How to Stop Junk Email in Outlook to Declutter Your Inbox

How To Find Junk Mail In Outlook And Empty It

Outlook Junk Mail settings check all incoming messages automatically and look for signs of spam. If you receive a message that Outlook has determined is malicious or unwanted, it will place the undesired messages in the Junk Email folder instead of your primary inbox.

It doesn’t delete these messages though, and sometimes the Outlook spam filter places something in the Junk Email folder by mistake, so you need to know how to find and delete junk mail in Outlook.

How to Find Junk Mail in Outlook

To find the Outlook junk mail folder in the Outlook app on your computer, simply:

Open the Outlook app on your Mac or Windows computer.
Navigate to the folder list on the left side of the screen and select Junk Email.

💡 Note: Depending on the version of Outlook you are using, it may also be labeled as Spam instead of Junk.

On Outlook.com (web)

Navigate to outlook.live.com
Click Settings (gear icon) → Mail
Open the Junk Email tab and manage blocked senders

How to find junk mail in Outlook on the web

On mobile

Open the app
Tap your account icon
Select Junk (or Junk Email)

Deleting Junk Mail in Outlook

Once you locate your junk mail in Outlook, it’s easy to delete unwanted messages from the folder.

If you’re using the Outlook desktop app or web browser:

Delete a single message using the trash icon
Select multiple messages and press Delete
Right-click the Junk folder → Empty Folder

On mobile:

Select a message → tap Trash
Use Empty Folder to clear everything

Why Outlook Gets So Much Junk Email

Outlook’s spam filter doesn’t always behave consistently, which is why many users suddenly see large volumes of junk email.

The default filter is relatively lenient
Spam campaigns often target Outlook and Hotmail domains
Blocking one sender doesn’t stop new variations
Rules or settings can override filtering without you noticing

In some cases, this gets worse due to system issues. For example, in 2023, Outlook’s spam filters malfunctioned and allowed junk messages into inboxes instead of filtering them properly.

Configure Your Outlook Junk Email Filter on PC or Mac

An effective email spam filter can help you avoid junk messages from ever entering your main inbox. However, you have to configure it to work for you.

If you're using Microsoft Outlook on your PC or Mac, you should tweak the junk mail settings to improve the performance of the Outlook spam filter.

To configure Outlook Junk Email filter:

Open Microsoft Outlook
Click Home → Junk → Junk E-mail Options
On Mac: Tools → Junk Email Preferences

Choose a protection level:

No Automatic Filtering – Only blocked senders go to Junk
Low – Filters obvious spam
High – More aggressive filtering (may catch real emails)
Safe Lists Only – Only approved senders reach your inbox

👉 If spam is getting through, switching to High or using Safe Lists is usually more effective.

You can also manually add addresses or domains to the Blocked Senders List, which helps prevent repeat senders from reaching your inbox.

Learn about what to do if your Outlook spam filter is not working.

Use Rules to Automatically Filter Junk

Outlook rules allow you to automatically handle unwanted emails based on conditions.

On Outlook.com (web):

Go to Settings → Mail → Rules
Create a rule based on:
- sender
- keywords

Set action: move to Junk or delete

On desktop:

Go to File → Manage Rules & Alerts
Create a rule with conditions and actions

👉 Keep rules simple. Too many rules can conflict with each other and reduce filtering effectiveness.

Use Sweep to Remove Repeat Senders (Outlook.com Only)

Sweep is a built-in Outlook.com feature designed for handling recurring emails.

How to use it:

Select a message
Click Sweep
Choose an option:
- delete all messages from this sender
- delete future messages
- keep only the latest email

👉 This is especially useful for newsletters or repeated senders that keep coming back.

Stop Junk Mail in Outlook Mobile App

If you mostly use Outlook on your mobile device, here is how to stop spam emails in Outlook by moving them to the Junk folder:

Open the mobile app
Select an email
Tap Move to → Junk

Report Junk Emails to Improve Filtering

The Outlook junk email filter leaves room for improvement, but you can train it.

When you mark a message as spam in Outlook, it not only disappears from your inbox but also helps Outlook recognize similar messages in the future.

To report spam (web):

Select the message
Click Report → Report junk

👉 Reporting spam regularly improves accuracy over time, while simply deleting emails does not.

Why Emails Go to Junk in Outlook (And How to Fix It)

Sometimes the problem is the opposite – legitimate emails end up in Junk.

Common causes:

Sender not in Safe Senders list
Filter level set too high
Rules overriding inbox delivery

Fix it:

Mark the email as Not Junk
Add the sender to Safe Senders
Review your rules

Strengthen Outlook Protection with Clean Email

Outlook’s built-in tools handle basic filtering, but they can become difficult to manage when spam volume increases.

The Clean Email’s Screener feature holds emails from unknown senders until you decide what to do with them, which can reduce interruptions when spam gets through.