Being one of the basic communication tools, emails often contain personal information, images, and payment/transaction details.
As such, they are commonly targeted by phishing attacks and unsolicited marketing messages (spam), too.
If you’re annoyed with Gmail mistakenly sending messages from trusted senders to your spam folder, in this guide we explain how to add email to the safe sender list on Gmail.
Email Whitelisting
Even if your Gmail added a certain email in the spam folder, you can always mark it safe manually.
This means the message is now received by a trusted sender and is no longer a threat, thus – it’s allowed to access your inbox.
Retrieving a message from the spam folder and adding the trusted sender on a safe senders list is commonly called whitelisting.
Benefits of email whitelisting:
- Increased productivity
- Maintaining focus on what’s important
- Improved security
- Optimised and adjusted spam filter
- A more personalised account approach.
How To Whitelist an Email in Gmail?
Gmail has advanced built-in email categorization. The procedure to add a trusted sender to your Gmail account differs slightly from other email providers since there’s no safe sender list, at least not offered as a specific option.
However, some alternatives can do the same, and in a more personalised approach.
Here are the basic steps on how to mark an email as safe in Gmail.
Option 1: Save Your Contact
On a Computer
Go to contacts.google.com > select Create contact at the top left corner > enter the sender’s email address > click Save at the bottom right corner.
On an Android Smartphone or Tablet
Find and open your Contacts app > click the Add button > enter contact’s name and email address> next to your email account, tap the Down arrow to select the desired account that will receive the messages from the account you’ve whitelisted > click Save before exiting to save your changes.
Option 2: Mark as “Not Spam”
If a message from a trusted sender somehow ends up in your spam folder, marking it as safe manually will signal Gmail that this is the type of message you’d want to receive in the future.
To do so, open the Gmail website > select Spam (or select More, then find Spam) > open the desired email > mark it as “not spam” at the top of the page.
The email will automatically be sent to your inbox and removed from the spam folder. However, this method doesn’t guarantee that the specific sender will be put on the Gmail approved senders list for good.
Option 3: Create a Filter Rule
Gmail works better with creating rules rather than giving you a pre-set option. This gives you more space for personalisation and adjusting your account to your fit. Creating rules and specific filters is the closest Gmail comes to “a safe sender” or “whitelisting”.
Open the Gmail website > go to the search box at the top of the page > select the down arrow > there’s a From field in which you should enter the trusted sender email address > at the bottom of the search window click on Create filter > select Never send it to spam > click Create filter.
Bottom Line
Marking an email “safe” and adding the sender to a safe sender list can be done in several ways, based on whether you’re adjusting your preferences from a tablet, smartphone or computer.
However, the best way to ensure certain messages won’t end up in the spam folder is to create a specific filter rule, or simply add the desired sender to the safe sender list through your Gmail contact’s list.
FAQs:
1. How to whitelist an email in Gmail?
Marking an email “not spam” will retrieve an email to your inbox, but whitelisting a specific sender or a type of email can be achieved through the “create a filter” option through your Gmail account.
2. How to mark an email as safe in Gmail?
If you wish to mark just one email as safe, you simply click on the “not spam” option and these types of emails will end up in your inbox instead of spam in the future.
