Setting your SPAM filter in Microsoft Outlook 2000

To filter unsolicited email (SPAM) in Microsoft Outlook, you need to create a rule that moves any message identified as SPAM into a separate folder.

Step 1

Create a SPAM folder in Outlook.  Right click on your Inbox icon and choose New Folder... from the menu list. 

Step 2

Name the new folder, SPAM and select OK.  This is the folder that email identified as SPAM will be moved to.

Step 3

In Outlook, from the Tools menu, select Rules Wizard....  (If not all your menu options appear at once, you may need to click on the downward arrow at bottom of the menu list to display all your choices.)

Step 4

Select the New... button to create a new rule.

Step 5

Select Check messages when they arrive and click the Next > button.

Step 6

Scroll through the list of conditions and place a tick in the box for condition, with specific words in the message header.  In the Rule description window, click on the text, specific words.

Step 7

Type in the text:    X-Spam-Level: ***      [This text is case sensitive.  After the colon there is a single space followed by three asterisks.]

The mail server assigns a number of asterisks to all incoming mail based on the likelihood that it is SPAM.  The higher the number of asterisks, the more likely it is SPAM.  Using less than three asterisks may filter email that is not SPAM (ie. wanted email).  You may adjust the number of asterisks later to suit your specific filtering needs.

Now click the OK button and the Next > button to proceed to the next step.

Step 8

Tick the box marked move it to the specified folder.  In the Rule description window, click the text, specified.

Step 9

Choose the folder called SPAM that you created earlier.   Click OK and then, Finish.

Step 10

Your rule is now in place.  All incoming email that is marked with three or more asterisks will be moved to the SPAM folder. Click OK.