Blocking unwanted messages

You can control the mail and news messages you get in Outlook Express in several ways. You can block certain people from sending you mail, you can hide conversations that don't interest you, and you can guard against being sent damaging code in mail by setting security levels.

The following topics provide more information:

To block messages from a sender or domain

You can block messages from a particular sender or domain. The domain is the name following the @ symbol in an e-mail address.

When you block a sender or domain, no e-mail or news message from that sender or domain will arrive in your Inbox or in the news messages you read. E-mail from blocked senders goes directly into your Delete folder. Newsgroup messages from blocked senders are not displayed.

1. From your e-mail Inbox or the list of messages in a newsgroup, select a message from a sender you want to block.
2. On the Message menu, click Block Sender.

The e-mail address of the sender will appear in the Address box. You can type a different address or domain in the Address box if you wish.

3. Select the blocking option you want: mail, news, or both kinds of messages.

Important

• Blocking a sender applies to standard POP mail only. It does not apply to HTTP mail (Hotmail) or IMAP messages.

To manage the blocked senders list

1. On the Tools menu, point to Message Rules, and then click Block Senders List.
2. To remove a sender or domain from the list, select the name and click Remove.
3. To change a sender's name or domain on the list, select the name and click Modify. Make your changes in the dialog box and click OK.
4. To add a new sender or domain to the list, click Add. Enter the information in the dialog box and click OK.
5. Click OK in the Message Rules dialog box to apply rules that have been added or changed.

To set up security zones

In Outlook Express, security zones enable you to decide whether active content, such as ActiveX Controls and scripts, can be run from inside HTML e-mail messages. You can choose a moderate level of security that allows most active content to run, or you can choose a more restrictive security zone.

1.  On the Tools menu, click Options, and then click the Security tab.

2. In the Security Zones section, choose an Internet Explorer security zone to use:

• Choose the Internet zone for standard use. It is used by a majority of Outlook Express users. 
• Choose the Restricted sites zone to create a more secure environment.

Note

•        You can adjust the security level of these and other zones in Internet Explorer. Security settings that you make in Internet Explorer also apply to Outlook Express. Go to Internet Explorer, and on the Tools menu, click Internet Options and adjust your settings on the Security tab.

To ignore a conversation

In both mail and news, you can ignore, and even hide, conversations that don't interest you. A conversation is an original message and all its replies.

• In your Inbox or newsgroup message list, select the conversation you wish to ignore, and on the Message menu, click Ignore Conversation.

If your message list's Watch/Ignore column is turned on, an ignore icon will appear next to all the messages of an ignored conversation.

• To hide ignored messages so they don't clutter up your message lists, click View, point to Current View, and then select Hide Read or Ignored Messages.

Selecting Hide Read or Ignored Messages will hide messages you have read, messages you have ignored, and messages you have both read and ignored.

Tip

• If you want to hide ignored messages, but wish to keep your read messages visible, click Hide Read or Ignored Messages as instructed above, and then click View, point to Current View, and then select Define Views. In the Define Views dialog box, click the New button. In box 1 of the View Editor, select Where the message has been read. In box 2, click the words Show/Hide and select Show messages. In box 3, give this view a name, and then click OK.

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