SpamSieve is normally highly accurate at filtering out spam messages, and once
properly trained it will usually keep working well. If you notice a sudden drop
in the filtering accuracy, this is usually because of a problem in your mail
program’s setup, not because a new type of spam message is evading SpamSieve.
(Even if the setup initially worked, it can become incorrect over time due to
file corruption or iCloud syncing problems.) This section will help you to fix
such setup problems yourself. You can also ask for help if you need additional
assistance.
- When you receive new messages, the mail program needs to send them to
SpamSieve for analysis. To make sure that it’s set up to do this,
please follow the instructions in the Checking the Apple Mail Setup
or Checking the Outlook Setup section. There are also additional
sections listed below for other mail programs.
- When using the Apple Mail extension, the sections Why are Apple
Mail inbox messages not being processed? and Why are other Apple
Mail mailboxes not being processed? are also relevant. It may be that
filtering is working but delayed. You can use the Add green flag to
unread good messages option to investigate this.
- The mail program will only apply SpamSieve (and your other rules) to
messages that arrive in the Mac’s inbox and are unread.
- Are you reading the messages on a phone or other computer before
your Mac sees them? Mark them as unread again before the Mac
downloads them if you want SpamSieve to filter them. Having server
rules/filters that mark messages as read before they get to your
Mac will also prevent SpamSieve from filtering those messages.
- Do you have rules set up on your mail server that move the messages
out of the inbox? For example, if you have multiple iCloud aliases
and are using server rules to separate the messages by alias, none
of the messages will arrive in the Mac’s inbox. You may want to
enable the Filter spam messages in other mailboxes option.
- Is a server junk filter moving the messages to a Junk
mailbox? Those messages are not SpamSieve mistakes do not need to
be trained as spam.
- SpamSieve keeps a log of all the messages that it examined and why it
thought they were good or spam. The Log section describes how the
log can tell you whether a spam message was missed because of the mail
program’s settings, SpamSieve’s settings, or SpamSieve’s training.
- The mail program may be having trouble communicating with SpamSieve. To
check for communication errors, see the Sending in an Error Report
section.
- For the best filtering accuracy, SpamSieve needs to be properly trained.
- The Checking the Training section has more information about
this.
- Also, make sure that you do not have other rules (besides SpamSieve)
in your mail program that move messages to the spam mailbox or trash.
Such rules can prevent you from properly training SpamSieve.
- You can contact technical support at spamsieve@c-command.com. Before
sending your message, please read the What information should I include
when I report a problem? section. Make sure that you’ve included all of
the general information, as well as the items requested in the If you
have spam messages in your inbox section.