How to Automatically Whitelist People You Email in Outlook

Automatically add recipients of your email to a safe senders list

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Updated on February 10, 2021

What to Know

From the Home tab, select Junk > Junk E-mail Options, then go to the Safe Senders tab.
Select the Automatically add people I email to the Safe Senders List checkbox, then select OK.
To add people who have emailed you to the Safe Senders list, open their message, select the three dots, then select Add to Safe senders.

This article explains how to add people you email in Outlook to a Safe Senders list automatically. Instructions apply to Outlook 2019, 2016, 2013, 2010, Outlook for Microsoft 365, Outlook for Mac 2016, Outlook for Mac 2011, and Outlook Online.

Build Your Safe Senders List Automatically in Outlook

While it's easy to manually add senders and domains to the Safe Senders list in Outlook, Outlook makes it easier. Outlook can automatically add everyone you send an email to and the people in your contacts list to the Safe Senders list.

To set this up in Outlook:

Open Outlook and go to the Home tab.
In the Delete group, select Junk > Junk E-mail Options.
Go to the Safe Senders tab, then select the Automatically add people I email to the Safe Senders List check box.
Select OK to finish.
When you send an email to a friend or family member, Outlook automatically adds those email addresses to your Safe Senders list.

Automatically Safelist People You Email in Outlook on the Web

In Outlook Online, you'll add a sender to your Safe Senders list from the message they send you. Once you do, all incoming messages from that sender are directed to your Inbox and don't end up in the Junk Email folder.

To enable this feature:

Open the message from the sender you want to safelist.
Select More actions (the three dots to the right of the email message) and choose Add to Safe senders.
Select OK to confirm.
The sender you added to the Safe Senders list will always have their emails land in your Inbox rather than the Junk Email folder.

Why You Need a Safe Senders List in Outlook

Outlook contains built-in tools that filter spam from your email, but sometimes unwanted junk mail is left in the Inbox and good mail messages are moved to the Junk Email folder. To make sure desired emails aren't lost in the spam folder, Outlook offers a Safe Senders list. Messages from these senders are never treated as junk mail. The list is also used to automatically download remote images in messages from those senders, while the default is set not to do that for privacy reasons.

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