How to Manage Spam Filters in cPanel
cPanel's spam filters use Apache SpamAssassin to check every new message and give it a spam score. Messages that score at or above your Spam Threshold Score are marked as spam. From the Spam Filters page you can choose what happens to that spam, how strict the filter is, and which senders should always or never be allowed.
Before you start: You'll need your cPanel login details. Spam filter settings apply to all email accounts in your cPanel account.
Step 1: Open Spam Filters
Log in to cPanel. In the Email section, click Spam Filters.
Step 2: Check the overview
The overview shows your current settings:
- Process New Emails and Mark them as Spam: Always on. SpamAssassin scores every new message and labels suspected spam.
- Move New Spam to a Separate Folder (Spam Box): Sends suspected spam to a folder called spam instead of your inbox. We recommend keeping this on.
- Automatically Delete New Spam (Auto-Delete): Permanently deletes messages with a very high spam score. This is off by default.
Use the switches to turn Spam Box or Auto-Delete on or off. Click Show Additional Configurations to see the whitelist, blacklist and scoring options.
Step 3: Manage the Spam Box
Click Configure Spam Box Settings. Here you can switch Spam Box on or off, and see how much space the spam folder is using.
- To clear out old spam, click Empty the Spam Box folder for the main account, or Empty all Spam Box folders for every email account. Emptied messages can't be recovered, so check the folder for anything you need first.
- To review your spam, log in to Webmail (or your email app) and open the folder called spam.
Click Return to "Overview" when you've finished.
Step 4: Auto-Delete (optional)
Click Configure Auto-Delete Settings. Turning on the switch shows an Auto-Delete Threshold Score setting. Any new message that scores at or above that number is deleted straight away, without reaching any folder.
Important: Deleted messages can't be recovered. We recommend using Spam Box instead. If you do turn on Auto-Delete, choose a high threshold so that only obvious spam is removed.
Step 5: Adjust how strict the filter is
On the overview page, click the Spam Threshold Score link. Choose a score from the drop-down list and click Update Scoring Options.
- Lower score (for example 3): stricter. More spam is caught, but genuine messages are more likely to be marked as spam.
- Higher score (for example 8): more relaxed. Fewer genuine messages are caught, but more spam reaches your inbox.
- The default of 5 suits most people.
Step 6: Open the whitelist or blacklist
On the overview page, click Show Additional Configurations. Then click either:
- Edit Spam Whitelist Settings for senders whose mail should always be allowed, or
- Edit Spam Blacklist Settings for senders whose mail should always be treated as spam.
Step 7: Add senders to the whitelist
- Click Add A New "whitelist_from" Item.
- Type an email address, such as
accounts@supplier.com, or use*for a whole domain, such as*@supplier.com. - Repeat for any other senders, then click Update Whitelist (whitelist_from).
To remove an entry, click the blue X next to it and then click Update Whitelist.
Step 8: Add senders to the blacklist
The blacklist works the same way. Click Add A New "blacklist_from" Item, type the address or *@domain, and click Update Blacklist (blacklist_from).
Troubleshooting
- Genuine mail is going to spam: Add the sender to your whitelist, or raise the Spam Threshold Score slightly.
- Too much spam in your inbox: Add repeat offenders to your blacklist, or lower the Spam Threshold Score slightly. Spammers often change addresses, so changing the score usually works better than a long blacklist.
- Can't find the spam folder: If you use an email app, you may need to subscribe to the spam folder in the app's folder settings before it appears.
- Calculated Spam Score Settings: This advanced option changes the score of individual SpamAssassin tests. Most people won't need it.
If you need any help, please open a support ticket and our team will be happy to assist.
