* Locked
I really feel someone needs to explain what apparently Microsoft is unwilling to explain to the community, as there is a bit of a cover-up going on whereby Mircosoft neither address the following issues AND 'Lock' conversations on other forums (which should only be done when queries are properly answered... they are not. None of them. Believe me, I've looked...) before they can grow into a clear explanation of the current situation as follows;
I) There is no way of turning off the Spam Filter on Outlook (and I believe Hotmail). This can neither be achieved from the online portal nor an installed app.
II) The so-called 'settings' (which include everything but 'OFF' the most basic setting of all) do indeed allow for you to add or remove individual e-mail addresses. There is even a handy 'Remove from Spam List' button to automate the process as you browse so-called Spam. But this system is fundamentally flawed for several reasons, given as follows;
a) Adding an e-mail address only white-lists that single address; it does not include all the other e-mails you may be getting from various other departments and individuals who have an address at the same domain eg. If you I remove *** Email address is removed for privacy *** from the Spam, in future I will not receive e-mails from *** Email address is removed for privacy *** or *** Email address is removed for privacy *** This is a major security flaw that has seriously hurt me financially a few times now, not to mention made me lose face to clients. And if you're thinking "Hey guy, why not just check your Spam Filter every day, three or four times a day?" please refer to flaws d), e) and f) below.
b) When navigating from the main inbox if you use search you do not search the Spam folder. This is oversight is so breathtakingly incompetent, it really makes one question the mental well-being of whoever developed this Spam system.
c) The rate of incorrect e-mails being stolen and put in the spam filter is staggeringly high, some weeks as much as 40% and typically 10-20% week to week. Seriously guys, if you are going to force this system on us, you need to develop accuracy to 99% or at least give us the option to turn off and take responsibility for ourselves. Even then, by having this system, by creating that danger, you have pretty much eliminated the possibility of anyone who takes their work seriously enough from using outlook, as personally I do not want a single one of my desired authentic e-mails going to Spam NOT FOR FIVE MINUTES let alone a few hours (as notifications are given for Spam), or a few days until I get around to checking it.
d) The process of actually finding your way to the Spam Filter Box is surprisingly cumbersome; on the installed app, for instance, you will have to go Menu Icon > More > Junk to get there. Three steps! Three steps for something that should OBVIOUSLY be one step, appearing in any list that is receiving messages almost every single day eg like Inbox, Drafts, Sent, Deleted. Archives, Saved and Templates are probably just as important and should be easier to access too but are unlike the first four and Spam which are all likely accessed by the user almost every time they log on (assuming they want to conform to this ridiculous Nazi spam system to begin with - we don't!)
e) There is a very short window of only 10 days before Spam is deleted. What the developers have not realised is that this short time span together with the possibility you may not immediately recognise a valid e-mail means that in conjunction with 10-day auto delete, the only way of securely receiving all desired e-mails with 100% accuracy is to read through properly and check every spammed e-mail individually. This clash of problems renders the Spam folder completely useless for any other purpose than saving Outlook disk space, as the user will have no choice but to check through them all anyway.
f) As @squeezin also rightly stipulates, the 10 day auto-delete function is also extremely risky because if, for instance, you are hospitalised, working extremely hard in the field, on holiday or otherwise indisposed for 10 days, there is 20-100% chance you will permanently lose desired e-mails. For Outlook to take this risk with our personal data, without consulting us and without giving us the option to switch off, is verging on theft (when considering closing remarks below on how the only feasible benefits of forcing this on us are all to Outlook) if we recall the system is making money via the advertisements which appear IN / ABOVE OUR INBOX when logging in on web-browser.
g) The Spam filter is so zealous that if you use an external e-mail client as I do on some of my computers (Thunderbird etc) you will never even know any of this is happening, as for some strange reason Outlook 'hordes' its Spam and will not share with e-mail client Junk folders (except native Outlook app, naturally). Again, like not searching the Spam folder from search bar on main pages, this appears to be nothing more than shoddy development, as there is no practical reason for either the user or Outlook why they shouldn't do this.
h) E-mail addresses you mail are not automatically added to not-spam-list (duh?!) leading to the possibility you may believe they are on safe senders when their replies are, in fact, going to spam (seriously?).
i) As if the above points are not enough to warrant a major re-think, it also bears consideration that we already have the 'Focused' and 'Other' sorting system, further negating the use of a THIRD Spam folder.
III) It is completely appalling that Microsoft do all this in the name of internet privacy and then, whilst I am digging around in the settings, I discover FIVE agreements to share my data (FROM MY E-MAILS?!!!) that I never agreed with - for marketing purposes! Shame on you Microsoft! That is an extreme form of hypocrisy, especially since the default on all settings is to give permission. Either you believe the user has the right to choose how their data is shared or you do not; so get your story straight!!! We can fight that battle another day but right now I really just want some control over what you do with my e-mails.
But of course Microsoft know exactly what they're doing and this apparent ignorance (in the sense they never directly address this issue online in any of the forums... hmmm...) is because they are trying to save storage space at data centres and because they do not trust users to unsubscribe from spam after they have turned the filter off and / or they don't want any non-Microsoft approved spam getting through so that one day they will have a monopoly on all spam worldwide.
PROPOSED SOLUTION: Instead of secretly quarantining and then deleting e-mails that may or may not be spam without user permission (!) have one single Inbox + a simple 'Warning!' on any e-mail due for deletion, would both warn the user that's what's going to happen as well as make them aware of the message and contents. The 'Remove from Spam' button could still be alongside, as well as a 'Block / auto-delete'. This way ALL prospective spam will be sorted with 100% accuracy.
Or, you know, you could just let us turn it off...