Home > Empowering Tips > Whitelisting Email Addresses: Stop Important Emails from Going to Spam

When a legitimate email gets mistakenly flagged as spam, it can be a real headache. Missing an important message from a client, a password reset link, or a newsletter you love is frustrating and can even be detrimental to your business or personal life. That’s where whitelisting comes in.

Whitelisting is the process of adding a trusted email address or domain to a list of approved senders. When you whitelist a sender, you’re telling your email hosting service to bypass its usual spam filters and deliver those messages directly to your inbox.

With Lookafter Email Hosting, you have two primary methods to accomplish this: Global Email Rules and the Webmail Address Book.

Here’s an informative breakdown of each method, helping you decide which one is right for your situation.

Method 1: Global Email Rules (Global Application)

Ensure important senders never get filtered for anyone in your organization.

If you need to whitelist a sender for all users under your domain, Global Email Rules is the best method. This is ideal for businesses that want to guarantee that critical emails from specific sources are never blocked or sent to spam — no matter who the recipient is.

How it Works:

Global Email Rules apply to every email account under your domain. Once an email address or domain is whitelisted here, emails from that sender bypass spam filters for everyone.

When to Use It:

This method is perfect for administrators who need to ensure that an important external sender’s emails are never missed by any user in the organization.

Scenarios:

• Key business partners: You have a critical vendor, supplier, or partner whose emails are essential for your business operations. A global rule guarantees that all employees receive messages from that domain, such as invoices@supplier.com, directly to their inboxes.
• Internal systems from different company domains: If your organisation operates multiple domains or subsidiaries, emails sent between these domains may sometimes be flagged by filters. Whitelisting ensures smooth delivery of internal communication across all company entities.
• Essential third-party services: An external service like a project management tool or a CRM platform sends automated notifications that everyone in your team needs to receive. Whitelisting the service’s domain (@servicename.com) ensures these critical updates are never missed by anyone.

Basic Steps:

1. Login to your email hosting control panel (with an administrator account).
2. Go to Profile > Admin > Global Email Rules.
3. Add a rule to allow the sender’s email address or domain (e.g., pass *@trustedpartner.com).
4. Click Update to save the changes.

Note: For full instructions and examples of rule formats, refer to our main Global Email Rules guide.

Important: Use Global Rules only for trusted senders. Whitelisting bypasses spam filtering, so misuse could expose all users to unwanted content.

Method 2: Webmail Address Book (Individual’s Application)

Make sure personal contacts don’t get caught in spam — no admin needed.

For individual users who want to make sure emails from specific people land in their inbox (without affecting other users), adding the sender to the Webmail Address Book is a quick and simple solution. It’s perfect for personal contacts or client-specific communication.

How it Works:

When a user adds a sender to their personal Address Book, the system recognizes the address as safe and avoids marking it as spam.

When to Use It:

This method is best for individual users who want to whitelist a sender for their own personal mailbox without affecting anyone else in the organization.

Scenarios:

• Personal subscriptions: You subscribe to an industry-specific newsletter or service updates that you want to receive regularly. Adding the sender to your contacts helps prevent them from landing in Junk.
• Individual correspondence: A colleague from another company is sending you time-sensitive information from a personal account. Adding their address ensures no delays due to spam filtering.
• Ongoing client or vendor communication: You regularly work with a client or supplier whose messages occasionally get marked as spam. Adding them to your personal address book makes sure their emails go straight to your inbox — without applying the change to other users in your organization.

Basic Steps:

1. Login to your webmail.
2. Go to Email > Configuration > Address.
3. Click New Record to create a contact. Enter the sender’s name, email address, and any other details.
4. Click Update to save the contact.

Note: For full steps with screenshots, refer to the Adding Contact in Webmail’s Address Book guide.

Which Method Should I Use?

Feature	Global Email Rules	Webmail Address Book
Application	Applies to all email accounts on the domain.	Applies only to the individual user’s mailbox.
Who Can Set It	Administrator	Individual User
Effort	Moderate — requires access to the hosting control panel and knowledge of adding rules.	Low — simply add the sender as a contact in webmail.
Best For	Organization-wide whitelisting of trusted senders.	Personal whitelisting of specific contacts.
Pros	One-time setup applies to the entire domain — ensures consistency for all users.	No domain-wide risk — changes affect only the user’s mailbox.
Cons	Misuse may allow spam for everyone.	Must be set individually per user.

Wrapping Up

Whitelisting trusted senders ensures smoother communication and prevents important emails from getting lost in spam. Whether you’re an admin managing domain-wide settings or a user needing better inbox control, our Email Hosting gives you the tools to take charge.

If you’re unsure which method suits your case, feel free to reach out to our helpdesk team — we’re here to help.