How to Review Your Yahoo Mail Spam Folder Periodically

Look for messages that were accidentially marked as spam

Yahoo Mail's spam filters aren't perfect. Occasionally, messages end up in the Spam or Bulk Mail folder erroneously. This is why you should check the Spam (in Yahoo Mail) or Bulk (in Yahoo Mail Classic) folder once in a while to see whether any legitimate mail is hiding there.

Automatic Spam Deletion

Messages in the Spam folder are deleted automatically after 30 days. Check the Spam folder at least once a month or every four weeks so that you don't miss messages that you want to see.

Recover Good Mail From the Spam Folder in Yahoo Mail

Marking "good" mail as Not Spam recovers the message to your Yahoo Mail inbox, makes it available for download via Yahoo Mail POP access, and trains the spam filter not to catch similar messages. Here's how:

  1. Open the Spam folder.

    Yahoo Mail inbox with the Spam folder highlighted
  2. Select the messages you want to recover.

    Yahoo Mail spam folder with a message highlighted

    Yahoo Mail search doesn't look for emails in the Spam folder.

  3. Select Not Spam.

    Yahoo spam folder with the Not Spam button highlighted

Recover Good Mail From Spam Folder in Yahoo Mail Basic

To restore a good email from your Spam folder using Yahoo Mail Basic:

  1. Open the Spam folder.

    Yahoo Mail inbox with the Spam folder highlighted
  2. Select the messages you want to recover.

    Yahoo Mail spam folder with a message highlighted
  3. Select Not Spam.

    Yahoo Basic's Spam folder with the Not Spam button highlighted

As an alternative, open a message to mark it not spam:

  1. Go to the Spam folder and open the message you want to recover.

    Yahoo Basic mail message
  2. Select the Actions drop-down arrow.

    Yahoo Mail spam folder with the Actions menu highlighted
  3. Choose Not spam.

    Yahoo Mail action menu with the Not Spam option highlighted
  4. Select Apply.

    Yahoo Mail with the Apply button highlighted in the toolbar

Recover Good Mail from Spam Folder in the Yahoo Mail Mobile App

To mark an email as not spam in the Yahoo Mail app on mobile devices and have it restored to the inbox folder:

  1. In the Yahoo Mail app, go to the Spam folder.

    The Spam folder in the Yahoo Mail mobile app
  2. Open a single email, or select one or more.

  3. ​​Long-press one message to display the selection check boxes.

  4. Tap more items (the icon looks like three stacked dots).

  5. Select Not spam.

    Yahoo Mail mobile app with the Not Spam option highlighted

Empty the Spam Folder Quickly in Yahoo Mail

After you check the Spam folder and recover any good mail that was inadvertently caught, delete the remaining messages in the folder. This way, you won't have to check these messages again.

To quickly delete all emails in the Yahoo Mail Spam folder:

  1. In the Yahoo Mail folder list, hover over the Spam folder.

  2. Select the Empty the Spam folder trash icon (🗑).

    Yahoo Mail inbox with the Empty Spam Folder button highlighted
  3. Select OK to confirm your choice.

    Delete all emails dialogue box in Yahoo Mail with the OK button highlighted
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