Email spam settings - guidance needed

[#1]

Because of another thread on here I checked my spam settings and it is set to mark spam as [SPAM] and move to the Spam Folder but there is no such folder - checked in webmail - and I download all my emails via Outlook (the proper one)

So where do they go

[#2]

I have [SPAM] marking not set, and 'Move to the Spam folder' set. Emails are downloaded to Thunderbird, and the Spam appears in the Webmail 'Junk' folder.

[#3]

If a spam message is received what should happen with those settings is that a Spam folder is created if it doesn't exist and the spam message is moved there.

Within webmail the Spam folder is called Junk. In Personal Settings -> Preferences -> Special Folders file associations are set which usually associate Junk with Spam (along with Drafts -> Drafts, Sent -> Sent and Deleted Items -> Trash).

For early users of Roundcube webmail those associations weren't set properly but I thought Plusnet had run a script to fix any that were wrong.

[#4]

Outlook has a Junk Email Folder although there is never anything in it

Actually there are two - the second being Hotmail (not my account but I am looking after it until I decide that I don't need to any more) via Outlook Connector and that gets stacks

This leaves the question - how does it work with multiple email addresses

I have about 6 including the catchall but only one Junk Folder but there are at least two other email addresses aet up which I don't access as they don't belong to me although, as far as I am aware, they don't have dedicated passwords

So what happens with junk emails - do the junk emails associated with each account only get downloaded when that account is accessed

[#5]

With Plusnet email each individual mailbox (including the default one) has its own Spam folder where spam messages addressed to that mailbox (or one of its aliases) are stored. Only mailboxes which have received a spam message will have a Spam folder.

When an "account" is set up in an Email client such as Outlook, the login information for a particular mailbox is supplied. This will provide access only to the Inbox for that mailbox. If another "account" is set up using login details for a second mailbox the second account will have access only to the Inbox for the second mailbox. If access uses IMAP individual folders for each account are also accessible and two-way transfer between client and server storage is possible, POP3 is download only.

Email clients have their own local storage. How they use this depends on client set-up. In particular each account can have its own local storage or a global one can be used.

The local Junk folder in Outlook has *no* connection with the Spam/Junk folder on the server. Outlook has its own junk handling capability controlled through account settings. It's several years since I used Outlook but at the time Junk processing was Off by default, and I kept it that way. That meant the local Junk folder remained empty. Junk on the server is in an IMAP folder and is processed only using IMAP commands issued by the client.

[#6]

Thanks

Given that all the mailboxes are accessed using an email client of one form or another it would appear reasonable to change the settings so that spam goes to the Inbox (I am surprised that isn't the default)

There is one interesting point - I don't get any spam to my accounts so does this mean I am very lucky or that the default spam filter is really very good at blocking it

[#7]

Tagging spam messages and leaving them in Inbox might work for you, though I prefer to have mine moved to the Spam folder. In my view moving to Spam is the correct default.

In my case I've set Thinderbird to check for new messages in my primary mailbox Spam folder so I am warned when I need to take a look.

I receive few Spam messages and rarely do the Cloudmarks get spam/not spam wrong. This includes newsletter/subscription emails. I report them using the webmail reporting buttons if they are wrong.

I know not getting any spam messages can be disconcerting (feeling the set-up must be wrong) but I think the Cloudmarks are good at what they do. I do have a few blacklist entries to assist.