How To Whitelist An Email Address

If you are familiar with emailing, then you might have heard the term “whitelist”. However, just because you have heard of this term, this doesn’t necessarily mean that you know what it means.

In this guide, we’ll be taking a look at what it means to whitelist an email, and how to do this. So, if you want to find out more, keep on reading!

What Does It Mean To Whitelist An Email?

A whitelist is a list of approved senders, email addresses, or domain names that are authorized to access your inbox.

You can whitelist a sender, email address, or entire domain name to ensure that you receive the emails that you want to receive while still filtering spam or junk emails.

Phishing emails, spam, and attempts to scam are unfortunate side effects of mass communication via email.

But in attempting to protect ourselves from this we can sometimes inadvertently block emails we want to receive. This can be detrimental to business and result in delays or misunderstandings.

Let’s look at the ways we can whitelist an email address in the different email services most commonly used.

How To Whitelist An Email In Gmail

Add To Contact List

Adding an address to your contacts list is telling Gmail that you wish to receive emails from that address or domain. Incoming mail from that address will be noted as trusted and should go straight to your inbox.

In Gmail click the dotted square next to your icon at the top right of the screen. This will open all the associated apps including Contacts. Open the page and click Create Contact.

You can then fill in all the relevant fields. Don’t forget to save. The email address will now be whitelisted in Gmail.

Report As Not Spam

If an email goes into your spam folder that you wish to whitelist there is a button on the email that says Report as not spam. Click this button and the email will automatically be sent to your inbox and whitelisted in the future.

Create Filter From An Email

To create a filter for the address you wish to whitelist open an email from that address. Click on the three dots on the top right of the email and select Filter messages like this.

A dialogue box will appear. You can then fill in the fields you wish the filter to search for. The email address or domain will then be whitelisted.

Create Filter From Settings

The same process can be done from Settings under Filters and blocked addresses. Click on Create a new filter and a dialog will appear.

Fill in the necessary information and hit the Create filter button. The address will be whitelisted in the future.

How To Whitelist An Email On Yahoo

Add Address To Contacts

In Yahoo Mail click the Contacts icon on the top right of the page. This will open the list of your contacts.

At the bottom of this, you will see Add a new contact. Open this feature and fill in the relevant information and save. This email address will now be whitelisted.

Create A Filter

To create a filter for an email address you want to whitelist open the Settings and then select More settings.

In the list that opens on the left side of the window click Filters, then Add new filters. You can give the filter a name, set rules, and select folders to move emails to.

Unmark Email As Spam

To remove wanted emails from the spam folder click the message on the email that says Mark this message as safe. There is also an icon at the top of the email that says Not spam which you can also use.

How To Whitelist An Email In Outlook

Add To Your Contacts

In the left-hand side panel click on the people icon. On the page that appears click the button at the top that says New contact.

Once you have filled in all the necessary information, hit the Create button. The contact’s email address will now be whitelisted.

Add Address To Safe Senders List

To add a domain or address to your safe senders list click the cog icon in the top right corner, then View all Outlook settings.

Under Junk email, you will have a list of Safe senders and domains. Click the +Add icon to add an email address or domain to this list.

Mark As Not Junk

For emails that go into your Junk folder and that you don’t want there click the “It’s not junk” message which appears at the top of the email. The address or domain will be added to your whitelist.

How To Whitelist An Email In AOL

Add Address To Contacts

On the left side of your screen click the Contacts button then select the New contact icon. Enter all the required information and hit Add contact. This email address is now on your whitelist.

Unmark Email As Spam

If you receive messages into your Spam folder that you don’t want there you can train AOL mail to not send them there in the future. At the top of the email click, the Not spam icon, and the email will be sent to your Inbox.

Check Blocked Sender List

If you are expecting an email and it is not arriving in your inbox you should check that the sender is not on your Blocked sender list. If so you can remove the email address or domain and they will then be whitelisted for the future.

Replying To Email

Replying to a sender you want to whitelist will automatically list that address as safe if using AOL Webmail.

The software will recognize that the email sent from that domain is not spam and will subsequently direct it to the inbox and not the spam folder.

Summary

In the 21st century, most businesses and services rely a great deal on email to communicate.

Therefore, it is important for them that they are not missing vital and valuable information. Knowing how whitelisting works and how to utilize it can make a huge difference to an organization’s success.

It is equally important for email marketers that their addresses are added to the whitelist of their clients.

This ensures that their messages and material are getting through to their intended audience and business opportunities are not missed.

Thank you for reading!