How to Whitelist an Email Address Quickly

Prevent emails from being sent to the spam folder

Written by Nicole Levine, MFA

Last Updated: July 10, 2026 Fact Checked

• Gmail (Mobile)
|
• Gmail (Desktop)
|
• Outlook (Mobile)
|
• Outlook Web/New Outlook
|
• Outlook Classic (PC)
|
• Outlook (Mac)
|
• iPhone/iPad Mail
|
• Apple Mail (Mac)
|
• Yahoo Mail
|
• AOL Mail
|
• Video

|Show more |Show less

If you want to prevent important emails from being filtered to your spam folder, you can whitelist email addresses in most email apps. The steps to whitelist an email are a little different depending on your email service and platform, but it's always easy to do. This wikiHow guide will show you how to whitelist an email in Gmail, Outlook, Apple/iCloud Mail, Yahoo Mail, and AOL Mail.

Whitelist an Email: Quick Steps for Popular Platforms

• In the Gmail mobile app, open the Spam folder, tap a message from the sender, and select Report Not Spam.
• In Gmail on a computer, go to Settings > See all settings > Filters and blocked addresses > Create a new filter and enter the address to whitelist.
• In Outlook.com and New Outlook, click the gear, go to Mail > Junk Email > + Add Safe Sender.
• In Outlook Classic, go to Home > Block > Junk E-mail Options… > Safe Senders.

Steps

Method 1

Method 1 of 10:

Gmail (Mobile)

1. 
   1
   Open your Spam folder in the Gmail app. There is no way to create a safe sender list or whitelist in the Gmail mobile app, but you can make Gmail stop filtering a particular email address into your Spam folder by marking the message as "Not Spam". This, in conjunction with adding the person to your contacts, should have the same behavior.

   • To open your Spam folder, tap ☰ at the top of the Gmail app, then tap Spam in the folder list.
   • If you have access to a computer, you can create a rule to whitelist an email address in Gmail. Jump to the Gmail desktop method to learn how.
2. 
   2
   Open a message from the sender. If the sender you want to whitelist has a message in the Spam folder, tap to open it.
   Advertisement
3. 
   3
   Tap the Report not spam button. It should be near the top of the message. This moves the message back to your inbox.

   • If messages from this sender continue to go to spam after this change, continue with this method.
4. 
   4
   Add the sender as a contact. If messages from this sender are still being sorted into the Spam folder, you can add the person's email address to your Gmail contacts. There's no option in the Gmail app to do this, but you can add them manually at contacts.gmail.com. To learn how, see How to Add Contacts in Gmail.
Advertisement

Method 2

Method 2 of 10:

Gmail (Desktop)

1. 
   1
   Click the gear icon in Gmail. It's at the top-right corner, just above your inbox.

   • If you have a message from the sender you want to whitelist in your Spam folder, move it back to the inbox first. To do this, open the Spam folder, click the email, and click Not spam.
2. 
   2
   Click See all settings.
3. 
   3
   Click the Filters and Blocked Addresses tab. It's at the top of the settings menu.
4. 
   4
   Click Create a new filter.
5. 
   5
   Type the email you want to whitelist into the "From" field. You can enter multiple emails if needed.
6. 
   6
   Click Create filter. A list of options will appear.
7. 
   7
   Select "Never send it to Spam" and click Create filter. You're done! The email addresses you listed are now whitelisted. Emails from the address won't be sent to the Spam folder. You're ready to continue sending emails, creating new labels, and deleting spam.
Advertisement

Method 3

Method 3 of 10:

Outlook (Mobile)

1. 
   1
   Open a message from the sender you want to whitelist. If you have an email from the address you want to whitelist in your Junk folder, moving it to the Inbox should whitelist that address in the future.

   • This is the only way to whitelist an email address in the Outlook mobile app for Android, iPhone, & iPad–if it doesn't work for you, try using Outlook.com or the Outlook desktop app for Windows or Mac instead.
2. 
   2
   Tap the More menu at the bottom ••• . A list of menu options will appear.
3. 
   3
   Tap Not Junk. This moves the message to your inbox and whitelists the sender for future messages.
Advertisement

Method 4

Method 4 of 10:

Outlook (Web & New Outlook)

1. 
   1
   Open Outlook.com or New Outlook on your PC. If you're using the latest Outlook app for Windows 11 or you access Outlook in a web browser, you can use this method to whitelist an email by adding it to your Safe Senders list.

   • If you have received a message from the address you want to whitelist but it was filtered as spam, move it back to the inbox first. To do this, click ☰ at the top-left, select Junk Email, and click the message. At the top of the message, click It's not junk.
2. 
   2
   Click the gear icon. It's at the top-right corner of New Outlook or your Outlook Web inbox.

   • If you're using Outlook for Windows but don't see these options, you're likely using Outlook Classic. Jump to Outlook Classic (Windows).
3. 
   3
   Click the Mail tab and then Junk email. These options are in the left menu of the settings window.
4. 
   4
   Click + Add Safe Sender. It's the button right below the "Senders" heading.
5. 
   5
   Type the email address you want to whitelist and click OK. This will add the email address to the Safe Senders List, meaning emails from the address won't be sent to the Junk folder.

   • You can also block a contact if needed.
   • If the address you're whitelisting is a mailing list, click the Safe mailing lists tab, click + Add safe mailing list, enter the email address the messages come from, and click OK.
Advertisement

Method 5

Method 5 of 10:

Outlook Classic (Windows)

1. 
   1
   Click the Home tab. This is at the top of the classic desktop app for Outlook.
2. 
   2
   Open the Block menu. The location varies depending on your toolbar (ribbon) style.

   • If you're using the classic ribbon, you'll see a group on the panel labeled "Delete" toward the upper-left. The Block menu appears here.
   • If you're using the simplified ribbon, you'll either see a Block tab at the top-right, or you'll need to click ••• at the top-right to display it.
   • This menu may be called Junk in some versions.
3. 
   3
   Select Junk E-mail Options…. This is in the Block menu.
4. 
   4
   Click the Safe Senders tab. It's at the top of the "Junk Email Options" window.
5. 
   5
   Click the Add… button. A new window will appear for entering an email address.
6. 
   6
   Enter the email address you want to whitelist and click OK. This will add the email to the Safe Senders list and prevent it from being sent to the Junk folder.
Advertisement

Method 6

Method 6 of 10:

Outlook (Mac)

1. 
   1
   Click the Tools menu and select Junk Email Preferences. You'll see the Tools menu when the Outlook desktop app is open on your Mac.
2. 
   2
   Click the Safe Senders tab. It's at the top of the window.
3. 
   3
   Click +. It's at the bottom of the window.
4. 
   4
   Enter the email address or domain name you want to whitelist and press ⏎ Return. You can type the entire email address into the field, or type @(domainname) to whitelist an entire domain (e.g., @wikihow.com). Once you press Return, the email address will be added to the whitelist.
Advertisement

Method 7

Method 7 of 10:

Apple Mail (Mobile)

1. 
   1
   Open an email from the person you want to whitelist. To whitelist an email address in the Mail app on your iPhone or iPad, you'll just need to add the person as a contact. It's easy to do once you open a message from the person you want to whitelist.

   • If the email from the person in question is in the Junk folder, open the message from there, tap the folder icon, then tap Inbox to move it to your inbox first.
   • If you don't have an email from the person, you can add them as a contact in the Contacts app as well. Open Contacts, tap +, then enter the person's name, email address you want to whitelist, and other necessary information.
2. 
   2
   Tap the email address you want to whitelist. You'll see it next to the "From" field at the top. It may be the sender's name (or business name) rather than their email address.
3. 
   3
   Tap View Contact Card. This opens a contact card for the sender.
4. 
   4
   Tap Create New Contact. A New Contact screen will appear.
5. 
   5
   Fill out the contact card and tap the checkmark. Ensure the sender's email address appears next to "Email." If it doesn't, tap + add email to add it first. Once the person's email address is whitelisted, their messages will no longer be filtered to the Junk folder.
Advertisement

Method 8

Method 8 of 10:

Apple Mail (Desktop)

1. 
   1
   Click the Mail menu and select Settings. This is in the menu bar when the Mail app is open. This method creates a new custom rule to prevent mail from certain addresses from being sent to the Junk folder.
2. 
   2
   Click Rules. It's in the left panel. This will take you to the rules page for the Mail app.
3. 
   3
   Click Add Rule.
4. 
   4
   Type a name for the rule. This can be something like "Whitelist" or "Safe Senders."
5. 
   5
   Set the criteria for the rule. The following parameters will allow you to whitelist emails:

   • Select Any for the "following conditions are met" section.
   • Select From in the sending/receiving drop-down.
   • Select Ends With in the drop-down next to From.
   • Type the email address you want to whitelist in the text box next to Ends With.
   • Press the + button to add additional email addresses.
6. 
   6
   Set the action for the rule. This is what will prevent the email from being sent to the Junk folder:

   • Select Move Message in the "Perform the following actions" section.
   • Select Inbox as the destination folder.
7. 
   7
   Click OK. This will confirm the new whitelist rule.
Advertisement

Method 9

Method 9 of 10:

Yahoo Mail (Desktop & Mobile)

1. 
   1
   Open an email message from the sender you want to whitelist. There's no way to whitelist an email specifically in Yahoo Mail, but you can mark messages as "not spam" to ensure they aren't filtered to your Spam folder. To find a message from the sender, click the Spam folder on the left, then click a message to open it.

   • You can use this method to whitelist an email on Yahoo Mail in the mobile app and on your computer.
   • If you don't see the Spam folder, click or tap the menu ☰ first.
2. 
   2
   Tap the More icon ••• on the message. If you're using a computer, you can skip this step.
3. 
   3
   Click or tap the Not spam or This is not spam option. This moves the message to your inbox and tells Yahoo Mail not to mark messages from this sender as spam.
Advertisement

Method 10

Method 10 of 10:

AOL Mail

1. 
   1
   Open your Spam folder in AOL Mail. If you want to whitelist a sender in AOL Mail, you'll need to first receive a message from the sender that's filtered as spam, then mark it as "not spam." To get started, click or tap your Spam folder.
2. 
   2
   Select an email from the sender. This expands the content of the email.
3. 
   3
   Click or tap Not spam. Now, all future messages from this sender's email address will arrive in your inbox instead of being filtered as spam.
Advertisement

Expert Q&A

Search

Add New Question

Ask a Question

200 characters left

Include your email address to get a message when this question is answered.

Submit

Advertisement

Video

Tips

Submit a Tip

All tip submissions are carefully reviewed before being published

Name

Please provide your name and last initial

Submit

Thanks for submitting a tip for review!