Report Phishing & Spam Email in Outlook
Use the Report Message add-in
The Report Message add-in works with Outlook to allow you to report suspicious messages to Microsoft Defender as well as manage how your Microsoft 365 email account treats these messages.
Messages that your Microsoft 365 email account marks as junk or spam are automatically moved to your Junk Email folder or Microsoft Defender Quarantine depending on the threat level detected. Typically spam email gets moved to your Junk folder in Outlook and Phishing, High-Confidence Phishing, and Malware gets put into your Quarantine. Though this may not always be the case, so please exercise caution when dealing with messages in either your Junk Email or the Quarantine.
You can access your Quarantine here https://security.microsoft.com/quarantine
However, spammers and phishing attempts are continually evolving. If you receive a junk email in your inbox, you can use the Report Message add-in to send the message to Microsoft to help us improve our spam filters. If you find an email in your Junk Email folder that's not spam, you can use the Report Message add-in to mark it as a legitimate email, move the message to your Inbox, and report the false positive to help Microsoft improve our spam filters.
Report a message
Step 1: Make sure to select the original phishing or junk email in your Inbox.
Step 2: Click the "Report Message" button on the ribbon, you'll see several different options.
Junk
Phishing
Not Junk
Options
Help
Choose Junk, Phishing, or Not Junk, you'll have the option to send a copy of the message to Microsoft, along with your classification of the message. This is recommended as it helps improve Microsoft Defender for your organization.
I don't see the Report Message button!
Outlook Report Message Add-In currently does not allow reporting from email in Shared Mailboxes.
To report email from a Shared Mailbox drag the message to your personal mailbox > Inbox or > Junk Folder and report it from there.
What's Junk email?
Junk email messages are typically referred to as spam. These are messages that you don't want to receive that may be advertising products you don't use or find offensive. If you choose the Junk option, a copy of the message may be sent to Microsoft to help update our spam filters, and the message will be moved from your Inbox to your Junk Email folder.
What's phishing?
Phishing is the practice of luring you into disclosing personal information, such as bank account numbers and passwords. Often phishing messages look legitimate, but have deceptive links that actually open fake websites. If you select Phishing, a copy of your message may be sent to Microsoft to help update our filters, and the message will be moved from your Inbox to your Junk Email folder.
What's a legitimate email?
If you know the sender and you're expecting the message, or if you receive a message that's mistakenly marked as junk, you can use the Report Message add-in to mark the message as Not Junk. This will move the message from the Junk Email folder back to your Inbox.
Add the Report Message add-in
You can add the Report Message add-in from the Outlook Add-ins store:
Select the Get add-ins or All Apps button on the Home tab of the Outlook ribbon.
For Get add-ins, scroll to the Report Message add-in, select it, and then select Add to install it.
For All Apps, select Add Apps, scroll to the Report Message add-in, select it, and then select Add to install it.
Report Message add-in options
Choosing Options from the Report Message button allows you to choose whether messages are automatically sent to Microsoft when they're reported as junk or phishing attempts.
Change your Report Message options
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Choose Options from the Report Message button on the Ribbon.
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Select one of the following options:
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Once you've made your selection, choose Save. You'll see the following message in the InfoBar in the message header confirming your changes were saved successfully.
Notes:
Options settings are cached with the message, so in order to see your updated setting, you'll need to select a new message first.
If your version of Outlook doesn't support the Options setting, you'll see a notification message that directs you to https://aka.ms/ReportMessageOptions.
Remove the Report Message add-in
You can remove the Report Message add-in from the Outlook Add-ins store:
Select the Get add-ins or All Apps button on the Home tab of the Outlook ribbon.
For Get add-ins, scroll to the Report Message add-in, select it, and then select Remove to uninstall it.
For All Apps, select Add Apps, then right-click (or long-press) the Report Message add-in, and select Uninstall to remove it.