Configure junk e-mail settings in Outlook 2007
Updated: April 9, 2009
Applies To: Office Resource Kit
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Topic Last Modified: 2016-11-14
Microsoft Office Outlook 2007 provides features that can help users avoid receiving and reading junk e-mail messages, including the Junk E-mail Filter and the disabling of automatic content download from external servers.
You can configure settings to deploy these features to meet the needs of your organization. For example, you can configure the Junk E-mail Filter to be more aggressive, though in that case it might catch more legitimate messages as well. Rules that are not part of the junk e-mail management built into the software are not affected.
Note
This topic is for Outlook administrators. To learn more about configuring junk e-mail settings in Outlook on your desktop, see Change the level of protection in the Junk E-Mail Filter (https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=81273).
Configuring the Junk E-mail Filter
You can lock down the settings to customize Junk E-mail Filter options by using the Outlook Group Policy template (Outlk12.adm). Or you can configure default settings by using the Office Customization Tool (OCT), in which case users can change the settings. The OCT settings are in corresponding locations on the Modify user settings page of the OCT.
Note
If you decide to configure Junk E-mail Filter settings in the OCT, see the procedure To ensure default Junk E-mail settings are applied using the OCT later in this topic for an additional setting that must be configured.
Use the following procedure to configure Junk E-mail Filter options in Outlook. The Outlook template and other ADM files can be downloaded from 2007 Office System Administrative Templates (ADM) (https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=78161) on the Microsoft Download Center.
To configure Outlook Junk E-mail Filter settings in Group Policy
In Group Policy, load the Office Outlook 2007 template (Outlk12.adm) and go to User Configuration\Administrative Templates\Microsoft Office Outlook 2007\Tools | Options…\Preferences\Junk E-mail.
Double-click the option that you want to configure. For example, double-click Junk E-mail protection level.
Click Enabled.
If appropriate, select a radio button for the option you want to set, or choose an option from a drop-down list.
Click OK.
You can configure the following settings for the Outlook Junk E-mail filter.
| Junk E-mail filter option | Description |
|---|---|
Hide Junk Mail UI |
Disable junk e-mail filtering and hide related settings in Outlook. |
Junk E-mail protection level |
Select the level of junk e-mail protection for users: No Protection, Low, High, Trusted Lists Only. |
Permanently delete Junk E-mail |
Permanently delete suspected junk e-mail instead of moving it to the Junk E-mail folder. |
Trust E-mail from Contacts |
Trust e-mail addresses included in users' Contacts folders. |
Add e-mail recipients to users' Safe Senders Lists |
Automatically add all e-mail recipients to users' Safe Senders Lists. |
Overwrite or Append Junk Mail Import List |
Change default from overwrite Junk Mail Import list to append to the list. |
Specify path to Safe Senders list |
Specify a text file containing a list of e-mail addresses to append to or overwrite the Safe Senders list. |
Specify path to Safe Recipients list |
Specify a text file containing a list of e-mail addresses to append to or overwrite the Safe Recipients list. |
Specify path to Blocked Senders list |
Specify a text file containing a list of e-mail addresses to append to or overwrite the Blocked Senders list. |
If you configure default values by using the OCT (rather than using Group Policy to lock down settings), a specific Junk E-mail setting must be configured so the new defaults can be applied.
To ensure default Junk E-mail settings are applied using the OCT
In the OCT, on the Modify user settings page, under Microsoft Office Outlook 2007\Tools | Options\Preferences\Junk E-mail, double-click Junk Mail Import list.
Click Enabled.
Click OK.
Configuring automatic picture download
To help protect users' privacy and to combat Web beacons—functionality embedded within items to detect when recipients have viewed an item—Office Outlook 2007 is configured by default to not automatically download pictures or other content from external servers on the Internet.
You can lock down the settings to customize automatic picture download by using the Outlook Group Policy template (Outlk12.adm). Or you can configure default settings by using the OCT, in which case users can change the settings. The OCT settings are in corresponding locations on the Modify user settings page of the OCT.
To configure options for automatic picture download behavior in Outlook
In Group Policy, load the Office Outlook 2007 template (Outlk12.adm).
Under User Configuration\Administrative Templates\Microsoft Office Outlook 2007\Tools | Options\Security, click Automatic Picture Download Settings.
Double-click the option that you want to configure. For example, double-click Do not permit download of content from safe zones.
Click Enabled.
If appropriate, select a radio button for the option you want to set, or choose an option from a drop-down list.
Click OK.
You can configure the following settings for automatic picture download.
| Automatic picture download option | Description |
|---|---|
Display pictures and external content in HTML e-mail |
Enable this option to automatically display external content in HTML mail. |
Automatically download content for e-mail from people in Safe Senders and Safe Recipients lists |
Enable this option to automatically download content when e-mail message is from someone in the user's Safe Senders list or to someone in the user's Safe Recipients list. |
Do not permit download of content from safe zones |
Disable this option to automatically download content for sites in Safe Zones (as defined by Trusted Zones, Internet, and Intranet settings). |
Block Trusted Zones |
Disable this option to include Trusted Zones in the Safe Zones for Automatic Picture Download. |
Include Internet in Safe Zones for Automatic Picture Download |
Automatically download pictures for all Internet e-mail. |
Include Intranet in Safe Zones for Automatic Picture Download |
Automatically download pictures for all Intranet e-mail |
More about automatic picture download
Messages in HTML format often include pictures or sounds. Sometimes these pictures or sounds are not included in the message, but are instead downloaded from a Web server when the e-mail message is opened or previewed. This is typically done by legitimate senders to avoid sending extra-large messages.
However, junk e-mail senders can use a link to content on external servers to include a Web beacon in e-mail messages, which notifies the Web server when users read or preview the message. The Web beacon notification validates the user's e-mail address to the junk e-mail sender, which can result in more junk e-mail being sent to the user.
This feature to not automatically download pictures or other content can also help users to avoid viewing potentially offensive material (for external content linked to the message) and, if they are on a low bandwidth connection, to decide whether an image warrants the time and bandwidth to download it. Users can view the blocked pictures or content in a message by clicking the InfoBar under the message header or by right-clicking the blocked image.
By default, Outlook does not download pictures or other content automatically, except when the external content comes from a Web site in the Trusted Sites zone or from an address or domain specified in the Safe Senders List. You can change this behavior so that content from any of the zones (Trusted Sites, Local Intranet, and Internet) will be downloaded automatically or blocked automatically.
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