How to Mark Email as Spam in Windows Mail

You can delete junk email and train your spam filter, too: find out here how to mark an email as spam in Windows Mail. Similar messages will be blocked as junk automatically in the future.

First, 1 Junk Equals 5 000 Baskets of Pepper

When famed Venetian merchant and explorer Marco Polo described Chinese vessels around 1 300, it was in terms of pepper baskets that he related their size: “They [junks] are indeed of great size, for one ship shall carry 5 000 or 6 000 baskets of pepper.”

“Move to junk” some 5 000 times per week? Reads familiar:

How to Mark Email as Spam in Windows Mail

Windows Mail has become Outlook: How to Mark Email as Spam in Outlook

Using the Message’s Toolbar or Context Menu

You can also open the message first, of course, to inspect it:

1. Open the message you want to move to the spam folder.
2. Click the Actions button (•••) in the message’s toolbar.
3. Select Mark as Junk (or Move to Junk) from the menu that has shown.

Using a Swipe or Hover Shortcut

To quickly move an email to the spam folder in Mail for Windows 10 using a hover shortcut or swiping over the message list:

1. Set up Move to Junk as a swiping action in Mail. (See below.)
2. To act by swiping, swipe over the message in the configured direction until the message is moved to the spam folder.
3. To act by a hover action, position the mouse cursor over the message you want to mark as spam and click the Mark item as junk icon () as it appears.

Set up Move to Junk as a Swiping Action in Mail for Windows

To configure marking as spam as an action you can take by swiping over a message in Mail for Windows 10 and add a hover shortcut, too:

1. Select the Settings gear icon in Mail.
2. Now choose Message list from the menu that has appeared.
3. Select the desired account under Select an account.
   All accounts: You can also check Apply to all accounts to change swiping actions across accounts; do keep in mind not all account types support marking emails as spam, though.
4. Make sure Move to Junk is the choice for either Swipe right / hover or Swipe left / hover.
   Always the hover menu: Both choices will add Mark item as junk to the hover menu.
5. Click outside the settings menu.

How to Mark Email as Spam in Windows Mail: FAQ

Is there a keyboard shortcut for marking email as junk in Mail for Windows 10?

No.

Unfortunately, no built-in keyboard shortcut exists for marking mail as spam in Mail for Windows 10.

As an alternative, you can access the toolbar using the keyboard:

1. Press Alt.
2. Now press → (right arrow) until Move to Junk shows highlighted in the toolbar.
   No “Move to Junk”: If you do not see Move to Junk in the toolbar:
   1. Press → (right arrow) until ••• (Actions) is highlighted.
   2. Now press Enter.
   3. Press ↓ (down arrow) until Move to Junk is highlighted in the toolbar.
3. Press Enter.

Can I mark emails as spam with email accounts set up using POP?

No.

Mail for Windows 10 does not include a spam filter itself. If you mark an email as spam, it is typically moved to your email account’s “Spam” or “Junk” folder to train the filter. This works with Outlook, Exchange, and IMAP accounts; here, marking as spam is useful.

With email accounts set up using POP, all emails are handled locally in Mail for Windows 10. To get rid of individual junk emails, delete them. To train your email account’s spam filter, you may be able to open the account in a browser and mark the message as spam using the web interface.

Where is the spam folder in Mail for Windows? Can I recover the email?

To find the spam folder in Mail for Windows 10:

1. Click All folders or Folders.
   Here’s where: With the sidebar expanded, click either Folders or More under the visible folders.
2. Find and click or tap Junk in the list of folders.
   Faster access: You can add the Junk folder to the short folder list; click on it with the right mouse button and select Add to Favorites from the context menu.

Now, to recover mail from the spam folder:

1. Open the message.
2. Click Not junk under This message has been identified as junk. in the header.
   
   Alternatives: You can also right-click one or more highlighted messages emails in the messages list and select Mark as Not Spam from the context menu or choose Mark as Not Spam in an email’s Actions menu.

Does Windows Mail include a spam filter?

Mail for Windows 10 does not come with its own spam filter and does not filter emails on the computer.

It always relies on the email service to do the sifting and only trains the service’s filters.

(How to mark email as spam tested with Mail for Windows 16005; updated January 2024)