Whitelist Email Address in Office 365 – 2 Best Practices!

Published On - December 23, 2023 by Armaan | Reading Time: 6 minutes

Sometimes, the spam filter snags your legitimate emails, and you miss crucial messages from a trusted sender. Therefore, it is necessary to add senders to the safe senders list in Office 365 to ensure your inbox receives important messages from trusted senders. Don’t worry! In this blog, you explore how to whitelist email addresses in Office 365 admin center. So that you never miss an important message from a trusted sender.

You can perform it using Mail Flow Rules or Microsoft 365 Defender. It is also helpful to whitelist domains in Office 365. So, without further delay, let’s move on to its significant role in Office 365 email.

Importance of Email Whitelisting in Office 365

As an Office 365 user, you want to ensure improved email deliver-ability so that you never miss an important email. In this regard, “Whitelist email address in Office 365” is an effective option for organizations that rely on emails for internal and external collaboration.

Apart from this, the following points help you to understand the importance of whitelisting email addresses in Office 365.

• It helps to prevent your crucial emails from landing in the spam folder.
• Using this feature, you can minimize missed communication, ultimately enhancing your business productivity.
• Adding a domain or sender to the safe senders’ list in Office 365 can add an extra security layer against phishing attacks.
• Furthermore, whitelisting email addresses in Office 365 can streamline email management for users and administrators.

Overall, Whitelist email address in Office 365 is an effective option to prioritize effective communication and user experience. However, you should be aware of its limitations while implementing it else, some security risks may arise.

Method 1 – Whitelist Email Address in Office 365 with Mail Flow Rules

Whitelisting the email address allows it to bypass spam filters so the email lands in its intended recipient’s inbox. Under this section, we provide a detailed step-wise process for whitelisting email and domain in Office 365 using the mail flow option.

• First, open the Exchange Admin Center in your Office 365 account.
• Now expand the Mail Flow option to click on Rules.
• Here, click on the (+) icon to add a new rule.
• From the list, select the Bypass spam filtering option.

The above steps are common for whitelisting an email address or the entire domain in the Office 365 admin center. Now, you’ll decide which action you want to perform according to your requirements.

Whitelist an Email Address in the Office 365 Admin Center

• From the dropdown of Apply the Rule if…, select The Sender… >> is the person option.
• Enter the Email Address in the Check Names field. After that, click on Check Names to display the email address in the field next to add ->.
• Click the OK button to move ahead. You can see that the Do the following… option Set the spam confidence level (SCL) to Bypass Spam Filtering has been selected automatically.
• At last, click on the Save button to apply this policy.

Remember to ensure that the email address will only reflect in the add field after you click the Check Name button. You can also add multiple email addresses to Whitelist email in Office 365 admin center.

Whitelist Domain in Office 365 Admin Center

• For this, select the sender…>> domain is option from the dropdown of the Apply the Rule if…, option.
• Now, add the domain in the Specify Domain flyout window.
• After that, click on the (+) button to add the domain.
• You can add domains here or click the OK button to exit this flyout window.
• Verify that Set the spam confidence level (SCL) to Bypass Spam Filtering should be selected automatically under the Do the following… field.
• At last, click on the Save button to apply this policy.

Method 2 – Whitelist Email Address using Microsoft 365 Defender

You can also Whitelist your Email address using Microsoft 365 Defender. In this method, you can add the sender to the trusted sender list in Office 365. Therefore, to modify the Anti-spam policy, you will find in Microsoft 365 Defender.

Note: Remember, allowing the sender to the trusted sender list is the least recommended action. Because, in some cases, senders may bypass protection that leads to phishing and spoofing attacks. According to expert, you should regularly backup Office 365 emails to a hard drive.

You can perform the following steps to whitelist email address in Office 365 using Microsoft Defender.

• Open your Microsoft Defender account and click the Policies and Rules option.
• Now, select Threat Policies. Now open Anti-Spam policies.
• From the pop-up window, scroll down and click on Edit allowed and blocked senders and domains.
• After that, you can click the Manage Sender(s).
• Now, select Add Senders to your add a new sender list.
• At last, click Done and Save to apply new settings.

After performing all these steps, you can easily Whitelist Email Address in Office 365 admin centre. However, you should consider that whitelisting email and domain also affect the security protocols. Therefore, it’s advisable to opt for a reliable Regain Office 365 Backup Tool to have a copy of your entire mailbox data.

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Conclusion

Whitelist email in Office 365 admin center is an effective option to ensure that important emails land in your inbox. You can perform any of the above methods to add a domain/sender to the safe senders list in Office 365. However, you should consider that it has some adverse effects that lead to phishing and spoofing attacks.

Frequently Asked Question

Q1. How do I add an email to safe senders list in Office 365?

Ans. You can add email to the safe sender list in Office 365 using any of the above methods. Once you have access to Exchange Admin Center, perform the following steps.

1. Navigate to Mail Flow.
2. Click on the Rules option.
3. Now, select the (+) icon to create a new rule.
4. Here, you can select Bypass Spam Filtering as the rule type.
5. Select The Sender…, is the person under Apply this rule if…, option.
6. Provide the email address and click on the Check Names button.
7. Click Check Names again and press OK.
8. Ensure that Set the spam confidence level (SCL) to bypass spam filtering option is selected under the Do the following…, option.
9. At last, click on the Save button to finish this process.

Q2. How do I whitelist an IP address in Office 365 spam filter?

Ans. You can follow the below steps to whitelist an IP address in Office 365.

1. Log in to your Office 365 account and navigate the Security and Compliance Center.
2. Click on the Policies & Rules option to select Anti-spam under Policies.
3. Now, select the Edit connection filter option from the Connection Filter Policy.
4. Add the IP address you want to whitelist to the section labeled Always allow messages from the following IP addresses or address range.
5. Finally, enable the Turn on Safe List option and click the Save button to complete the process.

Q3. How do I find my IP address whitelist?

Ans. You can follow the above steps till you reach the Connection Filter policy. After that, look for the option to view the IP address whitelisted. Review the allowed IP list to find whether your IP is whitelisted or not?