help.mail.colostate.edu logo

CSU Logo - click to visit the CSU homepage

Spam Filtering Overview and Managing Junk E-mail Settings in Outlook

All mail from external mail servers destined for Central Exchange mailboxes first passes through the "Spamcanner". Mail considered to be spam by the Spamcanner is not delivered to Exchange; instead it is quarantined. In the event that there is quarantined e-mail addressed to you, you will be notified via a summary "End User Digest" e-mail, which is sent daily. Because it utilizes this service, Central Exchange does not provide any additional anti-spam services on the Exchange servers. In instances where a large amount of spam passing through the Spamcanners, there are additional anti-spam measures that can be implemented from Outlook. These include configuring Outlook's Junk Mail filter and/or implementing a rule in Outlook to handle spam.

Configuring Outlook's Junk Mail Settings

Instructions below detail the process using Outlook 2007. Similar options are also available from Outlook 2003.
  1. Configure Outlook in "cached" mode - note that this is the default configuration when you setup Outlook. This is necessary because Outlook's anti-spam functionality only works when the client is configured in cached mode.
    1. From Outlook [2007], go Tools > Account Settings.
    2. Click "Microsoft Exchange" and then click "Change..."
    3. Check the "Use Cached Exchange Mode" checkbox (or verify it is already checked).
    4. Click "Next".
    5. Click "Finish".
  2. Set the level of protection for Junk Mail.
    1. From Outlook [2007], go Tools > Options...
    2. Click the "Junk Email..." button.
    3. Choose the appropriate level (No, Low, High, or Safe Lists Only) of protection.
    4. Click "OK".
    5. Click "OK".
  3. Optional: Configure Safe Sender Lists. When it is configured, junk e-mail filtering will be applied against ALL e-mail received in Outlook. In some cases, Outlook's junk e-mail filtering has marked important university notifications as junk e-mail and likewise placed it in the "Junk E-mail" folder. In an effort to avoid this scenario, the steps below detail the process of updating Junk E-mail settings and adding "Safe Senders" using Outlook.
    1. Open Outlook.
    2. Go to "Tools" > "Options" > "Junk E-mail..." (button).
    3. It is recommended that you set Outlook to either the "No Automatic Filtering" or "Low" setting for the level of junk e-mail filtering. If you discover later on that the setting you have selected does not seem to provide adequate junk e-mail filtering, you can adjust it at any time.
    4. Click the "Safe Senders" tab.
    5. To add safe senders, click the "Add..." button. Enter an e-mail address or internet domain name (ex: @colostate.edu) to be added to the Safe Senders list and click "OK". If you are not experiencing problems with large quantities of spam, it is recommended that you add "@colostate.edu" as an e-mail domain in your "Safe Senders" list.
    6. Repeat the previous step until all desired e-mail addresses and domain names have been added to your safe senders list.
    7. Click "OK" to close the Junk E-mail Options window.
    8. Click "OK" to close the Options window.

Configure Rules and Alerts using Outlook

If a common thread can be identified during a given e-mail "storm", an Outlook rule can be configured to do a specific action (i.e. delete or move to a folder) to all e-mail meeting a given criteria. Rules can be configured from Outlook by going to Tools > Rules and Alerts. Please contact your department's IT staff or the Exchange help desk if you have questions about configuring a rule within Outlook.