rules for junk folder

Question

Why cant we create rules for our junk email folder?

I like to use my junk folder for things like newsletters, flyers etc. Non important but still interesting mail. That way my inbox only gets the stuff that that may be urgent such as bank info and is not lost amongst the other less important mail.

The problem is that my junk box gets full of phishing scams and when a new email that i actually want, it is lost in the mountain of phising emails. I indiviudally block all the phishing but they just change return emails with each send anyways so it does no good. I want to be able to easily block these on mass. I should be able to block any email from "no sender address" and "unverified" at the very least. How these are even allowed to be delivered in the first place is beyond me. The best would be to have all the same rules as my inbox.

Answer 1

Hello

The rules are indeed designed to apply to the Inbox only. The junk mail folder is technically being treated like a "deleted items" folder, where emails would be deleted automatically when they are 10 days old, whereas, emails are deleted 30 days old in Deleted folder.

If you want your rules to apply to Junk folder, you would have to set it up, and use the "run now" option, then on the next step it would allow you to choose which folder. That's really the only way to apply rules to junk folder as of now. Running it automatically is not possible.

Sorry, I know this is not exactly what you want to hear. You can consider voicing your feedback via the Feedback portal so it gets to the product team. As forum user, the best I can do is just to inform.

https://feedbackportal.microsoft.com/feedback

Answer 2

Outlook does not support creating standard Inbox-style rules that run directly on the Junk E-mail folder. The Junk E-mail folder is managed by the built-in Junk Email Filter and server-side spam protection, which automatically diverts suspected spam there instead of letting normal client rules process those messages.

For additional control over what is treated as junk or blocked, Outlook provides these mechanisms instead of folder rules:

1. Blocked Senders List
   Messages from addresses or domains on the Blocked Senders List are always treated as junk and moved to the Junk E-mail folder, regardless of content. To add senders or domains:
   1. On the Home tab, in the Delete group, select Junk > Junk E-mail Options.
   2. On the Blocked Senders tab, select Add.
   3. Enter an email address (for example, someone@example.com) or a domain (for example, @example.com or example.com).
   4. Select OK and repeat as needed.
   Notes:
   • Existing lists of safe/blocked names can be imported or exported from this dialog.
   • If using a Microsoft Exchange account, addresses in the Global Address List are automatically considered safe and cannot be added to the blocked list.
2. Safe Senders and Recipients / Junk options in Outlook on the web
   In Outlook on the web, junk handling is controlled under Settings > Mail > Block or allow:
   • Automatically filter junk email enables junk filtering in addition to any admin-level filtering.
   • Safe Senders and Recipients lets trusted senders and domains bypass junk filtering.
   • Blocked Senders lets specific senders and domains be sent directly to Junk.
   • Don’t trust email unless it comes from someone in my Safe Senders and Recipients list or local senders can be used to aggressively treat everything else as junk.
3. Marking individual messages as Junk / Not Junk
   When Outlook misclassifies messages, they can be reclassified:
   • To mark as Junk: select the message, then Home > Junk > Junk (or Mark as Junk). The message is moved to the Junk E-mail folder.
   • To mark as Not Junk: in the Junk folder, select the message, then Home > Junk > Not Junk (or Mark as Not Junk). The message is moved back to the Inbox.
   Note: Using Junk / Not Junk does not create automatic rules for similar messages; for more precise behavior, adjust the Junk Email Filter level or use the Blocked/Safe lists.
4. Junk Email Filter behavior
   The Junk Email Filter does not stop junk from being delivered; it diverts suspected spam to the Junk E-mail folder instead of the Inbox. Its strictness can be increased via Junk E-mail Options (desktop) or Block or allow (web), and third-party solutions can provide more aggressive filtering.

Because the Junk E-mail folder is a special system folder controlled by these filters and lists, Outlook does not expose the same rule engine there as for the Inbox. To approximate “rules for Junk,” use:

• Safe Senders/Safe Recipients to keep wanted newsletters out of Junk (so they can be managed by normal Inbox rules), and
• Blocked Senders and higher Junk protection levels to push obvious phishing and unwanted senders reliably into Junk.

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References:

• Block or allow (junk email settings)
• Block a mail sender in Outlook
• Block a mail sender
• Label a message as "junk" or "not junk"
• Mail in Outlook Web App