• IT Services
• Email at Stanford
• Anti-Spam
• Email Spam Filters
• Microsoft Outlook 2003

Configuring Filters in Microsoft Outlook 2003

These instructions apply to both POP and IMAP email accounts.

1. Start Outlook.
   
   
2. On the Tools menu, click Rules and Alerts.
   (Outlook uses the term "rules," but rules and filters are the same thing.)
   
   
3. When the Rules and Alerts dialog box is displayed, click the New Rule button near the top of the window.
   
   
   
   
4. Click Start from a blank rule and ensure that Check messages when they arrive is highlighted. Then, click Next to continue.
   
   
   
   
5. In Step 1, check the box labeled with specific words in the subject. In Step 2, click the link for specific words.
   
   
   
   
6. When prompted to specify a word or phrase to search for in the subject, type [SPAM: and then click Add. Click OK to close the dialog box.
   
   
   
   
7. Click Next to continue.
   
   
8. When prompted for what to do with the message in Step 1, check the box for move it to the specified folder. In Step 2, click the link for specified folder.
   
   
   
   
9. Choose a folder for your filtered spam. If you use Webmail or IMAP, you probably already have a Spam folder on the server.
   If you need to create a new Spam folder, click the New button.
   
   
   
   
10. In the Create New Folder dialog box, enter the following information and then click OK to close the dialog box:
    
    
    • Name: type Spam (or any name you wish)
      
      
    • Folder contains: ensure that Mail and Post Items is selected.
      
      
    • Select where to place the folder: click the folder under which you want the Spam folder to be created. If you are using IMAP, you probably want to create your folder on the server.
      
      
    
    
    
11. Click OK to close the dialog box that is displaying your list of folders..
    
    
    
    
12. Click Next to continue.
    
    
13. No exceptions are necessary, so click Next to continue.
    
    
    
    
14. Enter a name for this rule, verify that the box for Turn on this rule is checked, and click Finish.
    
    
    
    
15. The Rules and Alerts dialog box will be displayed. Click Apply to run this rule on new messages.
    
    Note: If you have multiple rules, you will probably want the spam rule to run first. Rules are run according to their order from top to bottom. Select the spam rule and then click the Up arrow button to move the spam rule to the top of the list.
    
    
    
    
16. Click OK to close the Rules and Alerts dialog box.