This site will have limited functionality while we undergo maintenance to improve your experience. If an article doesn't solve your issue and you want to ask a question, we have our support community waiting to help you at @FirefoxSupport on Twitter and/r/firefox on Reddit.

Search Support

Avoid support scams. We will never ask you to call or text a phone number or share personal information. Please report suspicious activity using the “Report Abuse” option.

Learn More

spam/junk still coming into email inbox

  • 12 replies
  • 3 have this problem
  • 13 views
  • Last reply by Toad-Hall

more options

I have w10 laptop and TB junk settings set to Other>Junk @email address. In my listings of folders under the Junk setting there appears two folders -one for junk and one for spam which is just fine. My problem is that every day the same type junk/spam emails come into my inbox and I have to again mark as spam/junk. Each day after I move the message to my junk/spam I make sure the junk icon is orange. I have tried to leave them there for a few days and/or delete them after making sure they are marked as Junk/spam. How do I get them to automatically go there and not come into my inbox once marked?

I have w10 laptop and TB junk settings set to Other>Junk @email address. In my listings of folders under the Junk setting there appears two folders -one for junk and one for spam which is just fine. My problem is that every day the same type junk/spam emails come into my inbox and I have to again mark as spam/junk. Each day after I move the message to my junk/spam I make sure the junk icon is orange. I have tried to leave them there for a few days and/or delete them after making sure they are marked as Junk/spam. How do I get them to automatically go there and not come into my inbox once marked?

Chosen solution

re:TB junk settings set to Other>Junk @email address.

I believe you are using IMAP and Cox account. You previously have said "webmail it is labeled as Spam"

So set up the cox account in Thunderbird to use the default folder as used by webmail. TB junk settings set to Other>Spam@email address

Read this answer in context 👍 0

All Replies (12)

more options

As a follow up, I cleared the log and reset training data..I then unmarked all the emails that were marked as Junk/Spam and again marked them as Junk/spam. Went back to the log and nothing was there. Does the log only restart when new emails come in like tomorrow on forward and marked then?

more options

Hi oldbob Are you saying you receive the identical message more than once? That might be an issue with your email provider not syncing correctly if the exact message downloads repeatedly. Or do you mean you get similar messages from the same sender, or similar messages from a slightly different sender? Both these cases are actually new messages, so please do check, and confirm which it is. Your references to spam/junk seems confused so let's review first principles. They are quite different. "Junk" is where Thunderbird puts messages that Thunderbird detects as suspicious. It learns from other messages that you have marked as junk, or not junk, over time. Spam is where COX (or your current email provider) puts messages that it considers suspicious. Thunderbird does not send them there, it happens before Thunderbird downloads them. If messages are inconsistently arriving in Spam then check in your webmail regarding any email spam settings that might improve things. You mention Moving messages - I am not sure whether you are manually moving them and then marking as junk? The process is to mark as Junk in the Inbox, then Thunderbird does the moving - to Junk only, not to Spam. Putting them in Spam may add to your confusion as to whether the email provider system marked them, or you, or Thunderbird did. This article explains the process and includes links to articles on two more ways to block unwanted email. https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/thunderbird-and-junk-spam-messages

more options

Agnus thank you for your detailed reply. You are correct that they are not the EXACT same emails but emails from the same sender a bit different each day so maybe the bank of email senders are sending from a technically address. I do understand that Cox controls Spam and Junk is controlled by TB. I was not seeing any previously labeled Spam from Cox in TB and the resolution for that was to mark my settings in TB for Junk to go to the OTHER email address Junk so TB does indeed show a separate folder and emails put into the Spam and Junk Folder. I can live with that.

I have been marking my spam/junk on my iPhone by selecting to Move message to and selecting Spam or Junk and may be that is the issue. I was using my iPhone to hopefully mark as SPAM on cox so they would not even download to TB inbox. I will try each day to just use the TB on the laptop and mark as Junk so it automatically goes into junk and see it that slows down all this stuff fro hitting my inbox every day. Cox is hard to deal with as they are not too supportive with email issues since they discontinued email so it might take some patience on my part.

I did get a new email....actually one notifying me of your reply a and TB marked it as Junk (funny)and I unmarked on TB and it is showing in the TB Junk log..so maybe the log just addresses any new imcoming messages. Hopefully we are on the right path.

Modified by OldBob2

more options

Oh - if you move to spam on your iPhone (not in Thunderbird) then Thunderbird can't learn from your choices. Yes I think you may do better if you mark as junk in Thunderbird. Do that for a while so Thunderbird can build up enough examples to know what is junk. Then you might also be able to use your online webmail to mark as Spam, and teach that service to catch them before Thunderbird does. Further options - if the emails are from very similar email addresses from the same source, check the end of the article I mentioned - you may be able to use 'block' or a filter to catch those and delete them.

more options

This is a supplementary. I was pwned last year and since have loads of stuff which is being filtered as spam. I was simply moving it to the junk box until I learned to mark it as junk. This has worked well except for one sender alt-sa.com who is recognised as spam but still not as junk. Any ideas?

more options

Nor-Jean I am looking forward to someone answering you on your issue. I too have been marking my emails as junk and indeed it goes into my junk folder and is marked as junk there. But, like you, every day I get junk from the same people every day from the same @xxxx but of course the name prior is different..probably a room full of callers all with different emails. I even tried to set a "filter from" the @xxx address. I tried several ways from the TB help but this is what I ended up doing. I mark as Junk> go to the junk folder and open the email (it only opens the header)>RIGHT click on the from address and select to create filter. In the box that comes up, I select to match "any of the following" in the middle section (see the email address) and the next lower box I select to Delete>OK then "run the filter" and it goes into the trash. My issue is it seems creating this filter does nothing. Nothing ever automatically into my trash that I can see unless that setting of DELETE does not even allow the email to come into Thunderbird (so I would never know). I have a few hundred filters but yet still get junk from places of same @..like mortgage companies, home warrantee, and of course the perpetual "You have won" or "confirm your purchase". I have jet to see any emails automatically come into my junk folder when I open TB. So I just keep marking them in TB as junk and hope it will stop some day..I am an optimist!

more options

Hi oldbob The filter you created sounds as if it should work but check the filter is set to act on Inbox. Only filters working on Inbox will run automatically. Filters set to run on any other folder must be run manually. Thus if the message successfully goes to Junk, the filter won't run on it until you run it manually. However if you set the filter to run on Inbox, it should catch any messages that match the "from" filter as they download to Thunderbird Inbox. Note that if they were already moved to junk/spam (either by your email provider's filters or by you on webmail or another device) before downloading to Thunderbird they also won't be automatically deleted by the filter.

more options

Yes, thank you Anges RM, they are set to inbox of the email. I just saw also now at the top section as I review my filters i can have it set to filter BEFORE or AFTER Junk classification(never noticed that before so the default must be before)..they are all set now to getting new mail BEFORE. Do you know if, because I have it set to delete message, is that why I do not see anything in my junk folder automatically? That could be problematic for me for some.. I was trying to have it put it into the junk folder automatically and not go into the inbox but to be able to see/review them in the Junk folder just in case I marked one in error in the filter. If they are deleting automatically I will never see them but TB said to set it to delete. I am seeing somewhat of a decline in junk mail but want to do it right.

more options

Filtering to delete should put messages in Trash folder so you can see what goes there from your filters.

more options

Sadly nothing goes into my trash from these filters.

more options

Chosen Solution

re:TB junk settings set to Other>Junk @email address.

I believe you are using IMAP and Cox account. You previously have said "webmail it is labeled as Spam"

So set up the cox account in Thunderbird to use the default folder as used by webmail. TB junk settings set to Other>Spam@email address

more options

As you have already chosen to reset/retrain the junk controls, you are starting from scratch.

Select email so it shows in Message Pane and click on 'Junk' button. Repeat as required. Any emails that do go to 'Spam' folder - check if they are good emails then click on 'Not Junk'. You will need to do this repeatedly over a period of a couple of weeks to get everything starting to work.

In order to know what set up you are using: Please post an image showing the Account Settings' > 'Junk Settings' for the account, so we can see you have set it up correctly.


re : Do you know if, because I have it set to delete message, is that why I do not see anything in my junk folder automatically? A message deleted from the Inbox is never going to appear in 'Spam'. ( I hope you have started to use the correct server folder.)


re Filter: Creating filters for each and every spam email is almost fultile - " I have a few hundred filters " that's why there is junk controls.

But there are occasions when it is can be useful. So part of the 'From' email address after the @ sign can be used - you do not have to use all of it. See example below

  • Filter name: Spam

Apply filter when:

  • select 'Getting new mail' and 'Filter after Junk classification'
  • Select 'Match any of the following'
  • Select 'FROM' and 'contains' and 'walgreens'
  • Select 'FROM' and 'contains' and 'doordash'

Perform these actions:

  • Move Message TO' and select 'Spam on email address'

Alternative IF filter is 'BEFORE' classification.

  • Filter name: Spam

Apply filter when:

  • select 'Getting new mail' and 'Filter BEFORE Junk classification'
  • Select 'Match any of the following'
  • Select 'FROM' and 'contains' and 'walgreens'
  • Select 'FROM' and 'contains' and 'doordash'

Perform these actions:

  • Set 'Junk Status to' and select 'Junk'
  • Move Message TO' and select 'Spam on email address'

click on OK to save it

Make sure the filter is enabled. Click on 'Filter log' button Make sure the checkbox 'Enable the filter log' is selected then click on 'Close'

Select to run on Inbox and close window.