Junk file is useless

Question

65% of stuff in my junk folder are things I need and want. And have requested. My inbox is 65% junk spam. And the junk gets deleted permanently after thirty days. I try and remember but keep missing stuff. I used to be able to turn junk file off so didn't have one. And I don't have one for other e mail addresses. What is the point of it? Why is it not possible to have more control of it? Extending the thirty days would help. I'm going to stop outlook because of this. I hate that you can't switch it off. Why not? What's the reasoning? Why is so much of my important personal stuff going into junk? And yes I do mark it it as non junk but there's always more.

Answer 1

Hello kirsty allan, 

Thank you for reaching out to the Q&A forum. I can see how this would be very frustrating for your requested emails being routed to the Junk folder and the challenges with the 30-day automatic deletion policy. 

You raise excellent questions about why your control over your own inbox has changed. I want to shed some light on why the system works this way now, and provide the best alternatives to help you manage this moving forward. 

To briefly explain why your control over the inbox has changed: Outlook now relies heavily on global, server-side filtering to protect users from the high volume of phishing and malware. Because these security checks happen on the servers before the mail even reaches your local inbox, marking an item as "Not Junk" doesn't always override the global filter permanently. 

Since there isn't currently a way to extend the 30-day deletion window or fully disable the filter, a good habit is to briefly check your Junk folder periodically. When you find something you need, actively add that email address or domain to your Safe Senders list. This is generally one of the most effective ways to tell the server to let those specific contacts bypass the spam filter entirely. 

If you find that your Safe Senders list is not being respected, or the volume of legitimate mail going to junk is unusually high, I highly recommend directly contacting Microsoft customer support. They can look at your specific account routing and offer a more tailored resolution. Your experience is valued, and support can take a closer look at these ongoing routing concerns:

1. Visit the Contact - Microsoft Support website.
2. Type "Junk email filter" in the search box.
3. Click Get Help, scroll to the bottom, and select Contact Support.
   • Note: You will be asked to sign in to your personal Microsoft account.
4. Under Products & Services, select Other Products.
5. Under Category, select Microsoft 365 & Office.
6. Click Confirm.
7. Select Chat with a support agent in your web browser.

Additionally, I encourage you to provide your feedback via the Feedback Hub. Microsoft is actively listening to users, and the more users request a change—like extending the 30-day limit or having more manual control over the filter—the more likely it is to happen. If you decide to write a request there, please feel free to come back and share the link with us! That way, myself and other users in the forum can upvote it. 

I hope this explanation helps explain what has transpired with your account. Please let me know if you need any further assistance! 

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Answer 2

It sounds like you're experiencing significant frustration with the junk email filtering in Outlook. The junk email filter is designed to help users manage unwanted emails by automatically moving suspected spam to a designated folder. However, this can sometimes lead to legitimate emails being incorrectly classified as junk, which seems to be happening in your case.

Here are a few points to consider regarding your concerns:

1. Control Over Junk Email: While Outlook does provide options to manage junk email settings, such as marking emails as not junk, the filtering process itself is automated. Unfortunately, there is no option to completely turn off the junk email filter in Outlook, as it is intended to protect users from spam and phishing attempts.
2. Duration of Junk Email Retention: The default behavior is to permanently delete junk emails after a certain period (like 30 days). However, you can adjust your settings to prevent emails from being permanently deleted by changing the option to move suspected junk emails to the Junk E-mail folder instead of deleting them directly. This way, you can review them before they are removed.
3. Improving Filtering Accuracy: To help improve the accuracy of the junk email filter, consider adding trusted contacts to your Safe Senders list. This can help ensure that emails from those contacts do not end up in the junk folder.
4. Feedback on Filtering: Continuously marking emails as not junk can help improve the filter's accuracy over time, although it may not be immediate.

If you find that the junk email filter is consistently misclassifying important emails, you might want to explore other email clients that offer more customizable spam filtering options.

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References:

• Junk e-mail messages are permanently deleted
• Configure Exchange antispam settings on mailboxes