Updated: 2009-04-09

Junk e-mail filtering in Microsoft Office Outlook 2007 includes Junk E-mail Filter lists and technology built into the software that helps determine whether an e-mail message should be treated as junk e-mail. You can create the following initial Junk E-mail Filter lists to deploy to users: lists for Safe Senders, Safe Recipients, and Blocked Senders.

The lists you provide are default lists; they cannot be locked down by policy. Users can customize the lists as they use Outlook, to fine-tune the filters to work best for their messaging needs.

To deploy the Junk E-mail Filter lists, you create the lists on a test computer and distribute the lists to users.

Perform the following steps to create and deploy these lists:

  1. Install Office Outlook 2007 on a test computer.

  2. Start Outlook and enter the desired entries for each Junk E-mail Filters list: Safe Senders, Safe Recipients, and Blocked Senders.

  3. Export each list to a separate text file.

  4. In the Office Customization Tool (OCT), on the Add Files page, include the three text files.

  5. Also in the OCT, on the Modify user settings page, configure Junk E-mail Filter settings to turn on importing the filter list files and to specify the location of the files.

  6. After you save your customizations, deploy the Setup customization file to users.

Create the lists

Install Office Outlook 2007 on a test computer and create the Junk E-mail filter lists.

To create default Junk E-mail Filter lists

  1. In Office Outlook 2007, on the Tools menu, click Options.

  2. On the Preferences tab, click Junk E-mail.

  3. On the Safe Senders tab, click Add.

  4. Enter an e-mail address or domain name. For example:

    someone@exchange.example.com

  5. Click OK.

  6. To add more e-mail addresses or domain names, repeat steps 3 through 5.

  7. Click Export to file.

  8. Enter a unique file name for the Safe Senders list, and click OK.

  9. Repeat steps 3 through 8 with the Safe Recipients tab and the Blocked Senders tab to create Safe Recipients and Blocked Senders lists. Be sure to specify a unique file name for each of the three lists.

Deploy the lists

To distribute the Junk E-mail lists to users, configure the OCT to include the lists, and deploy Outlook.

To customize Outlook deployment to install Junk E-mail Filter lists for users

  1. In the OCT, on the Add Files page, click Add.

  2. In the Add Files to dialog box, select the three Junk E-mail Filter files that you created in the previous procedure.

    Hold down the CONTROL or SHIFT key to select multiple files.

  3. Click Add.

  4. In the Destination path on the user's computer dialog box, enter the folder where you want to install the file on users' computers, and click OK.

  5. Click OK again.

  6. On the Change Office User Settings page, under Microsoft Office Outlook 2007\Tools | Options\Preferences, click Junk Mail.

NoteNote:

Do not configure the setting as a registry key in the Group Policy tree to lock down this option. Outlook must have read/write access to the registry key so that the value can be reset after the files are imported.

  1. Double-click Junk Mail Import List and ensure that the check box clears so that the setting is applied and Junk E-mail Filter lists are imported for users.

  2. To overwrite existing Junk E-mail Filter lists with new lists, double-click Overwrite or Append Junk Mail Import List.

  3. Click Apply Changes.

  4. Select the Check to overwrite list. Uncheck to append. check box.

  5. Click OK.

  6. To specify a path to each Junk E-mail Filter list, double-click the settings corresponding to each list (for example, Specify path to Trusted Senders list) and enter a path and file name in the box (for example, in the Specify path to Trusted Senders list box).

  7. Click OK or click Next setting to specify the path for another Junk E-mail Filter list.

After you complete your customizations for Outlook in the OCT, click Finish to create a customization file and deploy Outlook to your organization.

You can later change an existing Office Outlook 2007 installation to update the Junk E-mail Filter lists by following the procedure and including more recent Junk E-mail Filter files.

For more information about using the Office Customization Tool for configuring an Office installation to deploy files, see Office Customization Tool in the 2007 Office system.

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This topic is included in the following downloadable book for easier reading and printing:

See the full list of available books at Office Resource Kit information.

See Also