Can't Turn Off Junk Mail Filtering

[PGB1]

Hello All!

My MacBook Pro is old (2007) & the OS is 10.11.6, which is the newest this device can use. The Mail version is 9.3.

The glitch I'm writing about it stopping Mail from sending things to Junk when they are not junk. It only happens on 2 Mail accounts (out of 6). The problem started a few moths ago for one account & recently for another.

What happens is that Mail has decided certain senders are junk & sends all of their mail to the Junk folder. For some others, it sends some to Junk & some to the inbox.

I've tried to mark the messages as Not Junk and move them back to the inbox. The next arrival will go to Junk. Other times, I've tried marking them as Not Junk and deleting them from within the Junk folder. This also didn't work.
The only Rule I have is that Junk goes to the Inbox. The curiosity is that this only happens for two accounts. It was only one for months, but a more important account is now sending things to Junk arbitrarily.

Is there a setting that I may have missed?

Thanks For Helping. I very much appreciate it.
Paul

 

[pm-r]

Thanks For Helping. I very much appreciate it.
Paul

@ Paul, make sure for the email you want to keep that the sender's address is exactly the same and included in your Contact list.

That may help things behave as you want.

And if that doesn't work, make a rule that will deal with the specific emails as you want.


- Patrick
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[PGB1]

Thanks Patrick for taking time to reply with suggestions & advice.

The sender's aren't typically in my Contact List (Banks & stuff, plus some vendors). But I do have two in the Contact list that get sent to Junk- and only if they send to the two problem mail addresses (accounts). If they send to one of the other addresses, the messages go to the inbox.

I made a rule for one sender that is always sent to Junk. Mail app still sends that one to Junk.

What really has me curious is that I have Junk Filtering off and that only two e-mail accounts filter mail. The others let everything though to the inboxes, as desired.

For one of the problem accounts, I removed it from Mail, then added it back. It still sends certain messages to Junk.

Thanks Again Patrick. I appreciate your help with this interesting problem.
Paul

 

[ferrarr]

Why not change Mail > Preferences > Junk Mail? To Leave the Mail in the Inbox, marked as Junk?

 

[pm-r]

I made a rule for one sender that is always sent to Junk. Mail app still sends that one to Junk.

What really has me curious is that I have Junk Filtering off and that only two e-mail accounts filter mail. The others let everything though to the inboxes, as desired.

For one of the problem accounts, I removed it from Mail, then added it back. It still sends certain messages to Junk.

I would be inclined to go over your rules and filters super thoroughly And make sure you don't have some conflicting steps that are upsetting the filtering properly.

Or even trash the ones you do have and start again with meticulous attention to logical steps.

Also, you could try Bob's suggestion as well.

Don't forget if you do want some of the " junk" emails that might be getting sent to the wrong address account, you could always contact the sender and have them change your email address to the one you want to use.


- Patrick
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[PGB1]

Tanks Guys.
I forgot to write that Preferences was to leave junk in the inbox. Mail seems to be ignoring that.

Next, as Patrick suggested, I got rid of all the rules. No luck, so I put back only Enable Junk Mail Filtering in Preferences and Leave In Inboox. Then I hit the Reset button to delete any previous filtering criteria.

Hopefully this will work. I have to wait for the next batch of mail to arrive to find out. If successful, I'll put a new rule, if needed.

Thanks Again All. I think I'm on the road to success.
Paul

 

[pm-r]

Hopefully this will work. I have to wait for the next batch of mail to arrive to find out. If successful, I'll put a new rule, if needed.

If I remember correctly, Apple Mail has a set order for filtering when there are multiple rules set, so one must get the order set correctly for them to work the way you want.

Try checking Apple Mail Help for something like "Change the junk mail filter" or similar search expression.

Then there is an option to run run the filter on mailbox messages to check or test: Messages(menu) -> Apply Rules.

I am sure you will get it sorted out and working properly, but he will have to be very careful and methodical on your logistics thinking and implementation.

Good luck.

- Patrick
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[PGB1]

Thanks Patrick!
Today it's got a new trick- Some messages are marked as Junk & the option to mark as not junk it grey'd out under Message - Mark. The button in the tool bar is gone. The part that has me most confused is that this only applies to two of the e-mail accounts that I have. The other two work properly.

I'll follow your plan of careful & methodical, Patrick. Step One will be to turn off filtering & make certain all rules are deleted. Then, as you said carefully & methodically, I'll try one step at a time.

Thanks Again For Helping. It's much appreciated.
Paul

 

[pm-r]

@PGB1

I'll follow your plan of careful & methodical, Patrick. Step One will be to turn off filtering & make certain all rules are deleted. Then, as you said carefully & methodically, I'll try one step at a time.

It might help to go through some of the suggestions and hints from some of the hits you will find with a search on 'mac Mail filtering order' so things get filtered the way the developers planned on it being done:

Google Search

All I remember from some problems I had years ago was that some filters got processed before others so the filtering order had to be set correctly.

I'm sure some of the suggestions might help.

- Patrick
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[PGB1]

Thanks very much Patrick. I appreciate your help.
I've had Preferences - Junk - Enable Junk Mail Filtering un-checked & no rules at all for a few days. The application is still sending messages to the Junk box.

All I can guess now is that there is some corrupted file buried in the computer somewhere. I wonder if I delete the two troublesome mail accounts and the re-add them will solve it.

 

[pm-r]

I wonder if I delete the two troublesome mail accounts and the re-add them will solve it.

I don't know, but I wouldn't be surprised if that would fix the problem but I don't know what what happen to any email you may want to save if it isn't archived unsaved properly.

I guess you've been googling for a solution with a search such as "apple Mail account is still sending messages to the Junk box" or similar???:

Google Search

Don't fiddle or change things drastically without a current backup!!! Just in case, but you do have a current backup don't you???



- Patrick
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[PGB1]

Thanks Again Patrick for helping.
About your question of searching Google for a solution, I searched for days before pestering you guys.
(Tried the solutions, too- Even checked at the ISP to see if the messages are "pre-filtered".)

In retrospect, deleting the accounts & starting over would have been less time consuming.
Hopefully soon I'll get the time to delete & start over, after saving any important messages.

I do back up & hope my routine is good.
Automatic:
I have Time Machine on a local drive & an offsite automatic, incremental backup subscription.

Not Automatic:
Occasional* clone to an external hard drive that's kept in a fire box and the work stuff also goes on a thumb drive when important changes are made.
* "Occasional" equals "When I remember." Not the most reliable system.

Someday, I'll get a more modern MaBook Pro & hopefully lots of glitches, like this Mail App hiccup, will stop.
When = ?? The delay isn't so much the cost of the device, it's the cost of the apps that I have to upgrade or replace (such as Word, Excel & TurboCAD) and the fact that I'll have to export a couple of hundred CAD drawings because they aren't compatible with the new version. This requires fixing the stuff that gets corrupted when exported. That's a Time Vacuum, if there ever was one!