If you're like most people, you probably get a lot of email. And if you're like most people, you probably don't want to whitelist everyone who sends you an email. That's where Outlook comes in! With a few simple steps, you can easily whitelist people in Outlook so that their emails always go to your inbox.

The versions of Outlook this should easily work for:

Outlook for MS 365
Outlook 2019, 2016, 2013, 2010
Outlook for Mac 2016,2011

How to build your Safe Senders List Easily in Outlook

You can simply add email address and domains to the Safe Senders list in Outlook, but Outlook makes it even easier. This program can automatically add everyone that you send an email to - and the people in your contact list - to the Safe Sender list.

Open your Outlook Program.
In the upper left corner, click on HOME if you aren't already there.
Find the DELETE group, and click on Junk
If you do not see the DELETE group, click on the small down arrow at the far right of the panel.
After you are at Junk - click on Junk E-mail Options
A new window will open - select the second upper tab called 'SAFE SENDERS'
If the box "Automatically add people I email to the Safe Senders List" isn't check, click to check the box.
Click on "OK" to save your settings and close the window.
Now when you send an email to someone, Outlook will automatically add that email address to your Safe Senders list.

What if I don't send emails to them?

If you are receiving notices that you do not typically respond to, but you would like to whitelist them (notifications from your website ie: sales, contact forms etc) you may not be actively sending to them.

To whitelist these types of emails:

right click on the email you want to whitelist.
mouse down to 'junk' and mouse over the word.
In the popup you will see options. Choose 'never block sender' or 'never block senders domain' to keep those emails from going into the junk folder.

Why Do I Need A Safe Senders List In Outlook?

Outlook includes tools built into the software that filter spam from your Inbox, but it sometimes keeps junk and tosses legitimate messages. To make sure you are receiving all the right emails and they aren't lost in the junk or spam folder, Outlook provides a Safe Senders list. Messages from these emails are never treated like junk mail. The list also allows the program to automatically download remote images in messages since those senders are considered safe. Usually remote images are not automatically downloaded due to privacy and security concerns.

We've all heard about whitelisting - but what does it really mean?

What whitelisting an email is, making sure your email program does not trash or send to the junk or spam folder legitimate emails that you may want.

Missing emails happen all the time, but by whitelisting an email address that is important, you can make sure to receive them in your inbox.

How to Whitelist an Email in Gmail on Your Computer

Step 1. Log into your Gmail account.

Step 2. Click on 'Settings' At the top right of your account. It looks like a cog wheel.

Step 3. Click 'See All Settings' at the top of the Quick Settings menu. Click 'See all settings'.

Step 4. You should now be taken to your main settings area.

Step 5. From the top menu, click 'Filters and blocked' addresses.

Step 6. Click 'Create a new filter'. If you have other filters set up, you may have to scroll down to the bottom of the page.

Step 7. In the 'From' section, you will enter in what you want whitelisted. You can choose to whitelist an entire domain or a specific email.

Step 8. If you want to whitelist an entire domain, then you need to type in “@domain.com.” into the Never send it to spam section.

Step 9. If you want to whitelist a specific email address, you need to type in “name@domain.com.” The example shows using both. You can use more than one - make sure to put OR between them if you do.