How can I check my Junk/Spam Email Folder in Outlook and Gmail?

Overview

This article explains how to deal with spam/junk email in UIC Exchange and Gmail.

Table of Contents

• Junk email filtering at UIC
• Finding email that was marked as spam
• Reporting email as spam or not spam

Junk email filtering at UIC

• Email that is detected to contain malware or high-confidence phishing scams will be discarded. All other emails judged to be spam will be sent to the "Junk Email" (Outlook/Exchange) or "Spam" (Gmail) folder in your mailbox.

• Email routed through our Listserv email list system that might be spam will have a ***SPAM*** tag prepended to its original subject.

Finding email that was marked as spam

Outlook

Sometimes legitimate emails may be marked as spam and placed in the "Junk Email" folder. It's a good idea to regularly review messages in the Junk Email folder to check for legitimate messages that were incorrectly classified as junk.

To find your Junk Email folder:

1. Open the Outlook App
2. In the left pane, in your folder list, you can find the Junk Email folder.
   
   

Gmail

1. Log in to https://mail.google.com
    
2. Click on "Spam" along the left-hand side.
   
   NOTE:  You may first need to click on "More" to see the "Spam" folder.
   
   
    

Reporting email as spam or not spam

Microsoft's spam filters are continually updated with new spam definitions in order to keep them as effective and accurate as possible, but spammers also continually develop new techniques to get past those filters. As a result, you may sometimes see spam arrive in your Inbox. On the other hand, you may also find an email that isn't spam in your Junk Email or Spam folder.

Outlook

To report mail as spam or not spam:

• In Outlook for Windows
  • Select the message, select Report Message. If the message is Spam / Junk or Phishing, select those options. If it was falsely marked as spam or junk, select the Not Junk option.
    
    
    
    Alternatively, you can right-click a message, select Junk, then select "Block Sender" to block all future emails from that email address. You can also select the "Not Junk" or "Never block sender" options to make the email not be marked as spam.
    
    
     
• In Outlook on the Web, right-click the message.
  • Under the Report menu, you can select:
    • "Report junk" if the email is spam. This includes an option to report it to Microsoft so they can use that information to improve their spam filters.
    • "Not junk" if an email in your Junk Email folder is not spam. This option is only available on email in your Junk Email folder.
    • "Report phishing" if it's phishing. This deletes the message and also includes an option to report it to Microsoft.
  • Under the Block menu, you can select:
    • "Block sender" if you want to delete the message and also make all future emails from that sender be routed to your Junk Email folder.
    • "Never block sender" if you want future emails from that sender to never be routed to your Junk Email folder.
      
       
• In the Outlook mobile app
  • Long-press the message, select the vertical ellipsis icon in the upper right corner, select "Report Junk", then select Junk or Phishing. Optionally, you can then choose to report the message to Microsoft. When following these steps on email in your Junk Email folder, you will see the option to mark it as "Not Junk" instead.
    
    
    
    
    
     

Gmail

1. Place a checkmark next to the messages in Gmail by selecting the empty box to the left of the email. You may be able to identify spam without opening the email. You can also open the email.
   
    
2. In the menu above your inbox, find the icon that looks like an exclamation point (!) in a stop sign. Select it to mark the message as spam.
   
    
3. Gmail lets you know that the message and any conversations it's a part of have been moved to Spam. You can view them in your Spam folder if you choose.