Spam Filtering at NYU

Spam & Your NYU E-mail

Spam is unsolicited bulk e-mail. The key term is "unsolicited" — if you signed up for a mailing list (commercial or otherwise) which you no longer wish to receive, that is not spam. The easy differentiation is that legitimate businesses will have a mailing policy posted on the site where you sign up for the mail, and will give you correct information about how to unsubscribe. For more information on spam, please see our Spam FAQs.

NYU E-mail powered by Google features built-in spam filtering. To read more about how it works and how to use it, visit the NYU E-mail FAQs page.

NYU recommends that you use the new NYU E-mail web interface instead of e-mail programs (Outlook, Thunderbird, iPhone, etc.). However, if you choose to use a desktop e-mail client, you must create a filtering rule based on specific spam rating levels. Mail that matches the rule is then redirected into a folder of your choice and you can decide how you wish to handle the redirected messages. The filter level you select will determine the amount of spam you receive. If you find that you are receiving too much spam in your Inbox, try adjusting the level of filtering to be more strict. If you find that desired mail is being filtered, select a level that is less strict. To help train our spam filtering software, you can forward spam messages you receive to is.spam@nyu.edu. (In order for the training to work, spam e-mails must be forwarded as attachments, not as inline text.)

IMPORTANT: Keep in mind that some legitimate messages will end up in your spam folder if they exhibit characteristics of spam, for example, lots of capital letters, many exclamation points, or phrases such as "click here." Therefore, it is important to check your spam folder regularly to ensure that you receive messages that may have been inadvertently flagged as spam.

Spam Filter Configuration Instructions

• NYU E-mail web interface
• Apple Mail (Macintosh only)
• Outlook (PC only)

Questions? Please consult the Spam FAQ, or contact the IT Service Desk.

Page last reviewed: May 21, 2011