Tip #3768 - Hotmail Safe List
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Q:
I use Hotmail as my main e-mail program and every once in awhile, some
of the e-mails I want to go to my Inbox are automatically sent to the
Junk folder. I've set up my spam filters and everything, but it still
happens sometimes. How can I make it stop? Please help me!
A:
Wow, I can't even imagine all the frustration you must feel when that
happens. I mean, after spending all that time setting up your spam filters
and your important messages still get sent to the junk pile! I bet nothing
else makes you want to throw your computer out the window more, am I right?
Granted, that may be taking things a little too far, but if this has ever
happened to you, I know you know what I'm talking about!
Now, while the Hotmail
filters are great at what they do, they, like everything else, are not
perfect. Every so often, they slip up and accidentally send one of your
"wanted" e-mails to the wrong folder. This could happen to an
e-mail that one of your friends sent to you or even to a newsletter you're
subscribed to (WorldStart's newsletter, for example). Whatever the e-mail
contains, all of your messages are important and I, for one, don't want
you to miss out on any of them.
So, allow me to give
all you Hotmail users another option when it comes to filtering your e-mail
messages. It's really easy to do and it won't take you all day to get
it done. Alright, let's get started!
Along with its e-mail
filters, Hotmail has what is called a Safe List. This
feature is meant specifically for those e-mails that automatically get
sent to the Junk e-mail folder. You can add certain e-mail addresses to
the Safe List and after that, Hotmail will never regard those addresses
as spam again. For example, if you've ever had trouble receiving our newsletter
here at WorldStart, you can put the address of "steve@worldstart.com"
on your Safe List. That way, you'll be guaranteed to always get our newsletters
in your Inbox each day.
Sounds like a pretty
good deal, doesn't it?! If you're interested, this is how you can do it.
Log in to your Hotmail account and click on the Options
link located in the top right hand corner. From there, click on the Mail
link and then select the Junk E-mail Protection option.
Find the Safe List link and click on it. Now, go ahead
and type in an e-mail address that you would like to keep safe. It could
be one of your friends, a family member, a co-worker, etc. Once you have
the address typed in, click the Add button.
The address will then
automatically be added to your Safe List. You can then type in another
e-mail address and so on, until you have all the addresses you want saved
added on. Unfortunately, there's no way to do multiple addresses at once,
so it may take you a little while to get them all done, but once you do,
I know you'll be more than pleased with the results.
Now, of course, there
are still some e-mail addresses you'll probably want to keep out, so you
can either use Hotmail's Junk E-mail Filter option or
the Block Senders feature to do that. Doing both of those
is just as important as the Safe List, so make sure you cover all your
bases. Once you're all done setting up your filters, you'll have no trouble
getting in the e-mails you want and keeping the others out. It doesn't
get any better than that. Give it a try today!
~ Erin
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