Getting important work emails or your favorite newsletter emails sent to spam? Learning how to whitelist an email (or a domain) helps you fix that fast.
Strict spam filters deployed by your email service providers often block or hide messages you actually want to receieve. Be it client emails, order updates, or newsletters you signed up for, knowing how to whitelist email addresses can improve your inbox placement.
In this guide, I’ll show you how to whitelist email addresses in Gmail, Outlook, Yahoo, and other ESPs. First, let's start with what an email whitelist means.
Email Whitelist Meaning
Email whitelisting means adding an email address or domain to your approved sender list. It helps you keep important emails out of the spam folder and in your inbox. When you whitelist a sender, you tell your email service provider (e.g., Gmail, Outlook, Yahoo, AOL, etc.) to trust them. Email deliverability improves as a result, ensuring you never miss critical messages.
Whitelisting emails and domains helps you avoid missing valuable messages. It keeps important emails in your inbox by avoiding the spam folder. If you signed up for updates, offers, or services, whitelisting makes sure you actually receive them. For businesses, asking subscribers to whitelist your email improves deliverability and engagement. It’s a small step that leads to better inbox placement, higher open rates, and smoother communication.
Let’s learn how to whitelist email in Gmail and other ESPs below.
How to Whitelist an Email in Gmail (Desktop Version)
1. Log into your Gmail account.
2. Click the gear icon in the upper-right corner and choose "See all settings" from the drop-down.
3. Go to the “Filters and blocked addresses” tab to view your current filters and blocked addresses.
4. Click “Create a new filter” and input the email address or domain you want to whitelist in the “From” field.
5. After that, click “Create filter” and make sure to select “Never send to spam” to ensure the emails are whitelisted.
If you need to whitelist multiple email addresses in Gmail, simply create a filter for each address. You can also add several email addresses separated by commas in the 'From' field when creating the filter. Also, to update or remove a whitelist entry, go to your settings, select 'Filters and blocked addresses,' and either edit or delete the filter as needed.
How to Whitelist an Email in Gmail App (iOS & Android)
Unlike the desktop version, you can’t access your filters and blocked addresses on Mobile devices (irrespective of iOS or Android). Instead, what you can do is add a sender’s email address to your contact list. This will give them uninterrupted access to sending email to you.
And to whitelist an email in Gmail App in iOS, follow these steps:
1. Open your spam folder and locate the email you wish to whitelist.
2. At the top of the message, you’ll notice a gray box with the option “Report as not spam.”
3. Click this button to inform Google that you want to receive future emails from this sender.
4. Alternatively, you can tap the three dots in the upper right corner of the email and select the same option.
Now, here’s how you can whitelist an email in Gmail Android App:
1. Open the Gmail app on your phone.
2. Navigate to the Spam or Junk folder.
3. Tap on the email you wish to whitelist.
4. At the top of the email, tap “Report not spam”.
Email Whitelist Process in Outlook
In recent years, Microsoft has made it incredibly simple to safelist email addresses or domains in Outlook.
Here’s how to whitelist an email in Outlook:
1. After logging into your Microsoft Outlook account, click on the “Settings” (gear icon) in the upper-right corner.
2. From the menu, choose the “Mail” option.
3. In the next submenu, select “Junk email” and scroll down on the tab to find the “Add Safe Senders” button right under the safe senders and domains section.
4. Input the email address you wish to whitelist and click “Save” to complete the process. Similarly, you can just add the domain name (e.g., smartlead.ai, to whitelist any sender from the domain.
How to Whitelist an Email (and Domain) in Yahoo
Yahoo, much like other popular ESPs, make it very simple to whitelist a sender or domain.
Here’s how to do it:
1. Go to “Settings” on the right side of your screen.
2. Select “More Settings” from the dropdown menu.
3. Click on “Filters” to view your filters.
4. Press “Add New Filter” and type in the email address you want to whitelist.
5. Click “Save” to finish.
If you want to whitelist a domain instead, simply enter the domain (e.g., ‘@example.com’) in the filter field, and all emails from that domain will be automatically whitelisted."
How to Whitelist Email in AOL
1. Click “Contacts” from the left-side menu.
2. Tap the three dots in the upper-right corner and choose “Add a new contact.”
3. Fill in the details, then click “Save” to add the email to your contacts.
How to Whitelist an Email in Apple Mail
Whitelisting an email in Apple Mail helps ensure that important messages from trusted senders always land in your inbox. Here's how to whitelist an email address or domain in Apple Mail, preventing them from being flagged as spam:
1. Open Apple Mail on your Mac.
2. In the Mail app, find the email from the sender you want to whitelist.
3. Right-click the email and select Add to Contacts. This automatically adds the email address to your approved senders list.
4. If the email is in the Junk folder, open the email and click on “Not Junk” at the top of the message. This moves the email to your inbox and signals Apple Mail to trust future emails from this sender.
How to Whitelist an Email Address in Zoho
Zoho Mail offers powerful email security features, including the ability to whitelist trusted email addresses, ensuring you only receive legitimate emails. To add a trusted email address to Zoho's whitelist and ensure its emails are never marked as spam, follow these steps:
1. Log in to your Zoho Mail account.
2. Click on the Settings gear icon.
3. Navigate to the Anti-Spam section and select the Email Address option.
4. In the Allowlist / Blocklist Emails tab, click on the + Add button.
5. Enter the email address you want to whitelist and click Add again, or press the Enter key.
Once added, the email address will be whitelisted, ensuring future emails from this address go straight to your inbox.
How to Whitelist an Email Address in ProtonMail
ProtonMail uses end-to-end encryption to protect its users from spam and phishing attempts. While it’s reliable, you may occasionally find legitimate emails placed in the spam folder. To prevent this and whitelist trusted senders, follow these steps:
1. Log in to your ProtonMail account.
2. Click the Settings gear icon in the top right corner and select All settings.
3. Go to the Filters tab.
4. Under the Spam, block, and allow lists, click the Add address or domain button, then select Allow.
5. Enter the email address or domain you want to whitelist and click Add address.
Advantages of Whitelisting Emails and Domains
Whitelisting in Gmail brings major advantages, especially for cold email marketers.
Boosts Email Deliverability: First, it boosts email deliverability by ensuring your messages go straight to the inbox, bypassing Gmail's spam filters (or any other ESP for that matter). This is critical for sales outreach and important communications.
Protects Your Sender Reputation: The more your emails land in the inbox, the better your sender reputation becomes. This, in turn, further improves your chances of reaching your audience consistently. For cold emails, this is essential because a bad reputation can result in your emails being blocked or marked as spam.
Avoids False Spam Flags: Whitelisting also helps avoid false spam flags. Sometimes, even legitimate emails get flagged as spam, which can damage your outreach efforts. By getting whitelisted, you ensure your key messages aren’t lost or ignored, increasing the chances of recipient engagement.
For businesses, especially those running email campaigns, whitelisting can be the difference between a successful campaign and one that fails. Higher deliverability means higher open and response rates, which are crucial metrics for any cold email strategy.
Lastly, whitelisting saves time. It keeps your important emails organized and ensures that you don’t waste time digging through the spam folder for missed messages. For bulk email senders, this helps you stay focused and maintain a smooth communication flow with your audience.
Conclusion
Whitelisting emails ensures that important messages reach your inbox and don’t get lost in spam. By following the steps for Gmail, Outlook, Yahoo, Zoho, ProtonMail, and others, you can keep your inbox organized and prevent missing key updates.
For businesses, whitelisting helps improve email deliverability, reduce bounce rates, and increase engagement.
Smartlead helps you boost email deliverability with tools to automate inbox warm-ups and improve sender reputation. Start using Smartlead today to get better results from your email campaigns!
Author’s Details
Sattwik Das
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