Invisible Ink

Automatically Delete Repeat Spam in Outlook

If your spam filter is working correctly, 99% of incoming spam should be automatically flagged and moved to your spam folder. But what if you’re receiving high volumes of spam due to a past data breach or AI-powered spam bots flooding your spam folder? The extra volume of spam makes finding any legitimate emails that were flagged as junk almost impossible.

Setting up custom message rules in Outlook can help you find and delete spam messages based on the From name or Subject line and automatically remove them, leaving only a handful of messages for you to review for false positives.

View Instructions

Once you have created the new rule in Outlook, we recommend memorizing the following key command to open the message rules window.

Alt → H → R → R → L

You can also set up a command in the Quick Access Toolbar.

Mac Users: Unfortunately, the Mac version of Outlook does not allow users to create custom mail filters unless they agree to process their messages using the Microsoft cloud. We recommend using the native Mail for MacOS app or Thunderbird.

Notes & Tips

Related: Optimizing Outlook

Posted April 14, 2026

Details

Open Outlook and click the File button in the upper left corner.
Open Outlook and click the File button in the upper left corner.
Click Info, then Manage Rules & Alerts.
Click Info, then Manage Rules & Alerts.
Click New Rule to open the Rules Wizard.
Click New Rule to open the Rules Wizard.
Select “Apply rule on message I receive” from the Start from a blank rule section, then click Next.
Select “Apply rule on message I receive” from the Start from a blank rule section, then click Next.
In Step 1, select “with specific words in the sender’s address, then click “specific words” (underlined in blue) in Step 2 to specify which words to filter. We can provide a list of known repeat From names upon request.
In Step 1, select “with specific words in the sender’s address, then click “specific words” (underlined in blue) in Step 2 to specify which words to filter. We can provide a list of known repeat From names upon request.
Enter each keyword or phrase in the Search Text field, then click Add. Once you have added all keywords, click OK.
Enter each keyword or phrase in the Search Text field, then click Add. Once you have added all keywords, click OK.
In Step 1, select “delete it”. If you want to double-check filtered mail before it’s deleted, choose “move it to the specified folder”, then use Step 2 to choose a specified folder. Click Next to proceed.
In Step 1, select “delete it”. If you want to double-check filtered mail before it’s deleted, choose “move it to the specified folder”, then use Step 2 to choose a specified folder. Click Next to proceed.
If you chose to move messages before deleting them, select the folder you want to move messages to, then click OK.
If you chose to move messages before deleting them, select the folder you want to move messages to, then click OK.
Optional: Set up exceptions if needed, then click Next.
Optional: Set up exceptions if needed, then click Next.
Set up rule options to run the rule now (if needed) and turn on this rule, then click Finish.
Set up rule options to run the rule now (if needed) and turn on this rule, then click Finish.
From the Home tab select Rules > Manage Rules & Alerts, then click Run Rules Now. Select the Delete Repeat Spam rule, choose Run in Folder: Spam, then click Run Now.
From the Home tab select Rules > Manage Rules & Alerts, then click Run Rules Now. Select the Delete Repeat Spam rule, choose Run in Folder: Spam, then click Run Now.
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