Where to find your spam folder in Outlook
Your spam folder in Outlook sits in the left sidebar under your inbox, labeled Junk Email. If you do not see it, the folder may be collapsed. Click the arrow or plus sign next to your mailbox name to expand the full folder list, and Junk Email will appear there.
On the web version of Outlook (outlook.com or outlook.office.com), the Junk Email folder appears in the same left sidebar. On the desktop app for Windows or Mac, it is in the same place. The folder name stays consistent across all versions — it is always called Junk Email, never Spam.
If you have set up rules to send certain emails to other folders, those messages will not appear in Junk Email. Check any custom folders you created before assuming a message was blocked.
Key Takeaways
- Your Junk Email folder is in the left sidebar of Outlook on the web and the desktop app, and you open it by clicking the folder name.
- Outlook moves emails to Junk Email based on sender reputation and message content, and you can move legitimate emails back to your inbox in seconds.
- Marking a sender as safe teaches Outlook to stop blocking their future emails, and you can do this from inside the Junk Email folder.
- If a folder is missing from your sidebar, expand your mailbox by clicking the arrow next to your account name to see all folders at once.
How to open and read messages in your Junk Email folder
Click on Junk Email in your left sidebar. The folder opens and shows all messages Outlook blocked. Read through the list to see if any legitimate emails ended up there by mistake — this happens most often with newsletters, receipts, and messages from new contacts.
Click any message to open it and read the full content. Outlook shows you why it blocked the message at the top of the email — usually because the sender is unknown, the message came from outside your organization, or the content matched spam patterns.
Do not click links or read attachments from messages you do not recognize, even while reading in the Junk Email folder. The folder is where suspicious messages land, so treat them with caution until you confirm the sender is real.
Moving a legitimate email back to your inbox
Right-click on the message you want to keep. A menu appears with several options. Click Move, then select Inbox from the submenu. The email moves when ready and will stay in your inbox going forward.
On the web version, you can also click the message once to select it, then click the folder icon in the toolbar at the top. Choose Inbox from the dropdown. Both methods work the same way.
If you want to move multiple emails at once, click the checkbox next to the first message, then hold Ctrl (or Cmd on Mac) and click the checkboxes next to the others. Right-click any selected message and choose Move, then Inbox. All selected messages move together.
Teaching Outlook to stop blocking a sender
Right-click the message from the sender you want to trust. Click Mark as Not Junk. A dialog box appears asking if you want to add this sender to your Safe Senders list. Click Yes.
Once you add a sender to your Safe Senders list, Outlook stops sending their future emails to Junk Email. This works for individual email addresses and for entire domains — if you mark someone@company.com as safe, all emails from that company domain may be treated as safe going forward, depending on your settings.
You can also add a sender to your Safe Senders list without opening their email. Right-click the message in the Junk Email folder list and choose Mark as Not Junk, then confirm. The sender is added and the current message moves to your inbox.
Checking if important emails are being blocked
If you are expecting an email that never arrived, check your Junk Email folder before assuming it was not sent. Search for the sender's name or email address in the Junk Email folder — use the search box at the top of Outlook and make sure you are searching inside Junk Email, not your entire mailbox.
Common senders that end up in Junk Email by mistake include banks, shipping companies, password reset links, and appointment confirmations. If you find the email, move it to your inbox and mark the sender as not junk so future messages arrive normally.
If you never find the email in Junk Email, it may not have been sent at all. Contact the sender directly to confirm they have your correct email address and that the message was actually sent.
Emptying your Junk Email folder safely
Right-click on the Junk Email folder name in your sidebar. Click Empty Folder. Outlook asks you to confirm — click Yes to permanently delete all messages in the folder.
Before you empty the folder, scroll through it one more time to make sure no legitimate emails are sitting there. Once you empty it, the messages are gone and cannot be recovered. If you are not sure about a message, move it to your inbox first.
You do not have to empty your Junk Email folder regularly. Outlook manages it automatically and old messages do not slow down your account. Empty it only if you want to clear out old clutter.
Why Outlook sends emails to Junk Email
Outlook uses several signals to decide whether an email is spam. It checks if the sender's domain has a good reputation, whether the message came from outside your organization, if the content matches known spam patterns, and whether you have marked similar emails as junk before.
Legitimate emails sometimes get blocked because they come from a new sender, use certain words that spam often contains, or come from a shared email service. Banks and shipping companies sometimes trigger filters because their emails are sent from large servers that also send spam.
You cannot change Outlook's spam filter settings directly in the free web version, but you can train it by marking emails as not junk. The more you correct Outlook's mistakes, the better it learns what you actually want to receive.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I recover an email I permanently deleted from Junk Email?
If you emptied the Junk Email folder, the messages are permanently deleted and cannot be recovered through Outlook. If you deleted a single message by mistake, check your Deleted Items folder — Outlook moves deleted emails there first before permanent removal.
Why do emails from my bank keep going to Junk Email?
Banks often send emails from large shared servers that also handle spam, which triggers Outlook's filters. Move one email from your bank to your inbox and mark the sender as not junk. Future emails from that bank should arrive in your inbox normally.
Does marking an email as not junk affect my spam filter for other senders?
No. Marking one sender as not junk only affects that specific sender or domain. It does not change how Outlook treats other emails or make your account more likely to receive spam from other sources.
What if I accidentally marked a real email as junk?
Check your Junk Email folder for the message. If it is there, right-click it and click Mark as Not Junk, then confirm. The message moves back to your inbox and the sender is added to your Safe Senders list.
Can I set up a rule to automatically move certain emails out of Junk Email?
The web version of Outlook has limited rule options. Your best approach is to mark senders as not junk one at a time. If you use the desktop app, you can create more detailed rules through Settings, but marking senders as safe is usually faster for most people.