Managing unwanted emails is crucial to maintaining a clean and secure inbox. cPanel's built-in spam filters, powered by Apache SpamAssassin, offer a powerful way to identify and control spam messages. This article will walk you through the various spam filter settings available in cPanel, including how to adjust spam thresholds, manage spam folders, and customize whitelists and blacklists to better protect your email accounts.
Enter cPanel - If you don't know how, you can follow this guide.
In cPanel, look for the Spam Filters option under the Email tab.
Process New Emails and Mark them as Spam
By default, this feature is enabled. If it's not, set the toggle to 'Enabled' to allow the system to identify potential spam. Apache SpamAssassin will then examine each incoming message for spam-like characteristics and assign it a calculated spam score. This score helps determine how likely it is that the message is spam.
Spam Threshold score
By default, the threshold is setup as 5. If the system calculates a spam score for a message that meets or exceeds the Spam Threshold Score, the message is marked as spam. A lower threshold score such as 1 is more aggressive and may label many messages as spam, including legitimate ones. In contrast, a higher score such as 10 is more lenient and only flags messages that are clearly spam.
To change the spam threshold score you will need to click on Spam Threshold Score button and change the value.
Move New Spam to a Separate Folder (Spam Box)
By default its already enabled. Enable this toggle to configure the Exim service to create a spam folder the next time you receive spam emails. The Spam Box feature automatically moves any message with a spam score exceeding the threshold into this folder. This helps preserve emails that Apache SpamAssassin may mistakenly mark as spam, so you can review them later if needed.
Empty the Spam Box folder
To empty the spam folder or remove selected messages, click Configure Spam Box Settings. The system directs you to the Spam Box interface with the following settings:
Enable the Spam Box is enabled. toggle in this interface to activate the Spam Box feature if you did not do so in the Spam Filters interface.
Click Empty the Spam Box folder for “username” to delete all messages in the spam folder for the system user email account, where username represents the system user email account’s name.
Click Empty all Spam Box folders to delete all messages in the Spam Box for every email address on this account, including the system user email account.
Important:
This setting deletes the spam folder contents for all email addresses on the account.Click Manage Disk Usage to select which messages you want to remove. The system directs you to the Email Disk Usage interface (cPanel » Home » Email » Email Disk Usage).
Automatically Delete New Spam (Auto-Delete)
By default its turned off. Set this toggle to enabled to automatically delete messages that meet or exceed the Auto-Delete Threshold Score value.
Configure Auto-Delete Settings
Click Configure Auto-Delete Settings to configure the Auto-Delete Threshold Score value. You will see the Auto-Delete interface with the following settings on next page:
Enable the Spam Auto-Delete is enabled. toggle in this interface to activate the Auto-Delete feature if you did not do so in the Spam Filter interface.
Select the desired Auto-Delete Threshold Score value. Click Update Auto-Delete Score to save your changes.
The Auto-Delete Threshold Score value does not affect the Spam Threshold Score value.
Additional Configurations (For Advanced Users)
This section allows you to customize the whitelist, blacklist, and individual test scores.
Whitelist (Emails Always Allowed)
This section displays the account’s current number of whitelisted items. Whitelists allow you to receive email from an email address that Apache SpamAssassin falsely marks as spam.
Click Edit Spam Whitelist Settings to configure the Spam Filters whitelist settings.
To add an email address to the whitelist, perform the following steps:
Click Add A New “whitelist_from” Item to add an email address.
Enter the email address in the whitelist_from text box.
Click the cancel icon (x) to remove a whitelist_from entry.
Click Update Whitelist (whitelist_from) to save your changes or press enter key.
Blacklist (Emails Never Allowed)
This section displays the account’s current number of blacklisted items. Blacklists allow you to mark emails that Apache SpamAssassin falsely marks as non-spam as spam mail.
Click Edit Spam Blacklist Settings to configure the Spam Filters blacklist settings.
To add an email address to the blacklist, perform the following steps:
Click Add A New “blacklist_from” Item to add an email address.
Enter the email address in the blacklist_from text box.
Click the cancel icon (x) to remove a blacklist_from entry.
Click Update Blacklist (blacklist_from) to save your changes or press enter key.
Calculated Spam Score Settings
Click Configure Calculated Spam Score to configure the individual test scores.
Apache SpamAssassin uses hundreds of tests to identify spam, and you can customize the scores assigned to each test to better suit your server’s needs. This interface allows you to modify the individual test scores SpamAssassin uses to evaluate incoming messages. You can increase the score of a test if it's letting spam slip through, or lower or disable a test if it's falsely flagging legitimate emails.
To update an individual test score, perform the following steps:
Click Add A New “scores” Item to enter a new customized test score.
Select a test from the scores menu.
Enter a new value in the text box that contains up to three decimal places.
Note: Set the score value to 0 to disable a test.
Click Update Scoring Options to save your changes.
Congratulations! You’ve successfully configured spam filters in cPanel to better manage unwanted emails and protect your inbox.
If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact our team via live chat.
For technical inquiries, please feel free to reach our support team by emailing support@bigscoots.com from your registered email or by submitting a support ticket.