefully ordered them so that the two that move things to the JUNK folder are the bottom two that are active and should run LAST. Every single rule has 'Stop processing more rules' checked, so there is no chance of two rules running on a single email.

Yet, I get a lot of mail that IS covered by my rules that wind up in the Junk folder. When I then go to the junk folder and run the rules manually, it properly moves them into the correct locations, proving that the rules DO work IN the order I have arranged them, and that the two 'Spam' rules are not being triggered. I've even tried disabling the two spam rules and the same things happen.

What I finally found in my investigation is that all of the mail being shunted directly into Junk has a header entry in common:

X-Microsoft-Antispam-Mailbox-Delivery:

ucf:0;jmr:0;ex:1;auth:0;dest:J;OFR:SpamFilterAuthJ;ENG:(910001)(944506478)(944626604)(920097)(890001)(255002)(435001)(930097)(3100021)(140003);**RF:JunkEmail;**

See the part I've made bold? That is in every email that winds up in my Junk folder, even with the rules that specifically move them to other folders based on From, Body, and Subject.

What is causing it? Why don't my rules that specifically move these into folders work when they arrive, but DO work when I run them manually on the messages after they've been shunted off to Junk?

I have coworkers that use similar rules, and the same emails that get sent to Junk for me get properly sorted into folders for them. Why does it work for them and not me?

Sample rule:

Apply this rule after the message arrives

with [specific address] in the sender's address

and with [specific phrase] in the subject

move it to the [specific folder] folder

and stop processing more rules

Emails from [specific address] and with [specific phrase] in the subject bypass this rule every time, ending up in Junk. I then run that rule on them in Junk and they get put into the correct folder.

Answer 1

Dear Kaa_Serpent,

Good day! Thank you for posting to Microsoft Community. We are happy to help you.

Based on your description, I understand that you are experiencing issues with emails being sent to Junk even though you have set up rules to move them to specific folders. I apologize for the inconvenience this has caused you.

Based on the information you have provided; it seems that the issue is caused by the X-Microsoft-Antispam-Mailbox-Delivery header in the emails that are being sent to Junk. This header is added by Microsoft's anti-spam filter, which is designed to detect and filter out spam emails.

When an email is marked as spam by the anti-spam filter, it is automatically moved to the Junk folder, regardless of any rules you have set up. This is why your rules are not working as expected.

I have tried adjusting the settings of the anti-spam filter in Outlook by open Outlook and go to the Home tab > Click on the Junk dropdown menu and select Junk Email Options > In the Junk Email Options window, go to the Safe Senders tab > Add the email addresses or domains that you want to whitelist to the list of Safe Senders and Domains > Go to the Safe Recipients tab and add the email addresses or domains that you want to whitelist to the list of Safe Recipients > Click OK to save your changes.

By adding the email addresses or domains to the Safe Senders and Safe Recipients lists, you are telling the anti-spam filter to allow emails from those senders to bypass the filter and be delivered to your inbox.

I hope this helps resolve your issue. If you have any further questions or concerns, please don't hesitate to ask.

Answer 2

Dear Kaa_Serpent,

Good day!

Thank you for posting to the Microsoft Community. We are glad to assist. We are looking into your situation, and we will update the thread shortly.

Appreciate your patience and understanding and thank you for your time and cooperation.

Sincerely,

Community Moderator