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MacOS Mail junk versus spam

I regularly check my JUNK folder to restore legitimate emails which are often included, and then delete all the rest.


But there are also SPAM folders which are independent of the Junk filter. How can I ensure that these unread spam emails are automatically moved to the Junk folder so I don’t have to scan the rubbish twice?


If I manually move all the spam emails to Junk, will MAIL then remember that the spam emails are also junk and move them there automatically in future? Would they also retain the label SPAM which is visible in my smart mailbox for UNREAD mail?


How does MAIL distinguish between JUNK and SPAM? If the Spam emails are registered externally by Apple, then I would feel confident in just deleting them all without even checking them, something I cannot do with Junk mail.



Mac Studio, macOS 13.4

Posted on Jul 16, 2023 11:14 PM

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Posted on Jul 16, 2023 11:33 PM

Junk is what Mail calls the Spam folder on the email server. If you’ve set the Junk folder to store locally on your Mac, the Junk mailbox will be disassociated with the server Spam folder and you will see it under the email account. Those messages are moved to spam by your email provider. Mail doesn’t know anything about them. I doubt Mail will learn anything because it didn’t put them in the Spam folder.

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Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Jul 16, 2023 11:33 PM in response to Darrall Cutting

Junk is what Mail calls the Spam folder on the email server. If you’ve set the Junk folder to store locally on your Mac, the Junk mailbox will be disassociated with the server Spam folder and you will see it under the email account. Those messages are moved to spam by your email provider. Mail doesn’t know anything about them. I doubt Mail will learn anything because it didn’t put them in the Spam folder.

MacOS Mail junk versus spam

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