How to Whitelist Newsletter Senders in Popular Email Services
This step-by-step guide will ensure you never miss an update
EJ White
May 18th, 2022
Email service providers (ESPs) are constantly working to provide their users with the best email experience. Part of that task is ensuring that the messages in front of users’ eyeballs are the most relevant, desired ones while spam and low-quality promotional messages get filtered.
This is a constant balancing act that ESPs carry out in the background. Most users never consider this process until something goes wrong. For example, a message they want to receive is incorrectly categorized and ends up in the dreaded spam filter. Fortunately, properly whitelisting emails from trusted sender is a quick and easy one-time process that can help ensure that you’re kept up-to-date with the content you subscribe to.
Apple Mail
Mac
Select Mail → Preferences from the menu bar in the Mac Mail app.
Click the Rules tab → Add Rule.
Type a name in the Description field, such as "Whitelist: beehiiv," to identify the rule we’re going to add.
Make sure the criteria reads If any of the following conditions are met and that the From field is followed by Ends with.
Enter the domain name you want to whitelist in the field next to the Ends with field.Add an @ sign before the domain name to make the filter specific. For example, to whitelist all mail from the beehiiv.com domain, type "@beehiiv.com" into the field.
In the Perform the following actions section, set the three fields to Move Message, to the mailbox, and Inbox or a different target folder.
To save this rule click the Ok button.
Success! Now you’re ready to go.
To save this rule click the Ok button.
Success! Now you’re ready to go.
iOS Mail App
Open the Mail App
Select the relevant mailbox, then the Junk folder
Select the email you want to move to the inbox
Click the folder icon at the bottom of the screen
Select the Inbox folder you want future messages to go to:
Gmail
Add the address to your contacts
Add the email address that you want to whitelist to your Gmail contacts by hovering over the sender’s name and click the “+” icon (see below):
Mark messages as ‘Not spam’
If Gmail has a newsletter as spam that you would like to go to your main inbox, you can tell Google to not mark a send as spam like this:
Navigate to the Spam folder.
Search for emails containing the domain you wish to whitelist (eg example.com).
Select all the emails shown.
Click More and then Not spam.
Create a filter for the address
This is the most complicated option but will be the most effective at ensuring you receive newsletters to your inbox:
Click the gear icon in the top-right corner, and then See All Settings
Click on Filters and then Create a new filter
Enter the domain of the email you want to whitelist in the From field.
Click Create filter with this search
In the box headed When a message arrives that matches this search, select:
Never send it to spam
Categorize as Primary
Click the “Create filter” button
Outlook
For Outlook.com, Windows Live Mail, Hotmail, and MSN Mail sign in to your account at Outlook.com and do the following:
Add the address to your contacts
Add the email address that is sending you an email (e.g. [email protected]) to your Outlook.com Contacts:
Add the address to your safe senders
Click the cog icon in the top-right corner and then More mail settings
Select Safe and blocked senders and then Safe senders
Add the domain of the email (eg example.com) you want to whitelist to the list of safe senders
Click the cog icon in the top-right corner and then More mail settings
Select Safe and blocked senders and then Safe senders
Add the domain of the email (eg example.com) you want to whitelist to the list of safe senders
Yahoo!
Sign in to your account at Yahoo! Mail and do the following:
Add the address to your contacts
Add the email address that is sending you an email (eg [email protected]) to your Yahoo! Mail Contacts by clicking on the contacts icon:
And clicking Add a new contact:
Create a filter for the address
Mouse over the Settings menu icon and select Settings
Click Filters and then Add
Enter a filter name
Enter the domain of the email you want to whitelist in the Sender field, or
Select Inbox as the folder to deliver the email to
Click Save and then click Save again
