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Thunderbird and Junk / Spam Messages

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This article explains how Thunderbird's adaptive filter learns to identify junk mail ("spam").
This article explains how Thunderbird's adaptive filter learns to identify junk mail ("spam").

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To deal with the large amount of unsolicited email ("spam" or "junk mail") that most people have to cope with, Thunderbird uses an adaptive filter that learns from your actions which messages are legitimate and which are junk. The Junk filtering does not have regard to the senders email address. Junk mail frequently uses legitimate and known sending addresses which are changed regularly so they are not a good indication on unsolicited commercial email. __TOC__ =Junk filter options= == General settings == The filter is enabled by default. You can set system-wide preferences that determine what happens to messages marked as junk. These settings will be used by all your email accounts (although some settings can be overridden in the account settings, as shown below). To access the preferences, click {menu {for mac}Thunderbird > Preferences{/for}{for win}Tools > Options{/for}{for linux}Edit > Preferences{/for}}, select the {menu Security} panel and then select the {menu Junk} tab. [[Image:Options - Security - Junk pane]] == Per account settings == The configuration in the account preferences for each of your email accounts will override similar settings in the preferences described above. Click [[Template:accountsettings]] and select {menu Junk Settings} in the left pane for the account to see these settings. This section includes the ability to enable addressbooks which will be used as a whitelist. If the sender of a message is a contact in an addressbook that has been enabled for whitelist, then that message will not be marked as junk. [[Image:AccountSettings-JunkSettings]] =Training the junk filter= == Tell Thunderbird what is junk== In order for this filter to be effective, you must train it to recognize the messages that you consider to be junk '''and''' the messages that you consider to be '''not''' junk. So you will want to mark messages as junk, not delete them. You can mark messages as junk by clicking in the "junk" column in the message list: [[Image:MailList-Junk]] You can also mark messages as junk in the message pane by clicking the junk icon on the message header toolbar: [[Image:MessageHeaderToolbar-JunkUnderlined]] You can also use the small case {key j} key to mark messages as junk. <u>You must mark many messages so the adaptive filter has enough training data, including messages that are '''NOT''' junk.</u> (more about that below) == Tell Thunderbird what is NOT junk== It as just as important to tell the filter which messages are not junk. First, frequently, daily or weekly, check your Junk folder for good messages that have been incorrectly classified as junk by clicking on the {button Not junk} button, or using the upper case {key J} on your keyboard. After the first week you should also check the junk folder for messages that are incorrectly marked as junk, perhaps weekly. Secondly, you must '''constantly''' train the filter by marking a quantity of GOOD messages as not junk - messages in your Inbox AND messages that have been filtered into other folders. You must use the keyboard upper case {key J}, because there is no button - the "Not Junk" button appears only for messages that have already been classified as junk. Marking several messages per week will be sufficient. You can select many messages and mark them all at the same time. Note - unfortunately nothing in the user interface indicates whether a message has already been marked as "not junk". =If you still have trouble blocking messages= The adaptive junk filter is not an absolute block against mail from a specific address or specific type of message. If you need a stronger mechanism to stop unwanted messages, then consider [[blocking a sender]]. You can also create a [[Organize Your Messages by Using Filters|filter]] to block subject content. <!-- Also, a better understanding of how the adaptive filter works can help you understand why message are and are not flagged as junk. The [http://mesquilla.com/extensions/junquilla/ JunQuilla] addon can help in that regard. -->
To deal with the large amount of unsolicited email ("spam" or "junk mail") that most people have to cope with, Thunderbird uses an adaptive filter that learns from your actions which messages are legitimate and which are junk. __TOC__ =Junk filter settings= == Global junk preferences == Junk filtering is enabled by default. You can set global junk preferences to control what should happen to messages marked as junk. These settings will be used by all of your email accounts (although some settings can be overridden in the account settings, as shown below). {button ≡} > {menu Preferences} > {menu Privacy & Security} > '''Junk''' [[Image: TB91-preferences-privacy-security-junk]] == Per account settings == The junk settings in the account settings for each of your email accounts will override similar settings in the global junk preferences described above. In this section, you can also select address books which will be used as a whitelist. Any messages from senders whose email address is in a whitelisted address book will not be marked as junk by Thunderbird. {button ≡} > {menu Account Settings} > '''Your Account''' > {menu Junk Settings} [[Image: TB91-account-settings-junk-settings]] =Training the junk filter= == Tell Thunderbird what is JUNK == In order for Thunderbird's junk filter to be effective, you must train it to recognize messages that you consider to be junk '''and''' messages that you consider to be '''not''' junk. So it is important to mark messages as junk before deleting them. There are several ways of marking messages as junk. * You can click on the little icon in the "junk" column of the message list: &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;[[Image: TB91-thread-pane-junk-column]] * You can also click the {button Junk} button on the message header toolbar: &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;[[Image: TB91-message-pane-header-buttons-junk]] * Or you can press {key J} on your keyboard to mark one or more selected messages as junk. {note}Thunderbird's junk filter has been designed to learn from the training data which you provide. Marking more messages as '''junk''' or '''not junk''' (see below) will improve the accuracy of your junk filter by adding more training data.{/note} == Tell Thunderbird what is NOT JUNK == Sometimes Thunderbird's junk filter might get it wrong and mark ''good'' messages as junk. Therefore, it is just as important to tell the filter which messages are ''not'' junk, especially on a new installation of Thunderbird. {note}'''Note:''' You should frequently (daily or weekly) check your Junk folder for ''good'' messages wrongly marked as junk by Thunderbird and mark them as '''not junk'''. This will recover the good messages and improve the correctness of the filter for the future.{/note} There are several ways of marking messages as '''not junk'''. * Click on the {button Not junk} button in the yellow junk notification below the message header: &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;[[Image: TB91-message-pane-junk-notification-not-junk]] * Click on the orange junk icon in the '''junk''' column of the message list to toggle the junk status of a message: &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;[[Image: TB91-thread-pane-junk-column]] * Or press {key Shift}+{key J} on your keyboard to mark one or more messages as '''not junk'''. Furthermore, you should '''regularly''' train the filter by marking a number of '''good''' messages as not junk - messages in your Inbox ''and'' messages that have been filtered into other folders. In this case, you can only use the keyboard shortcut {key Shift}+{key J}, because the {button Not Junk} button appears only for messages that have already been marked as junk. Marking several messages per week will be sufficient. You can select several messages and mark all of them at the same time. Unfortunately nothing in the user interface indicates whether a message has already been marked as "not junk". = Other ways of blocking unwanted messages = Thunderbird's adaptive junk filter is not an absolute barrier against messages from a specific address or specific types of messages. If you need a stronger mechanism to stop unwanted messages, consider [[blocking a sender]]. You can also create a [[Organize Your Messages by Using Filters|filter]] to block messages based on subject or other criteria. <!-- Also, a better understanding of how the adaptive filter works can help you understand why message are and are not flagged as junk. The [http://mesquilla.com/extensions/junquilla/ JunQuilla] addon can help in that regard. -->

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