The following articles were included in our Exchange Messaging Outlook (EMO) newsletter published on October 26, 2023.
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Today's Highlights »
Block Foreign Spam
Following my previous articles on blocking spam with blank addresses and meeting request spam, a user wanted to know how to block spam in languages he doesn’t read.
"I’m receiving email in languages I don’t read or speak. How can I block it? I add the addresses to my block senders list however I seem to be getting more spam."
Sure, you can create a rule to do that. If you use Outlook for windows software, you can block messages from addresses from country-specific top-level-domains and character sets. But anyone can use rules to delete messages containing foreign characters. Or you can use a rule to look for words in the message header (or source), where the words are the character set or content language.
Tip: Because most spammers use an address once, adding addresses to the blocked senders list is an exercise in futility. It might make you feel like you are doing something to fight spam, but all it does is fill the list with bad addresses. The blocked list should be nearly empty. Use the Safe lists to whitelist addresses as needed.
Users of all versions of Outlook can create rules that look for foreign characters in message bodies. Copy a few of the most common characters from a spam message and paste them into a rule. You only need about 8 to 10 letters from each language for maximum spam filtering.
Locate a message with the characters you want to filter on and copy one or more characters.
In Outlook for Windows:
1. Open Rules Wizard. In Outlook on Windows, look for Manage Rules & Alerts on the Home ribbon, Move section, under the Rules button
2. Click Add Rule.
3. Choose Apply rule on messages I receive near the bottom of the dialog.
4. Click Next to move to the Conditions screen.
5. Select the "with specific words in the subject or body" condition.
6. Click on "specific words" in the lower part of the dialog and paste the characters in the Specify words... field. Click Add. Repeat with additional letters or characters.
7. Click Next to move to the Actions screen.
8. Select "delete it" and click Next.
9. Click Next if you want to add exceptions to the rule or run it on messages in your Inbox, otherwise, click Finish to return to the Rules Wizard dialog.
In Outlook on the web:
1. Click on the View tab > View Settings button.
2. Select Mail on the left, then Junk email page.
3. Click Add New Rule.
4. Choose Subject or body includes in the Condition menu.
5. Click in the "Enter words to look for" field and paste the characters, one at a time, in the field. Press Enter after each character or word is added.
6. Copy another character or word and paste in the field and press enter. Repeat as needed.
7. Click on the actions menu and choose what you want to do with messages that meet the conditions in the rule.
8. Select Stop processing more rules. (If you don't enable Stop Processing, a copy of the spam may be left in the Inbox.)
9. Click Next if you want to add exceptions to the rule or run it on messages in your Inbox, otherwise, click Save.
Create a rule to delete spam with no sender address
Select All in Outlook on the web
Users are complaining that the Select box at the top of the message list, to the left of a folder name in Outlook on the web and the new Outlook is missing, preventing them from selecting all messages.
The box is not missing, but it is not visible if no messages are selected. Once you select one message (in the selection checkbox on the message), the select all box at the top of the message list is visible.
There is also a Select icon next to the Filter icon at the top of the message list. Clicking it shows the selection boxes.
Selection tips:
To select a group of messages, select the first message then find the last message and hold Shift as you click the message.
Use Ctrl + click to pick and choose messages. You can use hold Shift to select a group, then ctrl to select additional individual messages or to deselect messages in the selected group.
If you have a lot of messages in a folder and want to move all of the messages but the Move or Delete command is disabled when you select all, you need to select all but the last message in the list, or move the messages in smaller groups (using Shift to select the group). Or use classic Outlook for Windows desktop to select all and delete.
If you need to delete contacts, you are currently limited to deleting 10 at a time. If you have Outlook 2013 or newer, add the account to Outlook, you will be able to select all and delete.
Recover Deleted Messages
A user wanted to know if he could recover a message he deleted from is Microsoft account more than 30 days ago.
Maybe. It depends on when the message was removed from the Deleted Items folder. Outlook.com accounts keep deleted items for 30 days, then another 14 days in the Recoverable Items folder. With Microsoft Work or School accounts, the email administrator can either change how long messages or disable automatic deletion of older messages. They also control how ling messages are recoverable.
Note: when you empty the deleted items in folder in IMAP and POP accounts, the messages are permanently deleted. Outlook does not have an option to recover the messages, however, if the data file did not compact yet, third party PST recovery software may be able to restore the deleted items (or some of the deleted items.) Once the data file compacts, the messages are not recoverable.
If the message is no longer in the Recoverable items folder, there is an Office addin called Email Recovery that can recover mail that is out of the recovery folder and waiting for Exchange to purge it - but the time frame for recovery is short. The process that does the final purge usually runs weekly, if not more frequently.
To install the add-in, you need to Add Apps (or Get Apps) on the ribbon or message. You can add it in either Outlook desktop or Outlook on the web – the add-in will be available in both Outlooks.
In Outlook on the web, click on the 3 dots to the right of the reply buttons. If using an Outlook.com account: Choose Get Add-ins at the bottom. In a work or School account, click Apps near the top of the menu,
In Outlook desktop, click All Apps button (or Get Add-ins in older versions). Or open Manage add-ins on the File tab.
Once you get to the apps page:
1. Type recovery in the search field and select Email Recovery
2. Click Add.
After you add the Email Recovery add-in to your account, it will be on the list just above Get Add-ins in Outlook.com accounts. In Outlook desktop or work accounts, it will be on the ribbon or All Apps menu button. Click it to run it.
Choose Purges if you want to check the messages waiting for their final purge (which is usually only a day or so) - it will create a new folder and put all of the recovered mail into it.
Choose Recovery if you want to recover everything in the recovery folder to one folder so its easiest to view and search.
After you are done, delete the folder then delete it from the deleted folder.
This is their information page: Email Recovery
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Other Resources
How to Block Foreign Spam
How to block junk email that is in a foreign language, in Outlook for windows or Outlook on the web (and new Outlook for Windows.)
Automatically Open New Outlook when Windows boots
How to enable New Outlook for Windows to run automatically when you boot the computer.
Save Messages in New Outlook
Learn how to save messages to the hard drive when using new Outlook app or Outlook on the web.