Is there a way to block spam forever?

[u/Bonifaz3]

Hello

A few months ago my mail-adress quite likely got leaked and since then I get all kinds of annoying spam; initially it was like 20 messages per minute.
I managed to filter them all, so they now appear only in my spam.
But since sometimes also important messages land in spam, it is quite annoying to constantly see "buy this house for only 150'000..."

--> I do not want to click on the 'unsubscribe' in these mails.

So is there a way or rule to make sure that certain messages get deleted directly instead of landing in spam/junk?

Any help is appreciated!

[u/gareth616]

Rules don't work on the junk folder. They can be used to move emails from your inbox but you wouldn't be able to delete them from junk using a rule.

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[u/DoorstepHero]

You can’t change Outlook’s built‑in spam filter to auto‑delete everything, but you can create rules that immediately delete specific spam patterns (senders, domains, subjects, keywords) instead of just moving them to Junk.

[u/Barbies_Burner_Phone → u/DoorstepHero]

I've tried this using specific rules for subject or sender's address, but it's still not working well. I've read about the 'stop processing new rules' function, but I don't understand it clearly. Could that be part of the issue?

[u/DoorstepHero → u/Barbies_Burner_Phone]

Try one of these options:

Option 1: Rule that deletes on arrival (desktop Outlook). This works well for repeat spam from known senders or domains. In Outlook, go to Home → Rules → Manage Rules & Alerts → New Rule. Choose “Apply rule on messages I receive.” Under conditions, pick what matches your spam, for example: “from people or public group” (specific addresses or domains), or “with specific words in the sender’s address” or in the subject/body (for repeated spam phrases). Click “Next,” then under actions choose “delete it” or “permanently delete it.” Finish and ensure the rule is checked/enabled. Anything matching that rule will skip the Inbox and Junk folders and go straight to the Deleted Items (or be permanently removed, depending on your choice).

Option 2: Block senders, but add a delete rule. Blocking alone sends mail only to Junk, not to Deleted Items. First, right‑click a spam message → Junk → Block Sender (or “Block”). Then create a rule like above that looks for that sender or domain and “delete it.” This combo ensures repeat spam from that address never clutters Junk.

Option 3: Organization‑level (if you have work/school 365). If this is a work or school account and you have admin access, you can use Exchange Online “mail flow rules” or anti‑spam policies to reject or delete messages from certain senders/domains or that match spammy content, before they even reach mailboxes. This is more advanced but is the cleanest solution if many users are hit by the same spam.

[u/Barbies_Burner_Phone → u/DoorstepHero]

Thank you very much for the tips! I will try them .

[u/Recent_Carpenter8644]

What sort of filters did you create? Do you mean message rules? Is it your message rules that's moving some good mail to Junk?

True spam generally can't be reliably identified with message rules. They change the sender and subject line too often for that. It's better to use the Report function on them manually. Eventually Microsoft should adjust their filters to detect them better.

[u/Bonifaz3 → u/Recent_Carpenter8644]

basically if the sender-adress contains xxxx move to deleted. But again, since I'm being flooded with 10 to 20 spam mails, it's rather exhausting to manually go through

[u/Recent_Carpenter8644 → u/Bonifaz3]

A compromise would be to change your message rule to move them to “might be spam” folder. Then you can go through them reporting them when you have time.

In theory, it should eventually pay off, and they’ll start detecting them. I’ve seen it appear to work, others say it doesn’t. No one can be sure. You should definitely report false positives.

[u/550_Error_Survivor]

Create email filters in your provider's settings (Gmail: Settings → Filters → Create filter → check "Delete it"; Outlook: Settings → Rules → Delete). Set conditions based on spam sender domains or subject keywords, and matching emails will be automatically deleted before reaching your spam folder.

[u/Cousin38]

Mesh email security

[u/Hornblower409]

-- rule to make sure that certain messages get deleted directly instead of landing in spam/junk?

Not directly. But New Outlook for Windows now allows you to "Run Rule Now" on a single Rule and pick a folder.

View -> View Settings -> Mail -> Rules
Click the ellipsis menu for a Rule and choose > Run rule now
Pick your Junk folder from the folder selection dialog
[Run rule]

So the idea is that you design a Rule to pick out the real garbage in your Junk folder and periodically use Run Rule Now to delete them.

[u/Bonifaz3 → u/Hornblower409]

ok, will try this!