Creating a SpamAssassin Rule in Outlook

I take fighting spam very serious. I do not like it, I do not want it and I do not respect the people and companies that send it. With different clients there are different problems. One of the best and most effective methods of catching spam before it get to you is up to the server administrator. Luckily, I happen to be that guy for my own domains and my customers as I own and operate my own email servers. However, I use various email clients just as my customers and experience the same level of effectiveness and reliability and potential problems as they do. Outlook and Outlook Express also happen to be two of the most widely used email clients on the Internet. That is why I am posting this article here for your review. I use this rule and SpamAware (link is below). I average around two spam messages per month (at worst) that actually slip through using this combination. To me those are acceptable levels. My servers stop 99.999% of all spam using far different methods of detection and blocking. If your interested in talking further about these please This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it . I would love to chat about it and get more people involved in fighting spam "effectively".

Introduction

This guide will show you how to create a rule in Outlook that will move SPAM that SpamAssassin identifies into the Junk E-mail folder in Outlook. These instructions only work for Outlook, and not Outlook Express. These instructions were created specifically for Outlook 2007, so if you have an earlier version they may differ slightly.

Creating the Rule

• Go to the Tools menu, click Rules and Alerts
• Click New Rule
• Click Check messages when they arrive and click Next
• Check With specific words in the message header
• Click the words specific words in the box below the selection and put X-Spam-Status: Yes, click Add, then click Next
• Check Move it to a specified folder
• Click the word 'specified' on the third line in the box below and select your Junk E-mail folder (or whatever folder you want to move SPAM into) and click Next twice
• Name the rule SpamAssassin, or another name if you wish, check Run this rule now on messages already in Inbox if you want it to do so, and click Finish

SPAM that SpamAssassin identifies will now be moved automatically into the Junk E-mail folder.

Windows Applications

The following are commercial products for Microsoft Windows which use SpamAssassin. See also tips for UsingOnWindows with the free version. Other versions: CommercialWindows, CommercialMacOSX, CommercialUnix, CommercialNetworkAppliances, CommercialISPs, CommercialMaybe

• CommercialWindows Apache-Wiki (several plugins and clients)
• SpamAware for Outlook and Outlook Express