Body
Questions
- How do I stop a specific sender's emails from going to junk?
- How do I add someone to my safe senders list in Outlook?
- How do I block an email address in Outlook?
- How do I always send emails from a certain domain to junk?
- How do I manage my blocked and safe senders list in Outlook?
- How do I prevent marketing emails from landing in my inbox?
Environment
This article applies to all current Bowdoin students, faculty, and staff who want to manage which messages are delivered to their inbox versus their Junk folder.
- Managed in: Outlook Online at outlook.office.com
- Applies to: All Outlook clients — changes made in Outlook Online sync to Outlook for Windows, Outlook for Mac, and Outlook for iOS/Android
- Not covered: Releasing quarantined messages (blocked before reaching your mailbox at all) — see How to deliver or release email blocked by the Microsoft 365 spam filter in the Related Articles section for that
Resolution
Both the safe senders and blocked senders lists are managed in the same place in Outlook Online settings.
Open the junk email settings
- Sign in to Outlook Online at outlook.office.com using your Bowdoin email address.
- Click the gear icon in the upper-right corner to open Settings.
- In the search box at the top of the Settings panel, type Blocked senders and domains and click the matching result.
Always deliver emails from a specific sender to your inbox
- Under Safe Senders and Domains, click + Add.
- Enter the email address or domain you want to always allow — for example,
newsletter@example.com for a single address, or example.com for all email from that organization.
- Press Enter, then click Save in the lower right.
Always send emails from a specific sender to junk
- Under Blocked Senders and Domains, click + Add.
- Enter the email address or domain you want to block.
- Press Enter, then click Save in the lower right.
Edit or remove an existing entry
To modify an entry you have already added, find it in either list and click the pencil icon to edit it or the trash icon to remove it. Click Save when done.
Tip — block an entire domain: To block all email from an organization, add the domain (for example, spamcompany.com) rather than individual addresses. This is especially useful for stopping bulk mail from sources that use many different sending addresses.
Note: Adding a sender to your safe senders list helps with messages that are being routed to your Junk folder. It does not affect messages that are being quarantined before reaching your mailbox — those require a separate process. See How to deliver or release email blocked by the Microsoft 365 spam filter in the Related Articles section.
Additional Help
If you need further assistance, you have several options:
- Bowdoin Bot: Chat with Bowdoin Bot directly from any KB page for instant answers.
- Phone: Call the Bowdoin College Service Desk at (207) 725-3030.
- In person: Visit the Tech Hub in Smith Union during business hours.
- Submit a ticket: Request assistance through the Service Catalog.