Easy Ways to Whitelist Email Address in Office 365

Megha Chouhan
Megha Chouhan linkedin | Updated On - January 18, 2023 |

Read time: 5 minutes

Suppose you are using mailboxes in Microsoft 365. In that case, you must be aware that Exchange Online Protection uses different ways and techniques to ensure that users will get emails only from authorized and trusted users by maintaining a Safe Sender list.

Even after setting an email as “Safe” or “never as Junk,” the mail continues to go to the “Junk” or “Spam” folder. And the main reason behind this is that the Online Exchange Server hosted by Microsoft is still unsure of the email coming into the Inbox.

Let me say about Whitelist; this is a list of approved sender email addresses. Whitelist email addresses will pass through the spam filters without being blocked.
One can whitelist an email address using two different methods based on their level of security.

Note- Users can add the email address to the allowed sender list in the Anti-Spam policy, as the emails sent from this address will bypass all security checks, including SPF and DMARC.

Whitelist Email Address in Office 365 using Mail flow Rules

Mail flow rules are considered a more secure option to keep the DMARC check-in in place.

  • Go to the Exchange Admin Center and click Mail Flow.
  • Select Rules and add a new rule for Bypass Spam Filtering.
  • Select the sender under the Apply this rule if drop-down list.
  • Enter the email address and click on the Check names button to move your address to the Add field.
  • Now click the Ok button and exit the window.
  • In the Do the following field, Set the spam confidence level (SCL) to Bypass Spam Filtering should automatically be selected.
  • Finally, click the Save button to apply the policy.
Whitelist Email Address in Office 365 using Microsoft 365 Defender

Users can add the sender to the Whitelist in Office 365 by using the Microsoft 365 Defender.

  • Go to the Microsoft 365 Defender and click on Policies and Rules.
  • Now choose Threat Policies and open the Anti-Spam policies.
  • In the flyout window, Scroll down, click on the Edit allowed and blocked senders and domains, and open Manage sender(s).
  • Now, to add a new sender, click on Add senders.
  • Now click on Done and the save button to apply the changes.
Some ways to whitelist the email address on different Email Applications
Steps to whitelist an email in Gmail
  • Go to the Setting icon at the top-right section of the Gmail screen.
  • Now go to ‘See all settings’ available at the drop-down list of settingsSee all settings
  • Click on the Filters and Blocked Addresses tab present at the top of the screen.Filters and Blocked Addresses
  • Next, go to the Create new filter and add the sender email address into the From section.Create new filter
  • A new window will appear; here, check the box Never send to Spam and click on the create filter button.never send it to spam

Now you can see the list is ready with a filter.
ready with a filter

Steps to whitelist an email in Mail/Apple Mail
  • Go to the Mail app.
  • Now go to VIP.Now go to VIP
  • Here, add the contacts to Whitelist in the VIP list.add the contacts to Whitelist in the VIP list
Steps to whitelist email addresses in Yahoo Mail
  • Go to Yahoo Mail and select Settings.
  • Here, Select Filters and click Add.
  • Name the filter and add the sender’s email address.add the senders email address
  • Select to send all mail to Inbox.
  • Select Save.

Using the above-discussed solutions, one can easily whitelist the email addresses they want. But as we know, there is no guarantee of results from any manual solution. Our important messages still go to the spam folder without our knowledge. Hence whitelisting emails is a way to avoid that situation, but for the safe side, try to back up all your mailbox items. We suggest going for Kernel Office 365 Backup & Restore, a reliable solution to backup all Inbox, Outbox, Junk, Deleted Items, Sent Items, etc., all mailbox folders.

Conclusion

We need to whitelist an email address to have a clean and focused inbox. And to safeguard important mailboxes, give a try to Office 365 Backup & Restore tool; it also backs up all calendar entries like appointments, meetings, events, venue, category, etc. Hope you all find this blog helpful. Comment below if you have any queries related to the topic.