Getting More Junk Email? Here's What to Do
With the College's recent transition to the Microsoft Defender email security system, you may notice a temporary influx in junk and spam in your inbox. But, with your help, filtering accuracy will return to normal – and even improve – very soon.
On May 18, 2026, the College transitioned its email security from Ironscales to Microsoft Defender, providing a more flexible approach to filtering spam and junk mail.
In addition to receiving security alerts from Microsoft rather than from Ironscales, you may temporarily see more spam and junk mail in your inbox during the transition. This is normal, as the way Microsoft evaluates messages is different from Ironscales, and it takes a few weeks for Defender to learn campus connection patterns and what you personally deem as junk.
That’s why Microsoft Defender needs your help getting up to speed. Your feedback helps the system learn. If we all pitch in to report junk in the first few weeks, filtering accuracy will return to normal (and even better than before) very shortly.
How to Train Microsoft Defender
Here’s how you can help over the next few weeks:
- When external messages land in your inbox, look for the “Report Message” icon in your Outlook toolbar (you may have to click the three dots to locate it). From there, you can:
- Mark it as Junk: By tagging these emails correctly, you are actively training the AI to block similar messages for you and the rest of the campus in the future.
- Report it as Phishing: Reporting phishing flags the message as malicious, improves Microsoft’s security systems, notifies IT and deletes the email.
- Mark it as Not Junk: Flagging external messages that you want to receive helps improve junk detection in the future.
- When messages you want to receive go to your junk folder, you can click “Mark as Not Junk” to help train the system to better recognize what belongs in your inbox.
- If you continue seeing legitimate emails being blocked, please submit a request.
- At least once a day, review the quarantined emails listed in the Microsoft 360 security email(s) you receive. If there are legitimate emails that have been filtered to quarantine, you will need to release them so they will stop being filtered out.
Information Technology is excited to introduce these enhanced security features. Please continue to use caution with unexpected emails, links or attachments.
