Prevent Mail to Gmail Users from Being Blocked or Sent to Spam

Environment

U-M Google / Gmail

Issue

How to prevent mail to Gmail users from being blocked or sent to spam.

Resolution

Mark incorrectly classified messages as not spam 

Gmail uses machine learning to recognize spam and better understand your preferences. When you manually mark a message as not spam, Gmail learns how to manage messages addressed to you. Google's detection algorithm does accept training, and over time you should see that more messages get delivered properly to your Inbox and are not marked as Spam or Dangerous.

1. In your mail, On the left side menu, click More 
   1. You may need to scroll down
2. Click Spam
3. Open the email you want to mark as not spam
4. At the top, click Not spam

Stop a message from being sent to Spam in the future

1. Add trusted senders to your personal contacts list
   1. Add from existing email
      1. Hover your mouse cursor over the sender’s name at the top of the email message
      2. Click Add to contacts (the small icon that looks like a person's torso with a + next to it) when the card appears
   2. Add a contact from a known address
      1. On your computer, go to Google Contacts
      2. At the top left, click Create contact
      3. Click Create contact or Create multiple contacts
      4. Enter the contact's information
      5. Click Save
2. Create a filter to match the pattern "@umich.edu" so that all U-M mail gets delivered appropriately
   1. Go into your Mail Settings and choose Filters
   2. Click the Create a New Filter button and enter @umich.edu in the From box
   3. Click Create Filter with this Search
   4. Check the Never Send it to Spam box
   5. Click Create Filter

Avoid these practices for sending to Gmail

• Do not BCC too many recipients
• Don't mark internal messages as spam
  • This can negatively affect our domain's reputation, resulting in future messages being sent to spam
• Do not type the subject line in all caps.
• Always include an email in To field.

Additional Information

U-M Google Spam Email Procedures

Prevent mail to Gmail users from being blocked or sent to spam

Need additional information or assistance? Contact the ITS Service Center.