Iâve seen my fair share of perplexing cases, but the Outlook spam filter not working in early 2023 is certainly in the top five.Â
In this article, Iâll cover the details to help bulk senders understand what to do. And there are also useful tips for everyday Outlook users.Â
Why does the Outlook spam filter not work?
Here, I wanna give you an experience-based post-mortem to make it easier for you to recognize and troubleshoot the issue.
What happens when the filter stops working?
All hell breaks loose and if youâre responsible for email campaigns, a patch of grey hair pops up on your head. Jokes aside, 3 things typically happen.Â
- Genuine emails misdirected: Vital emails get mistakenly categorized as junk messages, causing important communications to be overlooked or delayed. Happened to me.Â
- Spam infiltrates the inbox (Safe Sender list bypass): The annoying, unsolicited spam emails find their way into your main inbox, cluttering your view and increasing the risk of phishing or malware. This didnât happen to me, but there were a bunch of users voicing their despair on social media.Â
- Inconsistencies in categorization: The filter seems to lose its way, creating an unpredictable email environment where nothing seems to be sorted correctly. Happened to me, causing panic, as it hinted at a more serious issue with email infrastructure.Â
Tip: Check the full guide on how to prevent your emails going to spam.Â
Reasons behind the dysfunction
Itâs easy to blame Microsoft. However, it may also happen that users or senders misconfigured email settings, making things even worse.
- Accidental alterations in user settings:Â
Tweaking the filter settings or unknowingly marking important emails as junk can disrupt the filterâs efficacy.Â
- Misinterpretations by Outlookâs learning behavior:Â
Outlook learns from user behavior, and in February 2023 it was a bad student. It could have happened if you, or your recipients, frequently moved emails to and from the junk folder. I can only assume that the Outlook junk filter got confused and junked perfectly deliverable emails, then let the obvious junk creep into the primary inbox.Â
- Problems from the senderâs side:Â
If an email comes from a sender with a tarnished domain or IP address reputation or poor email practices, Outlook may flag it as spam, regardless of its actual content. The same thing could happen if you havenât properly authenticated your sending server. Remember that this applies to any other client (Gmail, Hotmail, etc.). Itâs the first thing I checked, and Iâll tell you how to do it yourself in the following sections.Â
How to make the Outlook spam filter work properly?
Honestly, none of us can fix Outlook and âmakeâ the spam filter work properly, thatâs in Microsoftâs hands.Â
But with a few adjustments and a bit of know-how, you can work on your infrastructure and get the spam filtration back on track.Â
Tackling email infrastructure (for bulk senders)
When you suddenly see a surge in spam complaints, do the following two things right away. (Iâll also trow in a bonus tip for good measure.)Â
1# Check domain authentication policies
If you send emails in bulk, make sure to use proper domain authentication methods â DNS records (SPF, DKIM, and DMARC). These help Outlook recognize the sender as legitimate and generally help increase the level of protection against phishing and malware from your domain.
How can you check authentication records?
MXToolbox is a free lightweight tool to do it. Select their DNS lookup tool, paste your domain name to the designated field, and itâll check whether your domain has the records published.Â