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Using the Spam Filter in Mozilla Thunderbird

Thunderbird excels at spam detection

By Heinz Tschabitscher Heinz Tschabitscher Writer University of Vienna A former freelance contributor who has reviewed hundreds of email programs and services since 1997. lifewire's editorial guidelines Updated on January 8, 2020 Tweet Share Email Tweet Share Email Email Yahoo! Mail Gmail Open-source email app Mozilla Thunderbird includes highly efficient spam filters using Bayesian statistical analysis. After a bit of training, its spam detection rate is stellar, and false positives are practically nonexistent. If you don't like spam in your Mozilla Thunderbird inbox, turn on the junk mail filter.

How the Mozilla Thunderbird Spam Filter Works

The Bayesian analysis Mozilla Thunderbird uses for spam filtering assigns a spam score to each word and other parts of an email. Over time, it learns which words typically appear in junk email and which appear mostly in good messages.

How to Turn on the Spam Filter in Mozilla Thunderbird

To have Mozilla Thunderbird filter junk mail for you: Go to the Thunderbird hamburger menu and select Options > Account Settings. For each account, go to the Junk Settings section and select Enable adaptive junk mail controls for this account. Select OK.

How to Prevent Mozilla Thunderbird From Overriding External Spam Filters

To have Mozilla Thunderbird accept and use spam filtering scores created by a spam filter that analyzes messages before Thunderbird receives them: Open the desired email account in Mozilla Thunderbird and select Options > Account Settings > Junk Settings. In the Selection section, select Trust junk mail headers set by. Select the spam filter used from the list that follows. Select OK.

Blocking Senders Doesn' t Help

In addition to employing a spam filter, Mozilla Thunderbird blocks individual email addresses and domains. While this is a proper tool to avoid senders or automated software installations that keep sending unwanted emails, blocking senders does little to fight spam. Junk emails don't come from identifiable stable email addresses. If you block the email address from which one spam email seems to come, there's no noticeable effect, because no other spam email will ever come from the same address. Was this page helpful? Thanks for letting us know! Get the Latest Tech News Delivered Every Day Subscribe Tell us why! Other Not enough details Hard to understand Submit More from Lifewire How to View Full Message Headers in Mozilla Thunderbird How to Stop Spam Emails How to Send Spam to the Spam Folder in Yahoo Mail Stop Apple Mail From Spam-Filtering Known Senders How to Recover Mail From the Outlook Junk Mail Folder What Is an Example of Spam Email? How to Mark a Message as Junk in Outlook.com How to Filter Spam With Apple Mail How to Export Contacts in Mozilla Thunderbird How to Select Where Sent Messages Are Kept in Mozilla How to Report Spam in Outlook Move Spam to the Junk Folder Automatically in Mozilla Thunderbird How to Whitelist a Domain in Mac OS X Mail App How to Report a Message as Spam in Yahoo Mail How to Set Up an Incoming Mail Filter in Windows Live Hotmail KMail Review: Free Email Program Newsletter Sign Up Newsletter Sign Up Newsletter Sign Up Newsletter Sign Up Newsletter Sign Up By clicking “Accept All Cookies”, you agree to the storing of cookies on your device to enhance site navigation, analyze site usage, and assist in our marketing efforts. Cookies Settings Accept All Cookies