The Complete Strategy for Email Whitelisting - Best Practices Revealed

The best way to make sure the emails you really want to see don’t end up in the spam box is to create a list of email addresses from people you know. While this is typically called a safelist, the modern term is safelist.

The safelisting procedure differs slightly different from one email service to the next.

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Gmail Safelist Procedure

There is no quick checkbox in Gmail to add a sender email to an actual list of friends you want to keep out of the spam box. However, there are several effective ways tosafelist your friends in Gmail .

Add Email Addresses to Contacts

Open your contacts list in Gmail . The fastest method is just to visit theGoogle Contacts link .

On the Google Contacts page, selectCreate contact and fill out theCreate new contact form . Google will send any incoming emails from your contact list directly to your inbox.

Safelist Spam Emails

Sometimes, a friend may send you an email that ends up in the Spam box before you’ve had a chance to safelist their email address. There’s a quick way to fix that as well.

Open your Spam box by selectingSpam from the navigation bar, and find your friend’s email. You’ll see a Spam label at the top of the email. Click thex next to the label to remove it.

Add a Non-Spam Filter

One way to guarantee that your friend’s incoming emails will never end up in the Spam box is tocreate a filter .

1. From your inbox screen, selectSettings (gear icon).
   
2. SelectSee all settings .

3. SelectFilters and Blocked Addresses from the navigation links at the top.

4. SelectCreate a new filter .

5. In theSearch mail form, enter either an entire domain you want to safelist or a specific email address. Use domains to safelist anyone from a specific company. When you’re done, selectCreate filter .

6. On the next form, selectNever send it to Spam . Finally, clickCreate filter .

7. Once you’re done, you’ll see the new filter show up in the list of filters.

How to Safelist Yahoo Emails

Safelisting an email address in Yahoo is similar to Gmail. Either add the email address to your Yahoo contacts orcreate a filter .

Add a Yahoo Contact

In Yahoo Mail, select theContacts card icon in the upper right corner of your Inbox. SelectNew Contact in the left navigation pane.

Click here

Complete theAdd Contact form with your friend’s name and email address. SelectSave to save the new contact. Yahoo will no longer place incoming emails from this email address to your Spam box.

Add a Filter in Yahoo Mail

Another way to keep your friends’ incoming messages from Spam is to add a fliter that ensures the email lands in your inbox.

1. Select theGear icon in the upper right corner of your inbox and click or tapMore Settings .
   
2. SelectFilters from the left navigation menu thenAdd new filters .

3. In theAdd a new filter form, give the filter a name and fill out the domain or the email address you want to safelist. SelectSave twice to activate the new filter.

4. The filter now appears in the list of filters in theFilters window.

This filter move the incoming email from that address directly to your Inbox by default.

Outlook Safelist Procedure

If you’re an Outlook Online user, safelsiting your friends is similar. Add Contacts to safelist friends or use the Safe Senders feature.

Add Contacts in Outlook.com

Adding contacts is just as easy as Gmail or Yahoo. Open your Outlook Online contacts by clicking theApplications icon at the upper left corner of the window then select thePeople application.

Type theFirst Name ,Last Name , andEmail Address . When you’re done, selectCreate to create the new contact.

Any email address listed in your Outlook contacts won’t go to the Spam folder.

Add Contact to Safe Senders

Adding Safe Senders is a guaranteed way to keep friends out of your Spam box.

1. Select the Gear icon in the top right corner of the window then select theView all Outlook settings link at the bottom of the list.
2. In the Settings window, selectMail in the left navigation pane thenJunk email in the navigation pane to the right of that. UnderSafe senders and domains , click or tapAdd .
3. In the pop-up field, add an email address or entire domain to add to your Safe Senders list. Press theEnter key when you’re done. Click theSave button to finish.

Any email from an address or domains in the Safe Senders list go directly to your Inbox.

Comcast Email Safelist

Comcast, otherwise branded as Xfinity, is one of the most popular Internet Service Providers in the country. For this reason, many people may need to safelist their friends using that service.

If you sign up for it, Xfinity provides customers with a free email account. There are several ways to safelist your friends with Xfinity.

Add an Xfinity Contact

Like the other email providers listed above, an easy way to keep friends out of the Spam box is to add them to your contact list.

To add an Xfinity contact, log into your email account and selectAddress Book in the top menu. Then, select theCreate Contact icon. Complete and save the form.

An even faster way to safelist emails of all of your friends is to import contacts from your other accounts.

When you click onAddress Book , you’ll see anImport contacts link in the left navigation pane. ClickGet Started , and walk through the wizard to import existing contacts from your other accounts like Gmail, Outlook, Yahoo, or even a text file.

Add a Safelist Email Filter

Like Gmail and Yahoo, the best way to safelist friends in your Xfinity email account is to create a filter that guarantees the incoming email will go to your Inbox.

1. Select thegear icon in the upper right corner and click or tapSettings .
   
2. SelectFilter Rules , underMail in the left navigation pane, then theAdd New Rule button.

3. Make theRule Name your friend’s name. SelectAdd condition and chooseSender/From . In theContains field, type the email address or domain to safelist.

4. Select theAdd action link thenKeep . Save the new rule.

5. Once you’re done, you’ll see your new filter show up underMail Filter Rules in Xfinity Mail settings.

By choosing “Keep”, you’re ensuring that incoming emails from that domain or email address will land in your inbox.

Email Safe List

InSettings , if you selectAdvanced Settings under Mail in the left navigation pane, you’ll see a section titledEmail Safe list .

If you enableUse email safe list , only emails that are on your email safe list will show up in your inbox. Every other incoming email will be discarded.

This appproach is ideal if you’re only looking to use your Xfinity email account to communicate with a limited set of people. However, enabling this feature prevents anyone else from ever being able to send you an email.

This may be a great way to eliminate all forms of spam, but it also drastically reduces the usefulness of your email account.

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