| Outlook 2003 has an excellent built-in junk email filter. This filter works in addition to
WSU's "Barracuda" email spam filtering system. Email captured by Outlook's junk filter
is automatically sent to
the "Junk E-mail" box (Fig. 1) where it remains until you deal with it. When
this process works smoothly you can quickly scan the list of junked emails, mark any that should
be kept and then delete all the rest en-masse.
(*or better yet, report them to Barracuda with the free plugin utility
available here.) The default setting of the Outlook junk email filter
is "Low", as shown in Fig. 3. This setting protects more of your good email from getting
misdirected to the Junk E-mail box, but it also allows much more spam to get into your Inbox.
I suggest changing the Junk E-mail Options setting from "low" to "high" (Fig. 4) in order to catch more of the email garbage, keeping it out of your
Inbox and making it easier and quicker to identify and delete. This may also reduce the chance
of accidentally opening certain malicious emails. To make this change, navigate to the "Junk Email Options" window (Actions, Junk
E-Mail, Junk E-mail Options) as show in Fig. 2 and click on the appropriate radio
button. Be aware that if you do change the junk email setting from low to "high", you will
initially end up with more of your good email in the Junk E-mail box. You MUST keep a close eye
on the Junk E-mail box contents. When you see an email in the Junk box that should have gone to
the Inbox, always mark it as not junk. To do this, first select the email, then click on "Actions,
Junk E-mail, Mark as Not Junk" as shown in Figs. 5 & 6 (or else use the keyboard
shortcut keys "Control+Alt+J"). The box to "Always accept email from "some@email.address" " should be checked. Click "OK".
I do not recommend clicking the box to "Always trust e-mail sent to this address", if it
appears, except maybe in the case of a Listserv email address that is NOT open to the general
public for posting.
|
Fig. 1 |
