2.6.1   Granting Full Disk Access

As discussed in the Security & Privacy Access section, SpamSieve needs Full Disk Access in order to fully function.

To Grant Full Disk Access on macOS 14 Sonoma and macOS 13 Ventura

1. Go to System Settings ‣ Privacy & Security ‣ Full Disk Access. (You can also click here to go directly to Full Disk Access.)

   

2. Click the + button indicated by the red arrow and choose SpamSieve from your Applications folder. Click Quit & Reopen if applicable. SpamSieve should now appear in the list as checked.

3. Double-click the SpamSieve icon to relaunch it if it is not already open.

To Grant Full Disk Access on macOS 10.14 Through macOS 12

1. Go to the Security & Privacy pane of System Preferences and click on the Privacy tab. Then scroll down and click on Full Disk Access. (You can also click here to go directly to Full Disk Access.)

   

2. If the lock button in the lower left corner of the window is locked, click on it, enter your Mac’s login password, and click Unlock so that you are allowed to make changes.

3. Click the + button and choose SpamSieve from your Applications folder. Click Quit Now if applicable. SpamSieve should now appear in the list as checked.

4. Double-click the SpamSieve icon to relaunch it.

Troubleshooting Full Disk Access

In rare cases, SpamSieve may not appear in the Full Disk Access list after you add it. First, try restarting your Mac. You can also enter this command in Terminal:

tccutil reset SystemPolicyAllFiles

to reset the system’s database of Full Disk Access privileges and then try adding SpamSieve again.

If you still aren’t able to add SpamSieve, see the Troubleshooting Privacy Access section.

2.6.2   Granting Automation Access

As discussed in the Security & Privacy Access section, SpamSieve needs Automation access in order to fully function.

macOS will automatically ask you when SpamSieve needs to be able to control an application. It will show an alert, and you should click the OK button.

If you accidentally click Don’t Allow and deny SpamSieve access to control an application, macOS will remember this and may not ask you again. However, you can fix this by manually granting access.

To Grant Automation Access on macOS 13 Ventura Through macOS 14 Sonoma

1. Go to System Settings ‣ Privacy & Security ‣ Automation. (You can also click here to go directly to Automation.)

   

2. Click the switch(es) under SpamSieve.

To Grant Automation Access on macOS 10.14 Through macOS 12

1. Go to System Settings ‣ Security & Privacy ‣ Privacy ‣ Automation. (You can also click here to go directly to Automation.)

   

2. Checking the box(es) under SpamSieve.

Troubleshooting Automation Access

It may help just to restart your Mac.

You can enter this command in Terminal:

tccutil reset AppleEvents

to reset the system’s database of Automation privileges. Then macOS will ask you again the next time SpamSieve needs access, and you can click OK. If it still doesn’t ask you to grant access, it may help to restart your Mac again or use the maintenance feature of Onyx.

If it still doesn’t work, see the Troubleshooting Privacy Access section.

2.6.3   Troubleshooting Privacy Access

If macOS doesn’t remember the Security & Privacy Access that you granted:

Try Resetting the TCC Service

Try the tccutil reset commands as described in Granting Full Disk Access or Granting Automation Access.

Try Reinstalling the Application

Make sure that the application file is not damaged, e.g. by reinstalling a fresh copy. Also, make sure that you are not modifying the application package, e.g. editing its Info.plist file to try to hide the Dock icon.

Try Resetting the Privacy Database

If it still doesn’t work, you may need to reset the entire privacy database:

1. First, we will temporarily turn off System Integrity Protection so that we have access to delete the database. You may want to print these instructions or write them down so that you have access to them while rebooting your Mac.

2. Restart your Mac in Recovery Mode. The steps for doing this depend on which type of processor your Mac has:

   • On an Intel-based Mac, click on the Apple menu and choose Restart…. Hold down the Command and R keys so that your Mac will reboot in Recovery Mode.
   • On an Apple Silicon–based Mac, click on the Apple menu and choose Shut Down…. Press and hold the power button on your Mac until you see “Loading startup options.” Click Options, then click Continue, then click Continue again.

3. From the Utilities menu, choose Terminal.

4. Type csrutil disable and press Return.

5. Click on the Apple menu and choose Restart. This is necessary for the SIP change to take effect.

6. Drag the file:

   /Users/<username>/Library/Application Support/com.apple.TCC/TCC.db
   

   to the trash. (See How can I open the Library folder? if you have trouble finding it.)

7. You can then repeat Steps 2–5, typing csrutil enable instead, in order to turn SIP back on.

Try Reinstalling macOS

If it still doesn’t work, reinstalling macOS takes a while but always seems to fix the problem.

3.2.1   Enabling and Updating the Apple Mail Plug-In

After you install the plug-in for Apple Mail or SpamSieve auto-updates it to a newer version, Mail might not load the plug-in until you enable it. (Enabling the plug-in is not necessary on macOS 10.13 and earlier.)

To Enable the Plug-In

1. Quit Mail if it’s open.

2. Launch Mail and choose Settings… from the Mail menu.

3. Click on the General tab.

4. Click the Manage Plug-ins… button at the bottom of the window.

5. Make sure that SpamSieve.mailbundle is checked. Click the Allow Access button if Mail asks about that. (If SpamSieve.mailbundle isn’t in the list, please see the If the Apple Mail Plug-In Doesn’t Appear in the List or Doesn’t Stay Enabled section).

   

6. Click Apply and Restart Mail. (If SpamSieve.mailbundle was already checked, Apply and Restart Mail will be disabled and you can just click Cancel.)

If Mail Reports “Incompatible Plug-ins Disabled”

The newest version of SpamSieve is normally compatible with the newest version of macOS. Please make sure that you have updated. The latest information about this will be posted on the support page. Sometimes Mail erroneously reports that the SpamSieve plug-in is incompatible because other incompatible plug-ins were found (in that case, just restart Mail) or because of a problem with Mail’s own files (in that case, see Resetting Mail’s Private Plug-Ins Folder).

Why the Plug-In Needs to Be Enabled

When you first install the plug-in or when a new version of SpamSieve updates it, Mail will not load the plug-in until you have given your permission by enabling it.

If SpamSieve’s Mail plug-in is not loaded, Mail will not filter new messages through SpamSieve, and you will not be able to train SpamSieve. Additionally, if Mail receives new messages while the SpamSieve plug-in is disabled, the SpamSieve rule in Mail will move them to the Junk mailbox without consulting SpamSieve. SpamSieve will try to prevent this by temporarily deactivating the rule if it notices that the plug-in is disabled. You can also do this yourself by unchecking the SpamSieve rule in Mail’s settings before updating SpamSieve. Or you can just drag the messages back to the inbox if you happen to receive any before you’ve had a chance to re-enable the plug-in. (They do not need to be trained as good because SpamSieve did not think they were spam; they were moved by Mail.)

If You No Longer Want to Use Apple Mail With SpamSieve

If you’ve switched to another mail client and don’t want SpamSieve to remind you to enable its Mail plug-in, go to Settings ‣ Apple Mail ‣ Setup and click Uninstall Plug-In… to tell SpamSieve that you are no longer using Mail.

Troubleshooting

Please see:

• If the Apple Mail Plug-In Doesn’t Appear in the List or Doesn’t Stay Enabled
• If SpamSieve Tells You the Apple Mail Plug-In Isn’t Loading, But It Is
• Resetting Mail’s Private Plug-Ins Folder

3.8.1   Outlook IMAP/Exchange Account Rules

When Setting Up Outlook (Large Inboxes), repeat these instructions for each IMAP and Exchange account that you have:

1. Create a new folder called InboxSpamSieve in the account. You can do this by Control-clicking on the name of the account in Outlook’s main window and choosing New Folder.

2. Go to Outlook’s Tools menu and choose Rules to open the Rules list.

   

3. Click on the source list item under Client Rules corresponding to the type of account you that have (e.g. IMAP or Exchange). Ignore the Server Rules section of the window, if any.

4. Uncheck or delete any (non-SpamSieve) rules for filtering out junk/spam e-mails.

5. Click the + button at the bottom of the window to create a new rule.

6. Change the name of the rule to InboxSpamSieve (AccountName) where AccountName is the name of your account (e.g. iCloud in this example).

7. Under When a new message arrives, choose Folder, Is, and INBOX (AccountName):

   

   If INBOX (AccountName) is not in the third pop-up menu, you can select Choose Folder… from the pop-up menu and then search for it by typing Inbox:

   

8. Under Do the following, choose Move Message and InboxSpamSieve (AccountName). If InboxSpamSieve (AccountName) is not in the second pop-up menu, you can choose Choose Folder… from the pop-up menu and then search for it by typing InboxSpamSieve:

   

9. The rule should now look like:

   

   Click OK to save the rule.

10. In Outlook’s Preferences ‣ Accounts window, select the account in the list and click Advanced…. In the Server tab, make sure that Sync all IMAP folders every _ minutes is checked. We recommend setting it to a small number, such as 2. (You can skip this step if you’re using an Exchange account rather than an IMAP one.)

11. You can now repeat this section for any additional IMAP or Exchange accounts, or return to Setting Up Outlook at Step 5.

3.8.2   Outlook Gmail Account Rules

When Setting Up Outlook (Large Inboxes), repeat these instructions for each Gmail account that you have.

Gmail Account Types in Outlook

A Gmail account in Outlook can be set up in two different ways:

1. It can be treated as a generic IMAP account. Such accounts look like this in Outlook’s Accounts preferences:

   

   Prior to Outlook version 16.17, this was the only option, so it’s likely what you have if you originally set up your account using an older version of Outlook.

2. It can be set up as a special Google account. Such accounts look like this in Outlook’s Accounts preferences:

   

   This option is only possible with newer versions of Outlook. Using the Google account type enables some Gmail-specific calendar and contacts features in Outlook. However, we generally recommend using an IMAP account instead, due to various limitations and bugs with Google accounts in the current version of Outlook. For example, messages may be moved to the wrong account’s inbox.

Setting Up SpamSieve With a Gmail IMAP Account

SpamSieve works best when a Gmail account is set up as a generic IMAP account. To set up an account to use IMAP:

1. From the Outlook menu, choose Preferences and then click on Accounts.
2. If your account does not already appear in the list, skip to Step 3. If your Gmail account was already set up as a Google account, you can remove it by selecting it and clicking the - button.
3. Click the + button and choose New Account….
4. Enter your Gmail e-mail address and click Continue.
5. Click the Not Google? button at the top of the window.
6. Click IMAP/POP, the fill in the rest of the information, and click Add Account.
7. Now follow the the regular Outlook IMAP/Exchange Account Rules instructions to set up Outlook to filter the account with SpamSieve.

Setting Up SpamSieve With a Gmail Google Account

We recommend using the IMAP setup (above) where possible because, if you have multiple accounts, Outlook may move Google messages to the Inbox or Junk Email mailbox of the wrong account.

However, if you need to set up your Gmail account as a Google account in Outlook, it is still possible to use SpamSieve:

1. Log into the Gmail Web site.

2. Create a new label (folder) called InboxSpamSieve. The + Create new label command is located at the left of the window. You may need to click More in order to see it.

3. Click the gear at the top right, choose Settings, then click on Filters and Blocked Addresses.

4. Click Create a new filter. Enter {(to:me) (deliveredto:USERNAME@gmail.com)} in the Has the words field (replacing USERNAME with your actual Gmail username).

   

   Then click Create filter.

5. Check the Skip the Inbox (Archive it) and Apply the label boxes and select InboxSpamSieve as the label.

   

   Note: This will cause spam messages to be temporarily moved to Gmail’s archive, however they should be automatically removed from the archive when you delete them from Outlook. For more information, see Keeping Spam Messages Out of Gmail’s Archive, which shows how to have Gmail not archive messages that are deleted via IMAP.

6. Click Create filter.

   You can now repeat this section for any additional Gmail accounts, or return to Setting Up Outlook (Large Inboxes) at Step 3.

3.8.3   Outlook POP Account Rules

When Setting Up Outlook (Large Inboxes), repeat these instructions for each POP account that you have.

1. Create a new folder called InboxSpamSieve. You can do this by Control-clicking on On My Computer in Outlook’s main window and choosing New Folder. (You only need one folder for all your POP accounts.)

2. Go to Outlook’s Tools menu and choose Rules to open the Rules list.

   

3. Click on POP under Client Rules.

4. Uncheck or delete any (non-SpamSieve) rules for filtering out junk/spam e-mails.

5. Click the + button at the bottom of the window to create a new rule.

6. Change the name of the rule to InboxSpamSieve (AccountName) where AccountName is the name of your account (e.g. POPAccount in this example).

7. Under When a new message arrives, choose Account, Is, and AccountName (iCloud in this example):

   

8. Under Do the following, choose Move Message and InboxSpamSieve (On My Computer). If InboxSpamSieve (On My Computer) is not in the second pop-up menu, you can choose Choose Folder… from the pop-up menu and then search for it.

9. Click OK to save the rule. You can now repeat this section for any additional POP accounts, or return to Setting Up Outlook at Step 5.

3.15.1   Converting Your Apple Mail Setup to IMAP

IMAP and Exchange

To use SpamSieve with your iPhone, you’ll need to set both the Mac and the iPhone to connect to your mail server using either the IMAP or Exchange mail protocol:

• Many popular mail hosts—such as Apple’s iCloud, Gmail, and Yahoo automatically use IMAP.
• Most other modern mail hosts also offer IMAP support.
• Some hosts, such as Comcast, can enable IMAP support if you request it.
• Some mail hosts only offer support for the older POP protocol. This makes it impossible for your Mac to clean the spam off your iPhone. We recommend switching to another provider.

Synchronization

When using IMAP or Exchange, all computers and mobile devices that connect to the same mail account will share the same mailboxes. The contents of the mailboxes will be synchronized automatically. The syncing happens when you open the Mail application.

Switching to IMAP

If your mail host supports IMAP but you are not using it, you can change the settings on your Mac to connect via IMAP instead of POP. Macworld has an article about this, or you can follow the instructions below.

1. Choose Settings… from the Mail menu and click on Accounts. Your account(s) will be listed at the left of the window. If it already says IMAP or iCloud under your account, there’s nothing more that you need to do.
2. If it says POP, you will need to disable the POP account and create a new IMAP one. Click on the POP account and make note of the contents of the Server Settings (if present) and Account Information tabs. Then click the Remove now button to remove from the server any messages that you’ve already downloaded.
3. Click the + button at the bottom of the window and follow the steps to create a new account. Choose IMAP for the account type. For the server and login, enter the information that you noted for the POP account. (Note: Some providers use a different incoming mail server name for IMAP.) Put “IMAP” at the end of the account’s description so that you can tell this account apart from the old one.
4. You should now be able to check for mail, and Mail will be using IMAP instead of POP. There will be two sets of mailboxes (Inbox, Sent, etc.) in the main window. If desired, you can go to each of these mailboxes and Option-drag the messages from the old mailboxes to the IMAP ones. Holding down the Option key when dragging the messages will cause Mail to copy the messages to the IMAP server. Your original messages will remain in the POP mailboxes on your Mac in case something goes wrong.
5. Go back to Mail’s Settings window, click on the POP account, and uncheck Enable this account (in the Account Information tab). You will be using the new IMAP account instead, although the old POP settings, and any messages that you didn’t transfer to the IMAP mailboxes, will still be available should you want to go back to the old setup.
6. On your iOS device, tap on Settings ‣ Mail. For each of your accounts, tap on the account name. At the top of the account settings it should say IMAP or Exchange. If it says POP, you will need to deactivate that account on the iPhone (by sliding the switch next to the Mail setting) and then choose Add Account to re-add your account as IMAP or Exchange.

3.15.2   Recommended Mail Hosts

For best results with SpamSieve—and for e-mail in general—we recommend a mail host that:

Supports IMAP or Exchange (Not Just POP)

This will keep your mailboxes and messages synchronized across multiple devices and let you use SpamSieve on your Mac for iPhone Spam Filtering. IMAP is preferred, as it is supported by more mail clients.

Lets You Control Its Junk Filter

You don’t want the server’s filter to accidentally delete good messages before you even see them. For more information, see the How should I configure the junk filter on my mail server? section.

Is Not Your Internet Service Provider (ISP)

This way you won’t be forced to change your address if you change ISPs, e.g. due to switching cable to fiber or moving to a different city.

Can Use Your Domain Name

If your e-mail address is at a domain name that you control (rather than at the provider’s domain), you won’t be locked into your current host should you ever become dissatisfied with it. You’ll be able to easily switch to a different host without having to change your e-mail address.

E-mail is important. If your mail provider does not offer the features that you want, we recommend switching to one that does. Fastmail, DreamHost, Pair, and Hover are some inexpensive hosts that we’ve used and recommend. Other ones that’ve heard good things about are 1&1, Cotse.Net, and LuxSci.

4.3.1   Setting Up an Apple Mail Drone

This section is a continuation of the Setting Up a Spam Filtering Drone instructions for people using Apple Mail.

1. If you are using the Mail extension or the Mail plug-in with the standard rule, you can skip to Step 2. Otherwise, if you are longtime SpamSieve user, we recommend following the Setting the Junk Mailbox in Apple Mail instructions.

2. Download the Apple Mail - Remote Training script file and put it in the folder:

   /Users/<username>/Library/Application Scripts/com.apple.mail
   

   If you need help finding the right Library folder, see this page.

3. Go to Mail’s Settings window and create a new rule at the top of the list (above the SpamSieve rule, if present) called Remote Training. (The rule’s name must not start with SpamSieve.) The conditions should say:

   Every Message

   The actions should say:

   Run AppleScript […]Apple Mail - Remote Training.scpt

   After choosing Run AppleScript from the pop-up menu, select the file that you created in Step 2 (using either the pop-up menu or the Choose… button).

   Mail may ask if you want to apply the rule; click Don’t Apply.

4. If you are using iCloud to sync your Mail rules between multiple Macs, make sure that both the SpamSieve and Remote Training rules are unchecked on all the Macs except for the drone.

5. If desired, you can set up keyboard shortcuts on any non-drone Macs for moving messages into the Train mailboxes. In Mail’s View menu, choose Show Favorites Bar. Then drag the TrainGood and TrainSpam mailboxes to the favorites bar. There will then be keyboard shortcuts for these messages in the Mailbox ‣ Move to Favorite Mailbox submenu.

Note: You can test that the script works by running it in Script Editor; it should move any messages in the TrainGood mailbox to the inbox and any messages in the TrainSpam mailbox to the Junk mailbox. Errors will be reported in the All Messages section of the Console application.

4.3.2   Setting Up a MailMate Drone

This section is a continuation of the Setting Up a Spam Filtering Drone instructions for people using MailMate 1.14 or later.

1. In MailMate’s Settings window, click on the Security tab and make sure that the Enable box is checked next to SpamSieve.

2. For each TrainGood mailbox, select the mailbox:

   1. Go to the Mailbox menu, and choose Edit Mailbox….
   2. Click on the Rules tab of the TrainGood window.
   3. Click the + button at the bottom of the window.
   4. In the Description, enter Remote Good Training.
   5. At the bottom of the window, create three actions:
      • Set Tag/Keyword: Not junk
      • Move to Mailbox: Inbox
      • Remove Tag/Keyword: Seen (Read)

   

3. For each TrainSpam mailbox, select the mailbox:

   1. Go to the Mailbox menu, and choose Edit Mailbox….
   2. Click on the Rules tab of the TrainSpam window.
   3. Click the + button at the bottom of the window.
   4. In the Description, enter Remote Spam Training.
   5. At the bottom of the window, create two actions:
      • Set Tag/Keyword: Junk
      • Move to Mailbox: Junk

   

4. MailMate will check the Train mailboxes according to the Synchronization Schedule in the Mailbox menu. Only new messages (moved into these mailboxes after you set up the rules) will be processed.

Experimental Versions of MailMate

The rules interface with upcoming experimental versions of MailMate looks a bit different:

Older Versions of MailMate

The remote training setup can also work with older versions of MailMate back to version 1.7.1. First, go to MailMate’s Settings window, click on the General tab and make sure that the Enable box is checked next to Experimental 2.0 Features.

4.3.3   Setting Up an Outlook Drone

This section is a continuation of the Setting Up a Spam Filtering Drone instructions for people using Microsoft Outlook 2011. Outlook 365 currently does not work with the drone setup because it does not support schedules.

1. Make sure that each of your accounts has its own Junk E-mail mailbox. This can be configured by going to the Accounts section of Outlook’s preferences and clicking on Advanced… and then Folders.

2. If you have a single mail account, follow the normal SpamSieve setup procedure in the Setting Up Outlook 2011 section. When choosing the folder in the SpamSieve - Move Messages rule, be sure to choose the Junk E-mail folder on the server (not On My Computer). You’re now done with this step.

   If you have multiple accounts, create two SpamSieve - Move Messages rules per account. The name of the first rule should be SpamSieve - Move Junk Messages - Account 1 (where Account 1 is the name of your account. It should say:

   If all conditions are met:

   • Folder Is INBOX (Account 1)

   • Category Is Junk

   Do the following:

   Move Message Junk E-mail (Account 1)

   The name of the second rule should be SpamSieve - Move Uncertain Junk Messages - Account 1. It should say:

   If all conditions are met:

   • Folder Is INBOX (Account 1)

   • Category Is Uncertain Junk

   Do the following:

   Move Message Junk E-mail (Account 1)

3. Download the Outlook - Remote Training script file. Open it in Script Editor and add your account name(s) at the top.

4. In Outlook, choose Tools ‣ Run Schedule ‣ Edit Schedules…. Click the + button and create a schedule called Remote Training. The When should be Repeating Schedule with a duration of your choice. The Action should be Rule AppleScript. Click the Script… button and choose the Outlook - Remote Training.scpt file from Step 4.

4.5.1   Spam Message Colors in Apple Mail

Separating Spam Caught by SpamSieve and Server Filters

With the normal setup, spam messages caught by server junk filters and by SpamSieve both go to the Junk mailbox. It can be important to know which filter moved which messages there. For example, if a good message was incorrectly moved to Junk by SpamSieve, you should train it as good. Whereas, if it was moved by a server junk filter, training SpamSieve wouldn’t help and you might want to turn off the server filter or set SpamSieve to rescue the good messages.

The easiest way to see which messages SpamSieve moved to Junk is that they will have a colored background in Mail’s message list. When using the Mail extension the text will be brown:

There may also be a puzzle piece icon for messages processed by SpamSieve’s Mail extension, though other Mail extensions can also add such an icon.

When using the Mail plug-in the text will be black on a colored background:

Messages caught by server junk filters and Apple Mail’s junk filter will have brown text on a white background:

Note that the SpamSieve background colors only show up on the Mac where SpamSieve is running. Mail does not sync them to the server or to other Macs or iOS devices. If you need to see, on another device, which messages were caught by SpamSieve, you can use separate mailboxes as described in Setting the Junk Mailbox in Apple Mail. You can also look in SpamSieve’s log to see which messages SpamSieve has predicted to be spam.

Using Background Colors to Show Spam Levels

Please see the Color the background according to how spammy it is section.

Messages Marked as Junk

It is normal for Mail to show a brown bar above some messages that SpamSieve or a server filter classified as spam. SpamSieve marks the messages as junk to protect you from Web bugs. Do not click the Not Junk button. If the message is not spam, you should instead choose Train as Good from the menu.

4.5.2   Color Rules in Apple Mail

When using the Mail plug-in setup, you can optionally use multiple rules in Mail to file messages into different mailboxes (or otherwise process them differently) based on how spammy they are. The normal SpamSieve rule looks like this:

To separate spam messages by color (spamminess), you should instead create two or more rules. The first rule should be named SpamSieve [Score]. As above, you probably want the conditions to be Every Message. When this rule is applied, SpamSieve will calculate the spam score of the message and set its color accordingly. The actions of the [Score] rule will be ignored.

Below the [Score] rule, you can create one or more rules that process messages based on their color:

• Each of these rules should have a name that starts with SpamSieve, followed by one or more color names in square brackets. For example, to make a rule that matches the most spammy Blue and Gray messages, you would name it SpamSieve [Blue][Gray] (or SpamSieve [Gray][Blue]). You can include additional descriptive text after the brackets to remind you of what the rule does.
• The rule conditions should be Every Message.
• As a shorthand for listing all of the colors, you can simply write [Spam].
• To match non-spam messages you can write [White]. Additionally, if you have rules to process every color and those rules’ actions either move the messages or stop rule processing, any subsequent rules will automatically apply only to the non-spam messages.

Example 1: Blocklisted Messages in Trash

To move blocklisted messages to the trash and other spam messages to the Spam mailbox, you would need three rules:

1. SpamSieve [Score] (calculates the spam score/color) / Every Message / Move Message to mailbox All Junk

   

2. SpamSieve [Blue] (move very spammy messages to the trash) / Every Message / Move Message to mailbox All Trash

   

3. SpamSieve [Spam] (move the remaining spam messages) / Every Message / Move Message to mailbox All Junk

   

Example 2: Per-Color Spam Mailboxes

To put each color of spam in a separate mailbox, you would need seven rules:

1. SpamSieve [Score] (calculates the spam score/color) / Every Message / Move Message to mailbox Spam
2. SpamSieve [Blue] (messages with scores from 99 to 100) / Every Message / Move Message to mailbox Spam99
3. SpamSieve [Gray] (messages with scores from 95 to 98) / Every Message / Move Message to mailbox Spam95
4. SpamSieve [Purple] (messages with scores from 88 to 94) / Every Message / Move Message to mailbox Spam88
5. SpamSieve [Red] (messages with scores from 81 to 87) / Every Message / Move Message to mailbox Spam81
6. SpamSieve [Orange] (messages with scores from 75 to 80) / Every Message / Move Message to mailbox Spam75
7. SpamSieve [Yellow] (messages with scores from 50 to 74) / Every Message / Move Message to mailbox Spam50

The unnumbered Spam mailbox will hold the messages that you manually train as spam. If desired, you can drag the other mailboxes inside the Spam mailbox.

Example 3: Sorting Messages By Spamminess

You can sort the messages by spamminess. Apple Mail in macOS 10.7 and later cannot sort messages by color, but it can sort them by flags. Thus, you can set up rules like this:

1. SpamSieve [Score] (calculates the spam score/color) / Every Message / Move Message to mailbox Spam
2. SpamSieve [Blue] (messages with scores from 99 to 100) / Every Message / Mark as Flagged Gray / Move Message to mailbox Spam
3. SpamSieve [Gray] (messages with scores from 95 to 98) / Every Message / Mark as Flagged Purple / Move Message to mailbox Spam
4. SpamSieve [Purple] (messages with scores from 88 to 94) / Every Message / Mark as Flagged Blue / Move Message to mailbox Spam
5. SpamSieve [Red] (messages with scores from 81 to 87) / Every Message / Mark as Flagged Green / Move Message to mailbox Spam
6. SpamSieve [Orange] (messages with scores from 75 to 80) / Every Message / Mark as Flagged Yellow / Move Message to mailbox Spam
7. SpamSieve [Yellow] (messages with scores from 50 to 74) / Every Message / Mark as Flagged Orange / Move Message to mailbox Spam

and then choose View ‣ Sort By ‣ Flags. (The flag colors are chosen so that the messages will sort in order of spamminess; this is why they do not match the message colors.) When using this rule, you should set the AppleMailTrainGoodClearFlags option in the Esoteric Preferences to have SpamSieve clear the flags when training a message as good.

4.5.3   Processing Messages Before SpamSieve

Sometimes you may wish to prevent certain messages from being examined by SpamSieve. You can do this by making an Apple Mail rule that moves the messages to a different mailbox or deletes them. When using the Mail plug-in setup, this rule should be above the SpamSieve rule. When using the Mail extension setup, there is no SpamSieve rule so this rule can be anywhere.

1. You may receive messages that are unwanted but not spam, for example if someone you know sends you a certain type of annoying message. You don’t want to see these, but it’s not appropriate to train SpamSieve that they’re spam because they’re from a legitimate sender.

   Solution: Make a Mail rule that moves these messages to the trash.

2. The messages may be ambiguously spam. For example, you may run a Web site that sends you an e-mail every time someone fills out a form. The messages themselves are not spam; they are being sent by your own server. But some of the content in the e-mails may be spammy, depending on what the users (or robots) filled into the form. You want to receive all these messages to review them, but you don’t want to train SpamSieve that all the user-generated text is good.

   Solution: Make a Mail rule that moves these messages to a separate mailbox.

3. You may have a way of identifying certain messages as definitely spam, and you want Mail to delete them so that you don’t have to see them in your Junk mailbox.

   Solution: Make a Mail rule that deletes the messages.

   (If you merely want to move the more spammy messages to the trash, see the Spam Message Colors in Apple Mail section.)

Here’s an example of how to create a rule for #3:

1. Choose Settings… from the Mail menu and click the Rules button in the toolbar.

2. Click the Add Rule button.

3. Change the description to Delete Spam.

4. Say that you want to block messages from certain e-mail addresses. The rule conditions already say From contains. Enter the first address to block in the text field to the right of contains.

5. For each additional address, click the + button and enter the address in the new From contains condition.

6. At the bottom of the sheet, change Move Message to say Delete Message. The rule should now look like:

   

7. Now click OK to close the rule and save your changes. Mail may ask if you want to apply the rule; click Don’t Apply.

8. Drag the Delete Spam rule to the top of the list, above the SpamSieve rule (if applicable).

4.5.4   Setting the Junk Mailbox in Apple Mail

SpamSieve’s Mail extension always moves incoming spam messages to the Junk mailbox, and if you’re using the Mail plug-in instead, we strongly recommend configuring things that way, too. If desired, you can set a separate location where SpamSieve should move a message when you manually train it as spam. The Junk mailbox is displayed with a special icon in Mail:

Each account in Mail has its own Junk mailbox, and SpamSieve will move spam messages to the Junk mailbox of the account that received them.

Choose a Server Mailbox in “Mailbox Behaviors”

The Junk mailbox is not fixed; rather, Mail has a setting where you can designate which mailbox should be treated as the special Junk mailbox. We recommend that for each account you choose a mailbox that’s stored on the mail server and that you choose the same one that’s used by the server’s junk filter (if any). Mail normally does this automatically, but you can check its settings to be sure that it is set up to do this.

To choose the Junk mailbox, go to Settings ‣ Accounts ‣ Mailbox Behaviors in Mail. (With older versions, this is called Special Mailboxes.)

• For each IMAP or Gmail account, next to Junk Mailbox, choose the junk or spam mailbox that’s inside your account (not the one under On My Mac). If there are multiple such mailboxes, choose the one that your server junk filter is moving spam messages to. For a Gmail account, this is [Gmail]/Spam. If you don’t see that, you may need to go to the Gmail settings and set the Spam mailbox to be shown in IMAP.

  

• For each Exchange account, make sure that Store junk messages on the server is checked.

  

• For each POP account, make sure that Mail’s sidebar shows a Junk mailbox (with the special icon) under the account. If there is no such mailbox, you can create one by selecting a spam message in the account’s inbox and choosing Message ‣ Move to Junk. (This is the only time when you should use that menu command when using SpamSieve. It is the only way to assign the Junk mailbox for a POP account, without which SpamSieve will not be able to move messages for that account to Junk.)

  

For example, the Gmail server junk filter will move the messages it catches to a mailbox called Spam (as shown when you log into Webmail or using IMAP). You should tell Mail to use this mailbox. Then, the Spam mailbox will disappear from the mailbox list in Mail, the spam messages will be displayed in the special Junk mailbox, and both Gmail and SpamSieve will move spam messages there.

The same list of spam messages will also be available on other devices and via Webmail, though the displayed name of the Junk mailbox may be different in different places.

All Junk

Although spam messages are stored in per-account Junk mailboxes, you may wish to view all the spam messages together in one place. This special “merged” Junk mailbox was automatic in previous versions of Mail and can be configured as option with macOS 11 and later. Click the + button when you hover over Favorites at the top of Mail’s mailbox list:

You can then add the special All Junk mailbox to the list:

If necessary, you can still click the > next to All Junk to see the separate Junk mailbox for each account.

Separate Mailboxes for Each Spam Filter

Most users like All Junk because it offers a single, consolidated view of all the spam messages caught by SpamSieve and the server filters for all of your accounts. However, it is possible to use separate mailboxes for SpamSieve and the server filter. In most cases, you cannot change which mailbox the server filter uses. However, you can create a new SpamSieveSpam mailbox in Mail (with the Location set to within your IMAP account). Then select this mailbox as the Junk Mailbox in the Mailbox Behaviors settings. SpamSieveSpam will now appear as Junk in Mail and be used by SpamSieve. The server filter’s mailbox will reappear in Mail under a different name such as Spam, Junk (without the special icon), or Bulk Mail.

What If I Was Using the Spam Mailbox Before?

With earlier versions of SpamSieve, we recommended configuring Apple Mail to move the spam messages caught by SpamSieve to a Spam mailbox under On My Mac. With changes to how mail servers and Apple Mail work, we now strongly recommend using the Junk mailbox, as described above. This is automatic with the Mail extension setup. If you’re using the Mail plug-in, you can find the SpamSieve rule in Mail’s settings and update the pop-up menu at the bottom so that it moves the messages to All Junk. You can also go to the Settings ‣ Apple Mail ‣ Training window and set it to move trained spam messages to the Junk mailbox.

4.5.5   Only Filtering Certain Accounts

When Using the SpamSieve Mail Extension

SpamSieve normally filters all of the accounts set up in Apple Mail. To only filter certain accounts:

1. Leave Enable spam filtering using Mail extension checked in SpamSieve’s Settings ‣ Apple Mail ‣ Setup.
2. Uncheck Check inboxes for new messages not sent to Mail extension in Settings ‣ Apple Mail ‣ Setup.
3. Uncheck SpamSieve in Mail’s Extensions settings.
4. In Filter spam messages in other mailboxes, select the inboxes (and other mailboxes) of only those accounts that you want SpamSieve to filter.

When Using the SpamSieve Mail Plug-In

SpamSieve normally filters all of the accounts set up in Apple Mail. If you want to exclude certain accounts from filtering, you can edit the SpamSieve rule to list only the accounts that you do want filtered:

4.5.6   Rescuing Good Messages Caught By a Server Filter

You can use the Apple Mail - Rescue Good Messages script to work around a problematic server junk filter. Whenever the script runs, it will tell SpamSieve to examine the messages in the Junk mailbox, leaving the spam messages in place but moving any messages caught by the server filter that SpamSieve thinks are good to the inbox. In order for this to work, you should follow the instructions in the Setting the Junk Mailbox in Apple Mail section of the manual to make sure that SpamSieve and the server filters are both using the special Junk mailbox.

You can change the pMoveBlueMessagesToTrash setting at the top of the script from false to true if you want it to move blocklisted spam messages from Junk to Trash, i.e. to match the Move it to the Trash if the spam score is at least setting.

4.5.7   Filtering Spam During Power Nap

Keeping Your Mac Awake

In order for SpamSieve to filter your mail immediately, your Mac needs to be awake with the mail program running. Otherwise, there will be delays for iPhone spam filtering and for remote training using the drone setup. To prevent your Mac from going to sleep:

• On macOS 14 and macOS 15 on a laptop Mac, go to Battery ‣ Options… in System Settings and enable the Prevent automatic sleeping on power adapter when the display is off option.
• On macOS 14 and macOS 15 on a desktop Mac, go to Energy Saver in System Settings and enable the Prevent automatic sleeping when the display is off option.
• On macOS 13, go to Displays ‣ Advanced… in System Settings and enable the Prevent automatic sleeping on power adapter when the display is off option.
• On macOS 12 and earlier on a desktop Mac, go to Energy Saver in System Preferences and check the Prevent your Mac from sleeping automatically when the display is off option.
• On macOS 12 and earlier on a laptop Mac, go to Battery in System Preferences, click on Power Adapter, and check the Prevent your Mac from sleeping automatically when the display is off option.

Note that even though the Mac itself is awake, you can still save energy by setting the display and hard disks to sleep. That will realize most of the energy savings while still ensuring that it completes background tasks. Modern Macs use little power when on in that state if they are not being actively used.

Enabling Power Nap

It’s also possible for SpamSieve to filter mail, once per hour, while your Mac is asleep, using macOS’s Power Nap feature. To enable Power Nap:

• On Macs with Apple Silicon (M1 or M2), Power Nap is always enabled.
• On macOS 13 through macOS 15, you can control Power Nap from the Battery or Energy Saver pane of System Settings. Laptop Macs have separate settings for enabling Power Nap when on battery or AC power.
• On macOS 12 and earlier, you can control Power Nap from the Battery or Energy Saver pane of System Preferences.

In order for Power Nap to work, the Mac needs to be connected to the Internet, and Apple Mail needs to be running before you put the Mac to sleep. (Power Nap does not support other mail clients, nor the Check inboxes for new messages not sent to Mail extension and Filter spam messages in other mailboxes features.) macOS will suspend Power Nap operations in situations where your Mac is likely to overheat. When everything is set up as described above, Mail can check for new messages and filter them through SpamSieve once per hour if you’re purely using the Mail extension or Mail plug-in. However, depending on your Mac and on various factors which are out of user/app control, sometimes macOS chooses not to check for new mail during Power Nap. Thus, filtering is more reliable if you leave the Mac on but locked rather than relying on Power Nap.

4.5.8   Keeping Spam Messages Out of Gmail’s Archive

The standard Apple Mail setup has you configure Mail to move all spams that SpamSieve catches to the special Junk mailbox. This should prevent Gmail from archiving the spam messages in All Mail. Make sure that you’ve set the Junk mailbox in Mail’s settings to the same Spam mailbox that Gmail’s own junk filter uses (as described in Setting the Junk Mailbox in Apple Mail). Otherwise, you may see incoming spam messages in both the Archive and Junk mailboxes, and training messages as spam may not move them out of Archive. In some cases you may also want to hide the All Mail mailbox in IMAP, as described in Hiding Special Gmail Mailboxes From IMAP.

Local Spam Mailbox

If you’ve instead chosen to use a local Spam mailbox under On My Mac, you should tell Gmail not to archive messages that are deleted via IMAP (which includes messages moved to local mailboxes on your Mac):

1. Click the gear at the top right, choose Settings, then click on Forwarding and POP/IMAP.

   

2. Select Auto-Expunge off and Immediately delete the message forever.

   

4.6.1   Duplicate Outlook Calendar Invitations

If you receive calendar invitations by e-mail and have Outlook set to automatically add them to your calendar, Outlook may see a good message that SpamSieve moves back from the InboxSpamSieve folder to Inbox as a new invitation. To prevent a duplicate calendar event from being created, you can set up your Outlook rules to not move the invitation e-mails to InboxSpamSieve. For example, you could add a rule above the SpamSieve rules that moves the invitation messages to another folder.

4.6.2   Filtering Other Outlook Folders

You can use Outlook rules to automatically organize messages into folders. If you want SpamSieve to filter these additional folders (rather than just the inbox), create an additional SpamSieve inbox folder for each folder that you want to be filtered. For example, if you messages from x@y.z to end up in folder XYZ, create two folders: XYZ and InboxSpamSieveXYZ. Create an Outlook rule called InboxSpamSieve (XYZ) that moves the desired messages into folder InboxSpamSieveXYZ. When SpamSieve checks for new messages, it will move the good messages in InboxSpamSieveXYZ to XYZ and the spam messages to Junk.

4.6.3   Spam Message Categories (Outlook)

SpamSieve colors spam messages in Outlook using one of two categories:

Junk

This is for messages that you mark as spam (using the SpamSieve - Train as Spam command) and for most incoming messages that SpamSieve thinks are spam.

Uncertain Junk

This is for incoming messages that SpamSieve thinks are spam, but whose scores are below the uncertainty threshold. For more information about scores and uncertainty, see the Uncertain Spam Messages preference.

To change the colors associated with these categories, choose Message ‣ Categorize ‣ Edit Categories….

To turn off the uncertain spam feature, so that all spam messages are marked using the Junk category, use the SpamSieve - Change Settings command.

Outlook 2011

Normally, both Junk and Uncertain Junk messages are put into the same Junk E-mail folder. It is also possible to separate the messages by category. To do this:

1. Create a new folder in Outlook called Uncertain Junk.
2. Create a third rule called SpamSieve - Move Uncertain Messages. It should say “If Category Is Uncertain Junk, Then Move message Uncertain Junk.”
3. Drag the new rule between the SpamSieve - Set Category and SpamSieve - Move Messages rules.

4.6.4   Separate Spam Folders for Each Account (Outlook 2011)

Normally, SpamSieve puts the spam messages from all your Outlook 2011 accounts into a single folder called Junk E-mail.

If you want to have a separate spam folder for each account, first create the requisite empty folders.

Then, instead of the single SpamSieve - Move Messages rule described in the Setting Up Outlook 2011 section, create two rules per account. For example:

1. SpamSieve - Move messages - Account 1 - Junk

   When a new message arrives: If all conditions are met:

   • Category Is Junk
   • Folder Is INBOX (Account 1)

   Do the following:

   • Move Message Junk E-mail (Account 1)

2. SpamSieve - Move messages - Account 1 - Uncertain Junk

   When a new message arrives: If all conditions are met:

   • Category Is Uncertain Junk
   • Folder Is INBOX (Account 1)

   Do the following:

   • Move Message Junk E-mail (Account 1)

And similarly create two rules for Account 2, etc.

5.1.1   About SpamSieve

The About SpamSieve window shows the credits, download and support information, and the current version numbers of SpamSieve’s plug-ins.

You can always download the latest version of SpamSieve from the SpamSieve Web site.

Questions about SpamSieve may be sent to spamsieve@c-command.com. We’re always looking to improve SpamSieve, so please feel free to send any feature requests to that address.

To make sure that you have the latest version of SpamSieve, you can use the Software Update… command.

5.1.2   Software Update…

Checking for Updates

Click the Check Now button, and SpamSieve will tell you whether a newer version is available for download. By default, SpamSieve will automatically check for new versions each time it is launched and once per day. You can disable this feature by unchecking the Check for updates automatically checkbox.

Updating

If a new version is available, SpamSieve will tell you what’s new in that version. Click Download to have SpamSieve download the .dmg file for the new version to your downloads folder. Click Download & Install to have it download the .dmg and then update the installed SpamSieve application to the new version. For more information, please see Updating From a Previous Version.

Installing a Fresh Copy

You can hold down the Option key when you click Check Now to make SpamSieve always download the latest version, even if your version is already up-to-date. This is an easy way to download and re-install a fresh copy of SpamSieve if your copy is damaged.

Privacy

To check for a new version, SpamSieve contacts a Web server at c-command.com over a secure connection. SpamSieve transmits the following information to the server: the name of the product (SpamSieve) and its version, the version of macOS, the kind of Mac and processor, whether SpamSieve has been purchased, whether it is running in dark mode, the name and version of the current mail program, which method of filtering is selected, and the name of the current language. This information is used to guide future development. No personal information is transmitted.

Mac App Store

If you purchased DropDMG or EagleFiler via the Mac App Store, the Software Update… menu command is not present, and updates are available via the App Store application.

5.1.3   Purchase…

When you launch SpamSieve for the first time, the Purchase window will automatically open. You can also open it by choosing Purchase… from the SpamSieve menu.

Trial/Demo Period

SpamSieve has a free trial. During the trial period, SpamSieve is fully functional; the only difference in behavior is that it will periodically remind you that you are using the trial. To use SpamSieve in trial mode, you can simply close the Purchase window.

The trial period lasts for 30 days. (After the 30 days, if you haven’t had a chance to use SpamSieve very much, you can continue using it for up to a total of 7 launches.) To use SpamSieve beyond the trial period, you must purchase it. This entitles you to free updates and support.

Purchasing

Click the Purchase Online button to enter the online store.

After Purchasing

Soon after paying, you’ll receive an e-mail with your serial number. Enter the name and serial number from the e-mail into the Purchase window and click Personalize. You do not have to “install the purchased version”; rather, SpamSieve will then know that you have purchased and you can keep using it as before—with all the preferences that you had set and data that you had entered.

Reinstalling a Previous Purchase

If you need to re-install SpamSieve, you can simply re-enter your Serial Name and Serial Number and click Personalize; there’s no need to purchase again.

If you cannot find your serial number, click the Look Up My Serial Number button. This will open a form where you can enter your e-mail address and look up your order information.

License Information

A license for SpamSieve is good for one person or one computer. This means that you can use it on your desktop Mac and your laptop, or you and your family can use it (in separate user accounts) on a shared Mac. If there are multiple users on multiple Macs, you should purchase multiple licenses. Discounts for packs of 2, 10, and 50 licenses are available above. A family (all living in the same household) can share a 2-user license. If you already have a single license, you can upgrade to a family license. To do this, e-mail your old order number to sales@c-command.com, and we’ll send you a coupon code.

Upgrade Policy

All maintenance releases (1.0.1, 1.0.2, 1.6.1, etc.) and minor feature updates (1.1, 1.2, 1.5, etc.) are free. We have a track record of many such updates, and they have included significant new features. Major upgrades (2.0, 3.0) are free if you purchased the previous version within the last six months. If you purchased longer ago than that, you get a discount. (Note: The upgrade discounts are only available if you originally purchased direct from C-Command, since the Mac App Store does not support upgrades.)

Mac App Store

The Purchase… menu command is not present if you purchased via the Mac App Store. In that case, there is no trial period, and licensing is based on your iTunes account rather than the number of people or computers.

5.1.4   Mac App Store

Due to Apple’s store guidelines, SpamSieve is currently not available from the Mac App Store. It can be purchased direct from C-Command.

5.2.1   New Rule

This command creates a new rule in either the allowlist or blocklist. This is useful if you want to add your own rules to the allowlist or blocklist, rather than having SpamSieve learn the rules when you train it with messages. For example, you could create a blocklist rule to catch spam messages with a particular subject, or a allowlist rule to always accept messages sent from a certain domain.

5.2.2   Import Addresses…

This imports either good or spam e-mail addresses from a text file. For each address, a rule is created on the allowlist (or blocklist) that matches messages sent from that address. If such a rule already exists, SpamSieve makes sure that it’s enabled. Rules in the opposite list are not affected.

This feature is usually not needed, as SpamSieve will automatically create allowlist and blocklist rules based on the messages that you receive.

Many file formats are supported: the addresses can be return- or comma-delimited, or they can be mixed in with message text as part of a mbox file.

• To import addresses from Entourage, choose Export… from the File menu and select the option to Export contacts to a tab-delimited text file.
• To import addresses from Eudora, ask SpamSieve to import the Eudora Nicknames file inside the Eudora Folder (which is likely in your Documents folder).
• To import addresses from Outlook, choose Export… from the File menu and select the option for Contacts to a list (tab-delimited text).
• To import addresses from the macOS address book, open the Contacts (previously Address Book) program. Select all the names in the middle column and drag them to the desktop. This will create a .vcf file, which you can import into SpamSieve.

You may be wondering why you would want to import addresses from the macOS address book instead of using the Use macOS Contacts preference, or why you would import addresses from Entourage or Outlook instead of using the Use Outlook/Entourage contacts preference. The difference is as follows. When you ask SpamSieve to use an address book directly, it will always consider messages from senders in the address book to be good—even if you receive many spam messages that are forged to appear as if they were sent by your friends.

When the addresses are imported to the allowlist, however, they are subject to SpamSieve’s normal allowlist behavior. That is, if Train SpamSieve allowlist is checked, when you receive a spam message from someone on the allowlist, SpamSieve will disable the corresponding allowlist rule. Subsequent messages from that sender will no longer be allowlisted. In short, the address book is safer because it makes sure messages from people in your address book always get through. The allowlist is less safe, but it allows you to block forged spam messages.

If you prefer the address book behavior but don’t have all of your addresses entered into the address book, you can use Import Addresses… to create allowlist rules from your addresses, and then select the rules and use this script to convert the rules into address book cards.

5.2.3   Reset Corpus…

This command removes all the words and messages from the corpus. (It does not change the allowlist or blocklist.) After resetting the corpus, you can retrain SpamSieve from scratch, and SpamSieve will let you use your old messages in the retraining. Resetting the corpus and re-training SpamSieve with a proper mix of recent messages can increase SpamSieve’s accuracy and reduce its memory use.

5.3.1   Train as Good/Spam

Training From Within SpamSieve

The Train as Good and Train as Spam commands in SpamSieve’s Message menu are not the primary way of training SpamSieve. These commands are only intended for correcting mistakes for messages that are already in SpamSieve.

For example, messages that SpamSieve has filtered will appear in the Log window, and messages that you’ve trained (or that SpamSieve has auto-trained) will appear in the Corpus window. You can use the training commands in SpamSieve’s Message menu with messages in these windows to tell SpamSieve that the messages were incorrectly predicted (i.e. that SpamSieve thought a message was good but it’s actually spam) or incorrectly trained (i.e. some time ago you accidentally trained a message as good when you meant to train it as spam). The messages may no longer be in your mail client or it may simply be easier to find and correct them in SpamSieve.

If you try to use the Message menu training commands without having a message selected in SpamSieve’s Log or Corpus window, you probably meant to train the message from your mail client instead, so SpamSieve will open this help page.

Training From Your Mail Client

Normally, you will do an initial training and correct mistakes by selecting messages directly in your mail client. You will then tell SpamSieve to train them without leaving your mail client. With Apple Mail and Microsoft Outlook, you can use the Train as Good or Train as Spam commands in SpamSieve’s menu bar icon or Dock icon. For other mail clients, choose the appropriate command within your mail program.

• The SpamSieve menu bar icon (shown at left above) is normally at the top of the screen, near the clock. If you don’t see it, please see the What If I Don’t See the SpamSieve Menu Bar Icon? instructions.
• The SpamSieve Dock icon (shown at right above) is normally at the bottom or side of the screen. When using the Dock menu, it’s important to click and hold on the SpamSieve icon to open the menu while still in your mail client. You don’t want to just click the icon because that will switch SpamSieve to be the active app.
• With macOS 13 Ventura and earlier, the SpamSieve training commands are also available in the Message menu in Apple Mail. macOS 14 Sonoma and later no longer support Mail plug-ins, so it’s no longer possible for SpamSieve to add its commands to Mail’s Message menu. Please send feedback to Apple if you would like Mail extensions to be able to add menu items.
• The keyboard shortcuts for the training commands are Command-Control-S (for Train as Spam) and Command-Control-G (for Train as Good). These can be customized via the esoteric preferences.

5.3.2   Mark as Flagged

You can flag messages of note in the Corpus and Log windows so that you can easily find them later. You can also log entries that you want to bring to the attention to custom support when you save a diagnostic report. Because you’ve identified flagged log entries as important, their data is not automatically pruned from the log.

You can flag rules in the Allowlist and Blocklist windows, e.g. to keep track of a rules that you’re observing or tweaking or that you’ve put on probation and may deactivate or delete.

5.3.3   Open in External Viewer

When viewing a message in SpamSieve’s corpus or log, you can use the Open in External Viewer command in the Message menu to open SpamSieve’s copy of the message in Apple Mail. This lets you view the message and its attachments and search or copy its contents. You can also reply to the message or use the Message ‣ Copy Message menu command to copy it back to the mail server or into a local mailbox in Mail’s data store. For example, this can be used to restore a message that had been inadvertently deleted in Mail or lost due to a malfunction of Mail or your mail server.

If you’re using a mail client other than Apple Mail, you can set it as the default app for opening message files. Drag the message from SpamSieve to Finder to export it as a .eml file. Select the file in Finder and choose Get Info from the File menu. In the Open with section of the info window, select the desired app and click Change All….

5.4.1   Corpus

The corpus is a collection of messages, both spam and good, with which you have trained SpamSieve. SpamSieve’s Bayesian classifier analyzes the contents of the messages and uses this information to predict whether future messages are spam or good. The contents of the corpus are managed by SpamSieve; therefore, once you’ve trained SpamSieve with a message, deleting the message from your e-mail program will not affect SpamSieve because the information from that message is stored in the corpus.

Good Messages and Spam Messages

This section shows the lists of good and spam messages that you’ve trained, as well as ones that SpamSieve has auto-trained. If you find that SpamSieve classified a message incorrectly, it’s best to correct the mistake by training it from your mail client. However, you can also use the Train as Good/Spam commands in the corpus window to correct messages that you don’t see in the mail client. Looking at the lists of messages in the corpus is a good way to make sure that no messages were mis-trained and that no mistakes went uncorrected.

The following columns are shown:

⚑

Whether the message has been marked as flagged.

#

The number of attachments.

Subject

The message’s subject.

Received

When the message was received by your mail server.

Trained

When you (or SpamSieve’s auto-training feature) added the message to SpamSieve’s corpus.

Size

The size of the message’s Raw Source, if it’s stored by SpamSieve. You can sort by this column to find messages that are using a lot of disk space.

The Info tab shows summary information about the message itself, as well as how it was trained.

The Message tab shows a preview of the message’s contents. SpamSieve does not load remote images here, so you are protected from Web bugs. You can also use the Open in External Viewer command to open the message in your mail client.

The Raw Source tab shows the message data that SpamSieve received from your mail client. You can export a message’s raw source by dragging the message from the list to the Finder.

The Structure tab shows information about how SpamSieve interpreted the raw source.

Searching

You can search the Corpus window by entering text to match a message’s metadata or a word. A multi-word query is treated as a phrase search. Searches support wildcards such as * (which matches any number of additional characters) and ? (which matches a single character). To search for a literal wildcard character, you can escape it, e.g. \? to search for a question mark.

Words

This section shows the words that SpamSieve has extracted from the trained messages.

The following columns are shown:

Word

A word in the corpus. Some words are words that you would see, while others are tokens that relate to how the message or its attachments were formatted or structured.

Spam

The number of spam messages in which the word has occurred.

Good

The number of good messages in which the word has occurred.

Total

The total number of messages in which the word has occurred.

Probability

The probability that a message is spam, given that it contains the word (and in the absence of other evidence).

Last Used

The date that the word was added or updated in the corpus, or the date that it last appeared in a received message (whichever is later).

5.4.2   Statistics

This command opens the Statistics window, which displays the following information:

Filtered Mail

Good Messages

The number of non-spam messages that SpamSieve has filtered.

Spam Messages

The number of spam messages that SpamSieve has filtered.

Spam Messages Per Day

The average number of spam messages received per 24-hour period.

SpamSieve Accuracy

False Positives

The number of good messages that SpamSieve identified as spam.

False Negatives

The number of spam messages that SpamSieve identified as good.

% Correct

The percent of messages that SpamSieve identified correctly.

Corpus

Good Messages

The number of non-spam messages that are used to identify spam messages.

Spam Messages

The number of spam messages that are used to identify spam messages.

Total Words

The total number of unique words in the corpus.

Rules

Blocklist Rules

The number of rules on SpamSieve’s blocklist.

Allowlist Rules

The number of rules on SpamSieve’s allowlist.

Normally, SpamSieve shows statistics for all the messages that it has processed since it was installed. Because the accuracy and the number of messages that you receive change with time, you may wish to only see recent statistics. To do this, you can edit the Showing Statistics Since date. If you’ve chosen a suitable date and the Filtered Messages section shows zero filtered messages, that means that your mail program did tell SpamSieve about any of the incoming messages. You should check to make sure that the mail program setup is correct.

You can copy all the statistics to the clipboard using the Copy Statistics button.

5.4.3   Log

From the Window menu, you can open the Log window, which keeps track of which messages SpamSieve has filtered, which messages you’ve trained it with, changes that you’ve made to the rules, any errors that have occurred, and more. The log is the first place to look to understand what SpamSieve is doing or to troubleshoot a problem. The Sending in an Error Report section describes how you can e-mail part of your log to spamsieve@c-command.com if you need help interpreting it. You can also Copy/Paste individual log entries from the list.

Log Table Columns

The following columns are shown:

⚑

Whether the log entry has been marked as flagged.

Type

An icon and a short description of what kind of log entry this is.

Subject

The message’s subject, or a short summary for a non-message log entry.

From

The message’s sender, or information about the source of a non-message log entry.

Date

When SpamSieve performed whatever operation led to the log entry. In other words, this might show the date that SpamSieve classified a message (not the date when the message was sent or received).

Unlike with other windows in SpamSieve, the sorting in the Log window is not configurable. For performance reasons, it is always sorted by date, with newer log entries at the bottom. If a new log entry is recorded while you have a log entry selected, SpamSieve will continue showing the selected log entry. If no log entry is selected—you can deselect by Command-clicking—when a new log entry is recorded, SpamSieve will auto-scroll the window to the bottom so that you can always see the latest entries.

Log Detail Tabs

The Info tab shows basic information about the message and what SpamSieve did with it. The Summary and Help sections have advice from SpamSieve about what you might want to do if the message was not processed the way you expected.

The Message tab shows a preview of the message’s contents. SpamSieve does not load remote images here, so you are protected from Web bugs. You can also use the Open in External Viewer command to open the message in your mail client.

The Raw Source tab shows the message data that SpamSieve received from your mail client. You can export a message’s raw source by dragging the message from the list to the Finder.

The Structure tab shows information about how SpamSieve interpreted the raw source.

Types of Log Entries

Predicted: Good

This means that SpamSieve examined an incoming message and thought it was good. The Info tab will show why:

• A green circle indicates that SpamSieve thinks it correctly predicted the message to be good. If the message is not actually good, you should train it as spam.

  

• An orange cirlce indicates that SpamSieve predicted the message to be good, but then you trained it as spam. In other words, SpamSieve knows that it made a mistake (false negative) and should have caught that message. If spam messages are being predicted as good and you don’t understand why, please see the Sending in an Error Report section.

  

• If there is no Predicted: Good log entry for the message in your inbox, that means that SpamSieve was never given a chance to analyze it. You may want to check the setup of your mail program, as described in the Why is SpamSieve not catching my spam? section.

Predicted: Spam

This means that SpamSieve examined an incoming message and thought it was spam. The Info tab will show why:

• A green circle indicates that SpamSieve thinks it correctly predicted the message to be spam. If the message is not actually spam, you should train it as spam.

  

• A red circle indicates that SpamSieve predicted the message to be spam, but then you trained it as good. In other words, SpamSieve knows that it made a mistake (false positive) and should have left that message alone. If good messages are being predicted as spam and you don’t understand why, please see the Sending in an Error Report section.

  

• If there is no Predicted: Spam log entry for the message in the Junk mailbox, that means it was moved to Junk by something other than SpamSieve. Please see the Why do good messages keep going to the Junk or Spam mailbox? section.

Trained: Good/Spam (Manual)

These log entries represent messages that you had trained as good or spam, either as part of an initial training or when correcting mistakes.

• A green book icon means that SpamSieve had not been trained with that message before and that, at the time of training, it did not conflict with a previous prediction that SpamSieve had made for that message, so the training was not correcting a mistake.

  

  See also:

  • Why are Apple Mail inbox messages not being processed?
  • Why are other Apple Mail mailboxes not being processed?
  • Why do good messages move to the wrong inbox when trained in Apple Mail?

• A blue book icon indicates that you had unnecessarily trained SpamSieve a second time with the same message.

• An orange book icon means that you had corrected a false negative.

• A red book icon means that you had corrected a false positive.

Trained: Good/Spam (Auto)

These log entries represent messages that SpamSieve auto-trained. It’s normal for SpamSieve to auto-train a message as good if it thinks that the message isn’t spam. This will add the sender to the allowlist to ensure that future messages from that sender get through to your inbox. If you later train the message as spam, SpamSieve will disable (uncheck) the allowlist rule. Thus, auto-training should not ordinarily cause problems unless you receive a large flurry of messages from the same sender address, or if you forget to train the message as spam and then the address remains enabled on the allowlist. For more information, see the Auto-train as needed section.

Arrow Icons

An arrow icon after a Predicted log entry means that the same message has been processed multiple times:

• A rightward pointing arrow mean superseded. In other words, there was another Prediction for the same message later on.

  

• A two arrows chasing each other mean repeated. In other words, there was an earlier Prediction for the same message.

  

If you have the Check inboxes for new messages not sent to Mail extension option enabled, SpamSieve will do an extra pass over the inbox in case Mail didn’t send it all the new messages to examine. This can result in SpamSieve processing the same message twice in the event that Mail was working properly, so it would be normal to see two log entries for the same message with these arrows. In other situations, or for messages not in the inbox, each message should only be processed once, so these arrows could indicate that something unexpected happened or that you manually told SpamSieve to reprocess a message.

Searching the Log

You can search the Log window by entering text to match a message’s metadata or a word that was used in classifying it. A multi-word query is treated as a phrase search. Searches support wildcards such as * (which matches any number of additional characters) and ? (which matches a single character). To search for a literal wildcard character, you can escape it, e.g. \? to search for a question mark.

You can search for a message’s identifier (as shown in the Info tab) to find all the log entries pertaining to that message.

Compacting the Log

To reduce the amount of disk space that the log uses, see the pruning options in Settings ‣ Storage.

5.4.4   Blocklist

The Blocklist command in the Window menu opens the Blocklist window. The blocklist consists of a list of rules. If a message matches one or more enabled rules on the blocklist (and Use SpamSieve blocklist is checked), SpamSieve will predict that it is spam. As always, SpamSieve does not prevent you from receiving the spam messages; rather, the blocklist ensures that they will go to the spam mailbox rather than the inbox. You can also configure Apple Mail so that the blocklisted messages go directly to the trash.

The counterpart to the blocklist is the allowlist.

Creating Rules

There is normally no need for you to manually create or delete blocklist rules because SpamSieve learns to recognize your spam automatically. Thus, it’s OK if you receive spam from constantly changing addresses; you don’t have to worry about creating blocklist rules to match all of them. If a lot of spam is in your inbox, your first step should be to follow the instructions in Why is SpamSieve not catching my spam? rather than to create blocklist rules that may not be needed or even used (e.g. if the real problem is that your mail program isn’t set up properly).

Rules and Training

By default, the Train SpamSieve blocklist preference is enabled. This means that SpamSieve will automatically create blocklist rules when you train a message as spam. You won’t get spam from the same address or sender name twice.

SpamSieve will also disable (uncheck) matching blocklist rules when you train a message as good. This prevents a bad blocklist rule from blocking similar good messages.

Editing Rules

To edit a rule, double-click it in the list or click the Edit button in the toolbar. For more information about the available options see the Rule Columns, Locations, and Match Styles section. The Comments field lets you enter additional information to help you remember why you created a rule or how a regex was intended to work. You can search for rules by comment.

Deleting and Disabling Rules

You can delete a rule from the blocklist by selecting it and pressing Delete. Generally, there is little reason to delete rules. SpamSieve is optimized such that having lots of rules does not reduce performance.

If you don’t like what a rule is doing, you should uncheck the rule rather than deleting it. This will prevent SpamSieve from re-learning the rule automatically (see “Rules and Training” above). For example, say that you get forged spam messages from your own address. When you receive such a message, and tell SpamSieve that it’s spam, any rule on the allowlist with your address would be disabled. This will enable future such spam messages to be caught. If you later get a legitimate message from your own address and tell SpamSieve that it’s good, the allowlist rule will remain disabled, so SpamSieve will still be able to catch that spam. If you had previously deleted the rule instead of disabling it, telling SpamSieve that the message was good would create a new, enabled allowlist rule, which would prevent those spam messages from being caught.

Blocklisting Domains and Countries

You can tell SpamSieve to classify every message from a particular domain as spam. For example, to block every message from Spammy Company, open the Blocklist window, click the + button, and create a rule that says From (address) Ends With @spammycompany.com. You can also create rules for particular countries. For example, to block every message from an e-mail address in Nigeria, create a rule that says From (address) Ends With .ng

Blocking Messages to Invalid Addresses

If you have your own domain name, it’s best to configure the server not to have a catch-all address because that would lead to your receiving spam messages send to addresses that are not even valid. SpamSieve could filter out those spams, but it’s better if you can avoid downloading them and cluttering your spam mailbox in the first place.

If you cannot configure your server in that way, you can use the Matches Regex match style to create a blocklist rule that matches messages sent to invalid addresses at your domain. For example, this regex:

^.*(?<!^sales|^support)@domain\.com$

would match all messages where the match field ends with @domain.com but is not sales@domain.com or support@domain.com.

Finding Rules

You can type the first few letters of a rule’s Text to Match to quickly locate that rule, or use the search field in the toolbar to focus on a group of related rules.

Exporting Addresses

You can use the Copy Whitelist/Blocklist Addresses script to get a list of addresses, e.g. to add to the configuration of a server-side spam filter.

Troubleshooting Rules

Blocklist rules will not match a message if:

• One of the Filters above the blocklist classified the message as good.
• The blocklist rule is disabled.
• The mail program did not send the message to SpamSieve for analysis. See the Why is SpamSieve not catching my spam? section.

5.4.5   Allowlist

The Allowlist command in the Window menu opens the Allowlist window. The allowlist consists of a list of rules. If a message matches one or more enabled rules on the allowlist (and Use SpamSieve allowlist is checked), SpamSieve will predict that it is good. The allowlist is most commonly used for matching messages sent from particular addresses, domains, or mailing lists.

The counterpart to the allowlist is the blocklist.

Creating Rules

There is normally no need for you to manually create or delete allowlist rules because SpamSieve learns to recognize your good automatically. If a lot of good messages are in your Spam mailbox, your first steps should be to check the setup in your mail program and to check the log rather that to create allowlist rules.

Rules and Training

By default, the Train SpamSieve allowlist preference is enabled. This means that SpamSieve will automatically create allowlist rules when you train a message as good. Once you receive one good message from a person, all future messages will get through to your inbox.

SpamSieve will also disable matching allowlist rules when you train a message as spam. This prevents a bad allowlist rule from letting through similar spam messages.

By default, the Auto-train as needed preference is enabled. This means that if you receive a message that SpamSieve thinks is good, SpamSieve will automatically add allowlist rules so that future messages from that same sender are also classified as good. Thus, it is important to correct all the mistakes to avoid having incorrect allowlist rules.

Editing Rules

You can edit a rule’s Header or Match Style by clicking in the corresponding column and choosing from the pop-up menu. To edit a rule’s Text to Match, double-click the text. For more information about the available options see the Rule Columns, Locations, and Match Styles section.

Deleting and Disabling Rules

You can delete a rule from the allowlist by selecting it and pressing Delete. Generally, there is little reason to delete rules. SpamSieve is optimized such that having lots of rules does not reduce performance.

Spammy Allowlist Rules

It is normal to see spammy rules on the allowlist that are unchecked. This is because of auto-training. When SpamSieve thinks an incoming message is good, SpamSieve also adds a rule to the allowlist. SpamSieve may be wrong about that message, and that’s OK. If SpamSieve makes a mistake and lets a spam message through, when you train the message as spam it will disable the corresponding allowlist rules. The rules will then be shown as unchecked. A disabled rule won’t match any messages, so it won’t cause any spam to get through.

If you see spammy rules that are checked, this is not normal. It means that you have not been correcting all the mistakes.

Do not delete spammy allowlist rules. This is almost never a good idea:

• If the rules are disabled, you should leave them in place to prevent SpamSieve from creating those incorrect rules again in the future.
• If the rules are enabled, you should find the spam messages from those addresses and train them as spam. Not only will this disable the rules, but it will also update SpamSieve’s corpus and statistics.

Allowlisting Domains

You can tell SpamSieve to classify every message from a particular domain as good. For example, to allowlist every message from Apple, open the Allowlist window, click the + button, and create a rule that says From (address) Ends With @apple.com.

Mailing List Messages

The allowlist has special support for mailing lists. If you train SpamSieve with a good message from a mailing list, it will add a rule to the allowlist that matches the message’s mailing list header (List-ID, List-Unsubscribe, or Mailing-List). Then SpamSieve will know that all messages from that mailing list are good, regardless of who sent them.

Codewords

You can use the allowlist to create codewords. For instance, you could create a rule in the allowlist that matches subjects containing “eggplant” (or some other word unlikely to occur in regular mail). You can tell select people to put “eggplant” in the subject of messages that they send you, and then you can be assured that their messages will get through, even if the sender addresses are not in your address book or allowlist.

Finding Rules

You can type the first few letters of a rule’s Text to Match to quickly locate that rule, or use the search field in the toolbar to focus on a group of related rules.

Exporting Addresses

You can use the Copy Whitelist/Blocklist Addresses script to get a list of addresses, e.g. to add to the configuration of a server-side spam filter.

Troubleshooting Rules

Allowlist rules will not match a message if:

• One of the Filters above the allowlist classified the message as spam.
• The allowlist rule is disabled.
• The mail program did not send the message to SpamSieve for analysis. See the Log section.

6.1.1   Use corpus messages

SpamSieve learns as you train it, but training is not instant. Training SpamSieve with a message will not necessarily give it enough information to classify that message correctly based only on the words in the message. However, once you have added a message to the corpus, SpamSieve knows whether it is good or spam, even though it might not make the correct prediction based on word probabilities. This option causes SpamSieve to see if it knows whether a message is good or spam before trying to calculate its spam probability. This is especially useful when testing the setup in your mail program. If SpamSieve has seen the message before, it will always classify it correctly. You can disable this option if you want to see what SpamSieve would have predicted if it did not already know whether the message was good or spam.

6.1.2   Use macOS Contacts

With this option enabled, SpamSieve will never predict a message to be spam if its sender’s e-mail address is in the Contacts (previously Address Book) application.

You can add addresses to the system address book using the Contacts or Address Book application (located in the /Applications folder), or directly from an e-mail program that supports the system address book.

If spam messages get through to your inbox because they are sent from addresses in your address book, you can either uncheck Use macOS Contacts or see the Catch spam sent from my own addresses section.

Access to Your Contacts

The first time you use SpamSieve to filter messages, it will ask for permission to access your contacts. You can change the access setting by opening System Settings, going to the Privacy & Security pane, clicking on the Privacy tab, clicking on Contacts in the list, and checking or unchecking SpamSieve.app. (Please note that the applications in the list are not sorted alphabetically.)

Repeated Access Prompts

If the system keeps asking you for permission to access your contacts and does not remember this between launches:

• You may need to reset the privacy database by entering this command in Terminal:

  tccutil reset AddressBook
  

• Your copy of SpamSieve may be damaged. Please see the Reinstalling a Fresh Copy section.

Mail Client Contacts

Outlook and Entourage users may prefer to use Microsoft’s address book as an allowlist instead of Apple’s. This is described in the Use Outlook/Entourage contacts section.

PowerMail users should be sure to enable the option to use Apple’s address book.

6.1.3   Catch spam sent from my own addresses

Sometimes spammers forge one of your e-mail addresses and send you spam messages that appear to be coming from yourself. If SpamSieve is not properly configured, these spams will keep coming into your inbox even after you train them as spam. (Yes, you should train them as spam if they get through to your inbox.) Once you fix the configuration, SpamSieve will be able to catch these messages as easily as any other spams.

Why does SpamSieve let these obvious spams into my inbox?

SpamSieve does what you tell it to do. Under the standard configuration, the Use macOS Contacts option is enabled in SpamSieve’s settings. This is safety feature so that messages from people in your address book are never marked as spam. If your address is in the address book and a spammer sends a message from that address, SpamSieve will let it through to your inbox. It will do this no matter how blatantly spammy the message is; doing otherwise would counteract the safety feature.

How can I tell whether I need to fix the setup?

The Log section of the manual explains how SpamSieve keeps a log of all the messages that it filtered and why it thought they were good or spam. For each incoming message that SpamSieve thought was not spam, there is a Predicted: Good entry in the log. If it says the reason is that the sender address was in your Contacts or in Outlook’s contacts, that means that SpamSieve thought the message was good because it was sent from an address that’s in your address book. If the address is one of your addresses, please follow the instructions below. (If there’s no Predicted entry for the message, please see the Why is SpamSieve not catching my spam? section for instructions on checking the setup in your mail program.)

How do I make SpamSieve catch these spams?

SpamSieve has a feature specifically for catching this kind of spam. For messages sent from your address, SpamSieve will ignore the fact that your own address is in your address book. It will apply its normal Bayesian filtering engine to examine the entire contents of the message and evaluate whether it is spam. To use this feature, you need to do two things:

1. Make sure that Catch spam sent from my own addresses is checked in SpamSieve’s settings. This tells SpamSieve to pretend that your address is not in the address book, thus bypassing the Use macOS Contacts safety feature (but only for messages sent from one of your own addresses).

2. Tell SpamSieve which addresses are yours. You do this by listing them on your card in the Contacts application.

   If the addresses are already entered in your e-mail program’s settings, you can quickly add them by clicking the Edit Addresses button. Make sure to enter them in the e-mail address section rather than the phone number section.

   Your card is the one that has your name and photo (or login image). It says “me” on top of the photo, and in the name list it has a black silhouette of a head and shoulders instead of a white address book card. To find your “me” card, choose Card ‣ Go to My Card. If you don’t have a “me” card, you can make one by creating a new card with your name and addresses and choosing Card ‣ Make This My Card.

Excluding Extra Addresses

You can also use this feature to catch spam messages sent from certain addresses in your address book. Normally, if you have Use macOS Contacts checked, messages from addresses in your address book will never be classified as spam. This is generally what you want, but there may be one or two particular addresses that spammers keep forging. By using Catch spam sent from my own addresses and adding those addresses to the “Me” card in Contacts, you can get SpamSieve to analyze the full contents of those messages to determine whether they are spam. SpamSieve will continue to use the other addresses in the address book as before, always classifying messages from them as good.

You can use Terminal to add additional addresses that you want to exclude but that you don’t want to list on the “Me” card. Enter a command such as:

defaults write com.c-command.SpamSieve ExtraAddressesToExclude -array a@b.com d@e.com

To remove the list of addresses to exclude, enter this command:

defaults delete com.c-command.SpamSieve ExtraAddressesToExclude

Changes take effect the next time you launch SpamSieve. You can see which extra addresses are excluded by entering this command:

defaults read com.c-command.SpamSieve ExtraAddressesToExclude

6.1.4   Use Outlook/Entourage contacts

With this option enabled, SpamSieve will never predict a message to be spam if its sender’s e-mail address is in the contacts list for Entourage or Outlook. When you install SpamSieve, you should click the Load Contacts button to make SpamSieve read in the addresses in the Outlook or Entourage address book. The addresses are loaded into SpamSieve’s memory and stored in its preferences file, but they are not displayed in the Allowlist window because they are not allowlist rules. When SpamSieve classifies a message, you can see in the Log window how many Outlook contacts SpamSieve had loaded at that time.

Re-loading Addresses

Whenever you add addresses to the Outlook or Entourage address book, you should go back to SpamSieve’s settings and click Load Contacts so that SpamSieve learns about the new addresses. (This is not necessary for addresses that have already sent you e-mails, as SpamSieve will automatically see those messages and add the addresses to its allowlist.)

If you remove addresses from the Outlook or Entourage address book, you should hold down the Option key when clicking Load Contacts; this tells SpamSieve to forget the old addresses before loading the new ones. Do not click Load Contacts while Outlook Entourage is downloading and filtering mail, as this may cause it to freeze.

Your Own Addresses

If you have Catch spam sent from my own addresses checked, addresses on the macOS Contacts app’s “Me” card will not be checked against Entourage or Outlook’s address book. This helps prevent forged spams from getting through.

Multiple Identities

If you have multiple Outlook orEntourage identities, you can load the addresses into SpamSieve in sequence. Click Load Contacts, then change to another identity and click Load Contacts again, etc.

6.1.5   Use SpamSieve allowlist

Enable this option so that messages that match (enabled) rules on the SpamSieve allowlist are never marked as spam.

6.1.6   Use SpamSieve blocklist

Enable this option so that messages that match (enabled) rules on the SpamSieve blocklist are always marked as spam.

6.1.7   Use Bayesian classifier

This enables SpamSieve’s main spam detector, which uses the corpus and word probabilities to identify spam messages. If you uncheck Use Bayesian classifier, SpamSieve will stop examining the full contents of the incoming messages, so this should only be done for testing purposes.

6.1.8   Train SpamSieve allowlist

With this option enabled, training SpamSieve with a good message will add the message sender’s name and address to SpamSieve’s allowlist. This will make SpamSieve classify all future messages from that sender as good. Training SpamSieve with a spam message will disable the name and address if they appear in the allowlist (unless you’ve changed DisableWhitelistRules in the esoteric preferences).

Example

You receive an Amazon order receipt and train SpamSieve with it as a good message. This puts auto-confirm@amazon.com on the allowlist so that future order receipts are always marked as good. A spammer might decide that auto-confirm@amazon.com would make a good fake return address. If you receive such a spam, SpamSieve would mark it as good because the sender was on the allowlist. If you then tell SpamSieve that the message is spam, it will disable the allowlist rule so that it can catch future spam messages with that return address.

6.1.9   Train SpamSieve blocklist

With this option enabled, training SpamSieve with a spam message will add the message sender’s name and address to SpamSieve’s blocklist. This will make SpamSieve classify all future messages from that sender as spam. Training SpamSieve with a good message will disable the sender’s name and address if they appear in the blocklist.

6.1.10   Train Bayesian classifier

With this option enabled, training SpamSieve with a message will add the words from that message to SpamSieve’s corpus. It is highly recommended that you train the Bayesian classifier, as it is what SpamSieve uses to catch most spam messages.

6.1.11   Auto-train as needed

This option causes SpamSieve to automatically train itself with newly received messages based on their predicted categories. The allowlist will stay up-to-date so that messages from previous correspondents are never marked as spam. Also, after the initial training you would only need to train SpamSieve to correct its mistakes. It would automatically learn from the other new messages, as needed, trying to keep a proper balance of good and spam messages in the corpus. As the corpus increases in size, the rate of auto-training will automatically decrease to prevent it from growing too large.

Most SpamSieve users should keep auto-training on at all times. Reasons that you might turn it off include:

Testing Purposes

If you’re trying to figure out why SpamSieve is processing a certain kind of message in a certain way, turning off auto-training reduces the interactions among SpamSieve’s components and makes it easier to see what’s happening.

Unable to Correct Mistakes

When auto-training is enabled, it is imperative that you correct SpamSieve when it makes a mistake; otherwise it will “learn” things that aren’t true and begin making predictions based on that incorrect information. If your mail program and filters are set up such that you cannot tell when SpamSieve has made a mistake (or if you can see the mistakes but sometimes forget to correct them), then you should not use auto-training.

Multiple Copies of SpamSieve

If you are using multiple copies of SpamSieve (on different Macs) to filter the same IMAP account, it’s hard to know which one(s) to correct when a mistake is made. With auto-training off, you don’t have to worry about that.

Bulk Processing

For example, if SpamSieve will be processing a large number of incoming messages in a row, and you will not be able to correct any mistakes until later. In this case, using auto-training could magnify one or two mistakes into many, as SpamSieve would assume that it had classified the earlier messages correctly, and learned from that (possibly incorrect) assumption.

Delayed Corrections

If it will be a long time between when SpamSieve filters some messages and when you can correct any mistakes, the situation is similar to Bulk Processing, so you may want to turn off auto-training. If you’ll be away from your SpamSieve Mac but have other mail access, you can eliminate the delay by using remote traininng. See the Setting Up a Spam Filtering Drone section.

SpamSieve automatically suppresses auto-training when using the Filter Messages command.

6.2.1   Play sound

This makes SpamSieve play a sound when new good messages are received (as described in the Settings ‣ Notification section). To add a sound to the menu, copy the sound file to the Sounds folder in your Library folder. (See the How can I open the Library folder? section.) SpamSieve will also look for sounds that are built into your installed e-mail programs.

You can adjust the Alert volume in the Sound Effects tab of the Sound pane in System Settings. If the volume is set to zero, the Mac flashes the screen instead of playing the sound.

If you are not hearing the sounds, make sure that you have selected an appropriate speaker in the Play sound effects through pop-up menu.

6.2.2   Bounce Dock icon

This makes SpamSieve bounce its Dock icon once when new good messages are received.

6.2.3   Keep bouncing

You might not be looking at the Dock icon when it first bounces, so this makes SpamSieve continue bouncing its Dock icon until you activate SpamSieve or your e-mail program.

6.2.4   Show number of new good messages in Dock

People often like to be notified that they have received new messages, but they don’t want to hear about new spam messages (those should be ignored), only good ones.

This option makes SpamSieve show the number of new good messages in its Dock icon. “New” means “since the last time the number was reset”; it’s not related to the number of messages that are unread. “Good messages” means “messages for which there is a Predicted: Good entry in SpamSieve’s log.”

If there are no new good messages or if SpamSieve or the mail program is frontmost, SpamSieve will not show any number (rather than showing zero).

Clicking the Dock icon, activating your e-mail program, or training SpamSieve with a message will reset the count.

The slider lets you control the size of the number in the Dock icon.

If you’re using DragThing 5.3 or later, SpamSieve can show the message count in its tile in DragThing’s process dock.

6.2.5   Flash PowerMate

If you have a Griffin PowerMate, this option will make it flash when new good messages arrive. The flashing will stop when you activate SpamSieve or your mail program.

This feature is compatible with version 3.0 of the PowerMate software.

6.2.6   Notification Center shows

The following notifications are available:

Good messages sent from Contacts

This posts one notification for each good message that arrives (where the sender is in your Contacts), showing the message’s subject, the first few lines of its body, and (if possible) a picture of the sender.

Other good messages

This posts one notification for each good message that arrives (where the sender is not in your address book), showing the message’s subject and the first few lines of its body.

The number of new good messages

This notification mimics the red number in SpamSieve’s Dock icon (see Show number of new good messages in Dock). After a batch of good messages arrives, it tells you how many new messages there are and then fades away.

Uncertain spam messages

This notification helps you spot false positives by telling you when a message has arrived that SpamSieve thinks is spam, but that may actually be good. For more information, see the Uncertain Spam Messages preference. By watching these notifications, you can spot false positives without having to look through the entire contents of the Junk mailbox in your mail program. When using this notification, you may want to go to System Settings ‣ Notification and set the SpamSieve notifications to display as Alerts to make sure that you see all the notifications. Clicking to close the notification does not change whether SpamSieve thinks the message is spam. For messages that are actually spam, you don’t need to do anything. For messages that are not spam, you can click to open the message in SpamSieve’s Log window and then train it as good.

6.2.7   Uncertain spam messages

SpamSieve assigns each message a score between 0 and 100, and it considers messages with scores 50 or greater to be spam. The farther the score is away from the middle (50), the more confident SpamSieve is about whether the message is spam. Put another way, if you are trying to double-check SpamSieve’s work, you should focus your attention on the messages with scores closer to 50. If SpamSieve has made any mistakes, it is more likely to be with messages scored at 70 or 30 than with those scored at 95 or 5.

Spam messages that SpamSieve thought were good (false negatives) are generally easy for humans to spot. They tend to stick out amongst lots of good messages in the inbox.

Good messages that SpamSieve thought were spam (false positives) are harder to spot. They can be buried amongst piles of messages in the junk mailbox. To help you find these messages, SpamSieve can notify you about uncertain spam messages, i.e. the messages in the junk mailbox that you should focus your attention on.

The pop-up menu lets you control the range of scores that SpamSieve considers to be uncertain. For example, if you set it to 75 (the default), messages that SpamSieve thought were spam but which have scores below 75 will be considered uncertain.

• Notification Center can show a notification each uncertain message.
• In Outlook, the uncertain messages will be categorized as Uncertain Junk instead of Junk and will appear in a different color. For more information, see the Spam Message Categories (Outlook) section.

By making it easier to spot uncertain messages, these mechanisms help you to efficiently verify whether SpamSieve has filtered your mail correctly.

Uncertain messages are considered to be spam, unless you tell SpamSieve otherwise, so you should not train SpamSieve that they are spam.

See also: Move it to the Trash if the spam score is at least.

6.3.1   Settings ‣ Apple Mail ‣ Setup

Disable spam filtering in Apple Mail

This turns off automatic spam filtering in Apple Mail, including the Filter spam messages in other mailboxes feature. If the Apple Mail plug-in and rule are still enabled in Mail, SpamSieve will tell Mail that each message is good so that stays in the inbox. You can still manually tell SpamSieve to filter messages using the Filter Messages command in the menu bar icon.

Enable spam filtering using Mail extension

This enables spam filtering in Apple Mail, as described in the Setting Up Apple Mail section. The summary of the Mail extension setup is:

• Simpler setup (requires macOS 12 or later)
• The extension filters messages remaining in the inbox after your Mail rules
• Use Select Mailboxes to Filter… to filter messages moved elsewhere
• Enable the SpamSieve extension in Mail ‣ Settings ‣ Extensions
• Train SpamSieve from the menu bar icon or SpamSieve’s Dock menu

Enable spam filtering using Mail plug-in

This enables spam filtering in Apple Mail, as described in the Setting Up Apple Mail (Plug-In) section. The summary of the Mail plug-in setup is:

• More customizable setup (requires macOS 13 or earlier)
• Filters all incoming messages before your other Mail rules
• Install the plug-in, and enable in Mail ‣ Settings ‣ General
• Create a SpamSieve rule in Mail ‣ Settings ‣ Rules
• Train SpamSieve from the Message menu at the top of the screen in Mail

6.3.2   Settings ‣ Apple Mail ‣ Filtering

defaults write com.c-command.SpamSieve AppleMailMailboxListerExtraMailboxes -array "A|M" "B|N"

6.3.3   Settings ‣ Apple Mail ‣ Training

When you train a message as spam:

Move it to

This lets you control whether SpamSieve leaves it in its current location or moves to the Junk mailbox, to the Trash, or to another mailbox that you specify. See also: Setting the Junk Mailbox in Apple Mail. If you are using the Setting Up an Apple Mail Drone setup or the Apple Mail - Rescue Good Messages script, you can avoid having to custom-configure the script by selecting Junk here.

Mark it as read

SpamSieve will mark the message as read so that you aren’t distracted by the unread count in Mail’s sidebar.

When you train a message in Junk as good:

Move it back to the inbox

If the message is in a Junk or Spam mailbox, SpamSieve will move it back to the inbox. Normally, this is what you want because good messages don’t belong in Junk. However, if you want to use Mail’s Apply Rules command after training, it can be easier to leave the messages in Junk where they would remain selected, so you don’t have to find them again in the inbox, mixed in with your other messages.

Mark it as unread

SpamSieve will mark the message as unread, so that it’s now treated as a new message.

If you don’t see the training commands in SpamSieve’s menu bar icon, please see the Show menu bar icon section.

6.4.1   Settings ‣ Outlook ‣ Setup

Disable spam filtering in Outlook

This turns off automatic spam filtering in Outlook. You can still manually tell SpamSieve to filter messages using the Filter Messages command in the menu bar icon. If you are using the InboxSpamSieve setup, you would also need to uncheck the SpamSieve rules in Outlook’s settings to prevent messages from collecting in the InboxSpamSieve folder.

Enable spam filtering for Inbox

This enables spam filtering in Apple Mail, as described in the Setting Up Outlook section. The summary of this setup option is:

• Simpler setup (but slow if lots of messages kept in Inbox)
• Messages arrive directly in Inbox, marked Good after processing
• SpamSieve periodically moves spam messages from Inbox to Junk Email
• Train SpamSieve from the menu bar icon or SpamSieve’s Dock menu

Enable spam filtering for InboxSpamSieve

This enables spam filtering in Apple Mail, as described in the Setting Up Outlook (Large Inboxes) section. The summary of this setup option is:

• Can handle a large Inbox (but requires setting up a rule in Outlook)
• Messages are temporarily held in InboxSpamSieve folder
• SpamSieve periodically sorts messages to Inbox and Junk Email
• Train SpamSieve from the menu bar icon or SpamSieve’s Dock menu

6.4.2   Settings ‣ Outlook ‣ Filtering

After checking the Inbox or InboxSpamSieve folder (see Settings ‣ Outlook ‣ Setup) for new messages to filter, SpamSieve will wait 60 seconds (or whichever interval you specify) before checking again. You can also click Filter Now to make it check right away.

Mark less spammy messages as “Uncertain Junk”

Messages are uncertain if their spam score is less than or equal to the selection in the Notification settings. With this option enabled, SpamSieve will assign such messages the Uncertain Junk category and color in Outlook. Otherwise, all spam messages will be assigned the Junk category and color.

6.4.3   Settings ‣ Outlook ‣ Training

When you train a message as spam:

Move it to the Junk Email folder

This lets you control whether SpamSieve leaves it in its current location or moves to the Junk Email folder.

Mark it as read

SpamSieve will mark the message as read so that you aren’t distracted by the unread count in Outlook’s sidebar.

When you train a message in Junk Email as good:

Move it back to the inbox

If the messages is in the Junk Email folder, SpamSieve will move it back to the inbox.

Mark it as read

SpamSieve will mark the message as unread, so that it’s now treated as a new message.

If you don’t see the training commands in SpamSieve’s menu bar icon, please see the Show menu bar icon section.

6.4.4   Settings ‣ Outlook ‣ Outlook 2011

To use SpamSieve with the legacy version 14.x of Microsoft Outlook, please see the Setting Up Outlook 2011 section. The summary of this setup option is:

• Install the scripts by clicking the Install Scripts button
• Create Set Category and Move Messages rules in Outlook
• Filters all incoming messages before your other Outlook rules
• Train SpamSieve from the script menu in Outlook

6.6.1   Prune full message data in log

SpamSieve stores a copy of the full message data for each message that’s predicted or trained. This makes it possible for you to view the messages in SpamSieve and to train them again if you need to correct a mistake. Normally, it’s better to train from within your mail client, but sometimes you can’t find a message in the mail client or it’s already been deleted:

• SpamSieve might have classified the message as spam and moved it to Junk, and you erased the Junk mailbox.
• A small percentage of users are running into bugs in Apple Mail on macOS 10.15 that can cause messages to be deleted or turn blank when they’re moved. The bugs can manifest with or without SpamSieve installed. They can apply to messages that you drag and drop, as well as those that are moved by rules or by AppleScript.
• Even if your Mac and its mail program are functioning normally, another computer or device that accesses the same mail account could inappropriately move or delete some of the messages. (Moving messages to a local mailbox deletes it from the server.) These changes would then be synced back to your Mac.

Because SpamSieve backs up the full message data, you’ll never lose a good message. However, storing the full data for all these messages in the safety net can use a lot of storage. You can select the Prune full message data in log checkbox to make SpamSieve automatically remove the data after 30 days (or another interval that you choose), when you’re sure that you’ll no longer need it. SpamSieve does not prune the data for messages that you’ve flagged. This lets you save certain ones for troubleshooting or backup purposes.

For message data imported from SpamSieve 2’s backup feature or False Negatives folder, the clock starts ticking when you update to SpamSieve 3. That way you will have at least 30 days to review any backed up messages even if they were originally received a long time ago.

6.6.2   What can I do if the corpus is damaged?

A damaged corpus database can prevent SpamSieve from launching or cause it to report errors. Corpus database damage can be caused by crashes or disk errors or if you are storing SpamSieve‘s files in the cloud and using them with more than one Mac at the same time (which is not supported). To fix this:

1. Quit both your mail program and SpamSieve.

2. If you have a backup from before the damage occurred, you can replace the folder:

   /Users/<username>/Library/Application Support/SpamSieve/Corpus.spamsieve-corpus
   

   with a working copy. See the How can I open the Library folder? section for how to find this file.

3. If you don’t have a backup, you can delete the damaged Corpus.spamsieve-corpus folder, and SpamSieve will start a new one. You will need to re-train SpamSieve as described in the Do an Initial Training section. You can also re-train SpamSieve using messages in the Log window.

6.6.3   What can I do if the log is damaged?

A damaged log database can prevent SpamSieve from launching, cause it to report errors, or make it show incorrect accuracy numbers in the Statistics window. Log database damage can be caused by crashes or disk errors or if you are storing SpamSieve‘s files in the cloud and using them with more than one Mac at the same time (which is not supported). To fix this:

1. Quit both your mail program and SpamSieve.

2. If you have a backup from before the damage occurred, you can replace the folder:

   /Users/<username>/Library/Application Support/SpamSieve/Log.spamsieve-logd
   

   with a working copy. See the How can I open the Library folder? section for how to find this file.

3. If you don’t have a backup, you can delete the damaged Log.spamsieve-logd folder, and SpamSieve will start a new one.

6.6.4   What can I do if the rules are damaged?

A damaged rules database can prevent SpamSieve from launching, cause it to report errors, or prevent the Allowlist and Blocklist from working properly. Rules database damage can be caused by crashes or disk errors or if you are storing SpamSieve‘s files in the cloud and using them with more than one Mac at the same time (which is not supported). To fix this:

1. Quit both your mail program and SpamSieve.

2. If you have a backup from before the damage occurred, you can replace the folder:

   /Users/<username>/Library/Application Support/SpamSieve/Rules.spamsieve-rules
   

   with a working copy. See the How can I open the Library folder? section for how to find this file.

3. If you don’t have a backup, you can delete the damaged Rules.spamsieve-rules folder, and SpamSieve will start a new one.

6.7.1   Show menu bar icon

Access Key Commands From Your Mail Client

You can train SpamSieve from within Apple Mail or Outlook using the SpamSieve menu bar icon at the top of the screen.

• The Train as Good/Spam commands operate on the messages that are selected in Apple Mail or Outlook (rather than in SpamSieve’s Corpus or Log window).
• The Filter Messages command lets you manually tell SpamSieve to filter the selected messages in your mail program. For example, you can select a mix of spam and good messages, and Filter Messages will move the spam messages to the Junk mailbox and leave the good ones in place. Filter Messages skips auto-training and notification, so it is suitable to use for bulk processing.

What If I Don’t See the SpamSieve Menu Bar Icon?

First, make sure that Show menu bar icon is checked. If you still don’t see it, the SpamSieve menu bar icon might not be visible if you have lots of other icons shown or if your Mac has a smaller screen. If there isn’t enough space to show the SpamSieve menu bar icon:

• You can remove other menu bar icons to make more space by Command-dragging them off the menu bar or by going to System Settings ‣ Control Center.
• The Control Center icon combines the functionality of many separate icons (Wi-Fi, Battery, Bluetooth, Sound, Battery, etc.), so some of the individual icons may not be necessary if you’re using Control Center.
• If your notebook Mac has a notch (camera housing) that covers the center of the menu bar, note that all of your icons need to fit on the right side of the notch. Even if there is empty menu bar space to the left of the notch, macOS will place any icons that overflow the right side directly in the notch (where they are invisible) rather than using the space to the left.
• If you can see the SpamSieve menu bar icon in some applications but not in others, you can give it priority by holding down the Command key and dragging it towards the right edge of the menu bar. That will ensure that it’s visible in Apple Mail or Outlook where you need to access it.
• You can still train SpamSieve from its Dock menu by clicking and holding on the Dock icon until the menu appears.
• You can still train SpamSieve using the keyboard shortcuts Command-Control-S (for Train as Spam) and Command-Control-G (for Train as Good).

Menu Bar Icon Colors

The SpamSieve menu bar icon changes color while an operation initiated by the menu or a hotkey is in progress (blue when filtering messages, green when training as good, and brown when training as spam).

When the Dock Icon Is Hidden

You can access all of SpamSieve’s menu commands from the menu bar icon if the Dock icon is hidden.

If SpamSieve is hidden from both the menu bar and the Dock, you can still access its settings by opening SpamSieve from your Applications folder when it’s already running.

Menu Not Shown

Due to a macOS bug, clicking the menu bar icon does not show the menu when the Mac has multiple displays, a window on the secondary display is full screen, and you are clicking the menu bar icon on that display. You can work around this by accessing the SpamSieve commands in another way (e.g. via keyboard shortcuts or the menu bar icon on the main display) or by unchecking Show Dock icon in the settings.

6.7.2   Show Dock icon

You can uncheck Show Dock icon to hide SpamSieve’s icon from the Dock. This will also hide it from the Command-Tab application switcher and hide its menus. The menu commands can still be accessed from the SpamSieve menu bar icon. If SpamSieve is hidden from both the menu bar and the Dock, you can still access its settings by opening SpamSieve from your Applications folder when it’s already running.

You can also control the Dock icon setting by clicking the special links below:

• To hide SpamSieve’s Dock icon, click this link.
• To show SpamSieve’s Dock icon, click this link.

If the SpamSieve Icon Is Still In Your Dock

macOS 10.14 and later include a section of the Dock for recent applications, and this can include the icons even of applications that have hidden their icons. To hide SpamSieve from this section, first quit SpamSieve. Then you can either:

• Click and hold on the SpamSieve Dock icon and choose Options ‣ Remove from Dock from the menu; or

• Drag the SpamSieve icon off the Dock; or

• Go to System Settings ‣ Dock & Menu Bar ‣ Dock & Menu Bar and uncheck Show recent applications in Dock to hide that section entirely.

  Note: On macOS 10.15 and earlier, this is in System Settings ‣ Dock ‣ Show recent applications in Dock.

Status in Dock Icon

The top-left of the Dock icon shows an envelope when SpamSieve is idle, a downward pointing arrow when SpamSieve is classifying a message, a check mark when it’s training a message as good, and an x mark when it’s training a message as spam.

6.7.3   Quit when mail client quits

With this checked, SpamSieve will quit itself when you quit an e-mail program, provided that there are no other mail programs running. This prevents SpamSieve’s icon from filling up your Dock when it’s not actually being used (unless you have Show recent applications in Dock checked in the Dock pane of System Settings). Also, it prevents SpamSieve from relaunching Mail or Outlook if it’s in the middle of filtering when that application quit.

6.7.4   Spam-catching strategy

This slider lets you adjust SpamSieve’s bias. The bias controls how aggressive SpamSieve’s Bayesian classifier is at catching spam. When SpamSieve is more aggressive, it is better at catching spam messages that share some characteristics with your good mail. When SpamSieve is more conservative, it will be better at marking borderline messages such as order confirmations and press releases as good. This setting is very powerful, and most users should stick to the middle range. It is also not a substitute for training SpamSieve or making sure that it’s set up properly. Only change the bias if SpamSieve is consistently making errors in the same direction.

7.1.1   Checking the Apple Mail Setup

This section is about checking the setup of Apple Mail and SpamSieve when using the Mail extension setup. If you are using the Mail plug-in setup, you should instead go to the Checking the Apple Mail Setup (Plug-In) section.

1. In Apple Mail:
   1. Go to Settings ‣ Extensions and make sure that SpamSieve is checked.
   2. In Settings ‣ Junk Mail ‣ Junk Mail Behaviors, make sure that Enable junk mail filtering is unchecked.
   3. In Settings ‣ Junk Mail ‣ Blocked, make sure that Enable blocked mail filtering is unchecked.
   4. In Settings ‣ Accounts ‣ Mailbox Behaviors:
      • For each IMAP or Exchange account, check the Junk Mailbox setting and make sure that you select a Junk/Spam/Bulk mailbox that’s on the server, not under On My Mac.
      • For each Gmail account, select [Gmail]/Spam for the Junk Mailbox. If you don’t see that choice, you may need to log into Gmail on the Web and set the Spam label to Show in IMAP. You can see what this looks like in the Hiding Special Gmail Mailboxes From IMAP section.
      • For each POP account, make sure that a Junk mailbox is visible under the account in the sidebar of Mail’s main window.
      • For more information about all of this, see the Setting the Junk Mailbox in Apple Mail section.
   5. In Settings ‣ Accounts, make sure that each account has a unique name. Duplicate Apple Mail Accounts can prevent messages from being filtered.
   6. In Settings ‣ Rules, there should be no active rules that have SpamSieve at the beginning of the rule name or that move messages to Spam, Junk, or Trash.
2. In System Settings ‣ Privacy & Security:
   1. Under Automation, make sure that SpamSieve has access to control Mail. This is described more in the Granting Automation Access section.
   2. Under Full Disk Access, make sure that SpamSieve is listed and that access is enabled. This is described more in the Granting Full Disk Access section.
3. In SpamSieve, go to Settings ‣ Apple Mail ‣ Setup:
   1. Make sure that Enable spam filtering using Mail extension is selected.
   2. Make sure that Check inboxes for new messages not sent to Mail extension is checked. In the event that a macOS bug prevents the Mail extension from filtering new messages, this will double-check the inboxes to remove any spam.
4. If you have new messages arriving in mailboxes other than in the inbox (e.g. because of rules in Apple Mail or on your mail server), go to Settings ‣ Apple Mail ‣ Filtering in SpamSieve and make sure that Filter spam messages in other mailboxes is checked. Click Select Mailboxes to Filter… and make sure that Filter is checked for each mailbox that you want to be filtered.
5. To test that messages are able to move properly for manual operations:
   1. Make sure that you see the SpamSieve menu bar icon at the top of the screen or follow the What If I Don’t See the SpamSieve Menu Bar Icon? instructions.
   2. Drag a spam message to the inbox. Select it and choose Train as Spam from the SpamSieve menu bar icon. Its background color should change to gray. It should move to the Junk mailbox or to whichever location you selected in Settings ‣ Apple Mail ‣ Training.
   3. Drag the spam message back to the inbox again. This time, select it and choose Filter Messages from the SpamSieve menu bar icon. It should move to the Junk mailbox or to the Trash, depending on how you have the Move it to the Trash if the spam score is at least option configured.
6. Finally, we need to check whether automatic operations work:
   1. When you receive a new spam message, go to Settings ‣ Apple Mail ‣ Filtering. Click the Filter Now button and wait for it to finish to ensure that SpamSieve has processed all the new messages.
   2. Then go to the Window menu and choose Log to open the Log window. Scroll to the bottom.
   3. There should be a log entry for the new message:
      • Predicted: Spam indicates that the message was processed, and SpamSieve correctly thought it was spam.
      • Predicted: Good indicates that SpamSieve made a mistake on this message, but at least it is automatically processing new mail.
      • If there is no Predicted log entry, something is not right, and there will probably be an Error log entry explaining what the problem is.
      • If it works with Filter Now, it should work automatically, although there may be a slight delay before messages are filtered, depending on how often you’ve set SpamSieve to check for new messages and how much mail you have. You can use the Add green flag to unread good messages option to help see when SpamSieve has finished processing your inbox.

If something is not as described above, check the Log window in SpamSieve to see whether an error was reported. If you don’t understand what the problem is, please go to SpamSieve’s Help menu and choose Save Diagnostic Report. Contact technical support, attaching the report file, and explain what happened when you followed these instructions.

7.1.2   Checking the Apple Mail Setup (Plug-In)

This section is about checking the setup of Apple Mail and SpamSieve when using the Mail plug-in setup. If you are using the Mail extension setup, you should instead go to the Checking the Apple Mail Setup section.

1. Go to the Settings ‣ Apple Mail ‣ Setup window in SpamSieve:
   1. Make sure that Enable spam filtering using Mail plug-in is checked.
   2. If you do not see the SpamSieve training commands in Mail’s Message menu, click Install Plug-In button in the Settings ‣ Apple Mail ‣ Setup window. There is more information about this in the Why don’t I see the SpamSieve commands in Apple Mail’s Message menu? section.
2. Make sure that SpamSieve has Full Disk Access and Automation access to control Mail (if you are using macOS 10.14 or later).
3. Go to the Junk pane of Mail’s Settings window and make sure that Enable junk mail filtering is unchecked.
4. Go to the Rules pane of Mail’s Settings window and make sure that you have a rule like the one shown in the Setting Up Apple Mail (Plug-In) section:
   1. Make sure there is a check mark next to the SpamSieve rule, indicating that it’s active.
   2. Make sure that the rule’s name starts with SpamSieve.
   3. Make sure that the rule’s conditions say Every Message.
   4. Make sure that the rule does not have any Set Color actions.
   5. Make sure there are no other rules that move spam messages to another mailbox or the trash. (Exception: in rare cases, you may want to create an “unwanted messages” rule, as described in the Correct All Mistakes section.)
   6. Drag the SpamSieve rule to the top of the list, if it isn’t there already. (Exceptions: If you’re using the drone setup, the Remote Training rule should be above the SpamSieve rule. If you are using an “unwanted messages”, as in (e), it should be above the SpamSieve rule.)
   7. Even if the rule looks correct, it can help to delete it and create a new one. (If you do this, be sure to click Don’t Apply when it asks whether you want to re-apply the rules.)
5. iCloud syncing can cause problems with Apple Mail. If you are not actually using Mail on multiple Macs, you can turn off its iCloud support to prevent these problems. Open System Settings, click on Apple ID, click on iCloud, click on iCloud Drive, click on Apps syncing to iCloud Drive, then uncheck Mail.app.
6. If training a spam message in the inbox as spam does not cause it to change color and move to the spam mailbox, please see Duplicate Apple Mail Accounts section. If you are using macOS 10.14 or later, check that SpamSieve has Automation access.

Testing That the Rule Works

1. Select a spam message in Mail.

2. Choose SpamSieve - Train as Spam from the Message menu to tell SpamSieve that it is spam. (If messages don’t move to the spam mailbox when trained, please see the Duplicate Apple Mail Accounts section.)

3. Drag the message to your inbox and select it again.

4. Choose Apply Rules from the Message menu.

   Note: This will also apply your other Mail rules.

If the message moved to the Junk mailbox after Step 4, the rule worked. SpamSieve will be able to catch other messages like this if it’s properly configured and trained.

If something is not as described above check the Log window in SpamSieve to see whether an error was reported. If you don’t understand what the problem is, please go to SpamSieve’s Help menu and choose Save Diagnostic Report. Contact technical support, attaching the report file, and explain what happened when you followed these instructions.

/Users/<username>/Library/Application Support/Mail/Plug-ins/

7.1.3   Checking the Airmail Setup

The Setting Up Airmail section describes how to set up Airmail to filter your mail using SpamSieve.

• The SpamSieve application must be stored directly in your Applications folder, as shown in the Installing SpamSieve section.
• In Airmail’s Settings ‣ Accounts ‣ Mapping, each account must have a Spam folder configured.
• Make sure that Airmail has Automation access to control SpamSieve (if you are using macOS 10.14 or later).

To test that the setup works:

1. When you receive a new message, note its subject.
2. Click on SpamSieve’s icon in the Dock.
3. Choose Log from the Window menu.

The setup is correct if there’s a log entry (near the bottom) that says Predicted: Good or Predicted: Spam and shows the subject for the new message.

If you don’t see the expected log entries for new messages:

1. Uncheck Use SpamSieve in Airmail’s settings.
2. Quit Airmail, and then launch Airmail.
3. Check Use SpamSieve in Airmail’s settings.
4. Repeat the steps above to test whether the setup works.

If you don’t see the expected log entries for new messages, please contact technical support and explain what happened when you followed these instructions.

Reinstalling Airmail

Sometimes it may help to uninstall Airmail, remove its files from your Library folder, reinstall Airmail, and add all your accounts back.

Messages Classified as Spam But Not Moved to Spam Mailbox

If you see spam messages in your inbox, it might be because SpamSieve thought they were good, but it might also be that SpamSieve thought they were spam but Airmail was unable to move them to the Spam mailbox. To see whether this is the case:

1. Choose Log from the Window menu. If the log entries for the messages in question say Predicted: Spam, that means that SpamSieve did correctly classify them as spam.
2. From Airmail’s Window menu, choose Operations. This will show a log of Airmail’s actions, which may provide clues about messages that Airmail tried to move out of the inbox.

7.1.4   Checking the Entourage Setup

1. Choose Install Entourage Scripts from the SpamSieve menu.
2. Choose Junk E-mail protection… from Entourage’s Tools menu and make sure it’s set to None.
3. Choose Mailing List Manager from Entourage’s Tools menu. If there are any rules, for each rule click on the Advanced tab and make sure that Do not apply rules to list messages is unchecked. (If you continue to experience problems, try unchecking each rule itself, to disable it.)
4. Choose Rules… from Entourage’s Tools menu and make sure that you’ve created two SpamSieve rules, as shown in the Setting Up Entourage section:
   1. Make sure that the rules are of the proper type. That is, if you have a POP mail account, you need two POP rules; if you have an IMAP account, you need two IMAP rules.
   2. Make sure that the SpamSieve - Move Messages rule says “if any criteria” rather than “if all criteria.”
   3. Make sure that the SpamSieve rules are at the top of the list.
   4. Make sure that the SpamSieve - Move If Spam rule is above the SpamSieve - Move Messages rule.
   5. Make sure both SpamSieve rules have check marks next to their names, indicating that they are enabled.
   6. Make sure there are no other rules that move messages to the Junk E-mail folder.

To test that the rules work:

1. Select a spam message in Entourage.
2. Choose SpamSieve - Train Spam from the Scripts menu to tell SpamSieve that it is spam.
3. Change the category of the message to None (using Edit ‣ Categories ‣ None).
4. Choose Apply Rule ‣ SpamSieve - Move If Spam from the Message menu.

If the message’s category was changed to Junk after Step 4, the rule worked. SpamSieve will be able to catch other messages like this if it’s properly configured and trained.

If the message’s category did not change to Junk, there is some other problem with Entourage or SpamSieve. Please contact technical support and explain what happened when you followed these instructions.

7.1.5   Checking the GyazMail Setup

1. Make sure that you have followed the instructions in the Setting Up GyazMail section.
2. Make sure that the SpamSieve rule is at the top of the list.
3. If you are using macOS 10.14 or later, make sure that GyazMail has Automation access to control SpamSieve.

To test that the rules work:

1. Select a spam message in GyazMail.
2. From the Message menu, choose Junk ‣ Mark as Junk.
3. Drag the message back to your inbox and select it there.
4. From the Message menu, choose Apply Rule ‣ All Rules.

If the message moves back to your spam mailbox, the rule worked. SpamSieve will be able to catch other messages like this if it’s properly configured and trained.

Otherwise, there is some other problem with GyazMail or SpamSieve. Please contact technical support and explain what happened when you followed these instructions.

7.1.6   Checking the MailMate Setup

1. Make sure that you have followed the instructions in the Setting Up MailMate section. It may help to toggle the Enable for messages in setting to a random mailbox and then back to Inbox.
2. If you are using macOS 10.14 or later, make sure that MailMate has Automation access to control SpamSieve.
3. If you are using an Apple Silicon Mac, make sure that you are using version r5782 of MailMate or later to work around a suspected bug in Rosetta.
4. Make sure that you have no other MailMate rules for catching spam messages and moving them to Junk or Trash.

To test that the setup works:

1. When you receive a new message, note its subject.
2. Click on SpamSieve’s icon in the Dock.
3. Choose Log from the Window menu.

The setup is correct if there’s a log entry (near the bottom) that says Predicted: Good or Predicted: Spam and shows the subject for the new message.

If you don’t see the expected log entries for new messages, please contact technical support and explain what happened when you followed these instructions.

MailMate Debug Logging

It may also help to enable MailMate debug logging by entering this command in Terminal:

defaults write com.freron.MailMate DebugSpamDetection -bool YES

Then launch MailMate from a Terminal window like this:

/Applications/MailMate.app/Contents/MacOS/MailMate

Now, you can review whether or not MailMate detected an incoming message and how it acted on it.

Resetting MailMate Messages

If you think the issue is related to a specific message, you can “emulate” the message arriving in your Inbox using Message ‣ Reset…. This makes MailMate forget it saw the message, and it will then re-discover it when synchronizing (which should happen automatically). This should include triggering the SpamSieve integration.

Some messages will have the IMAP keyword $NotJunk set. This should only happen if the user explicitly moved or marked a message as not being junk. Resetting such a message will not work since it’s ignored by MailMate.

You can view the IMAP keywords of a message by enabling the Raw Flags column in the message list.

7.1.7   Checking the Mailsmith Setup

The Setting Up Mailsmith section describes how to set up Mailsmith to filter your mail using SpamSieve.

1. Make sure that you are using version 2.3.1 or later of Mailsmith.
2. Make sure that Use SpamSieve is checked in the preferences. If that option is disabled:
   1. Make sure you have only one copy each of Mailsmith and SpamSieve installed. If there are any old versions in the trash, empty the trash.
   2. Launch SpamSieve directly from the Finder, by double-clicking its icon. (Do not use the Dock icon or an application launcher.)
   3. Launch Mailsmith (again, by double-clicking its icon).
   4. Open Mailsmith’s Preferences window, and verify that the Use SpamSieve option is enabled.
3. If you are using the Leave it in “(incoming mail)” option, make sure that a deposit or transfer filter isn’t acting on the spam messages before your spam filter can.
4. To test the connection between Mailsmith and SpamSieve, select a message and choose Recalculate Spam Score from Mailsmith’s Message menu. Then choose Log from the Window menu and verify that a “Predicted” entry for that message was added to the log.

7.1.8   Checking the Outlook 2011 Setup

1. Make sure that Outlook has Automation access to control SpamSieve (if you are using macOS 10.14 or later).
2. Click Install Scripts in Settings ‣ Outlook ‣ Outlook 2011.
3. Choose Junk E-mail protection… from Outlook’s Tools menu and make sure it’s set to None.
4. Choose Mailing List Manager… from Outlook’s Tools menu. If there are any rules, for each rule click on the Advanced tab and make sure that Do not apply rules to list messages is unchecked. (If you continue to experience problems, try unchecking each rule itself, to disable it.)
5. Choose Rules… from Outlook’s Tools menu and make sure that you’ve created two SpamSieve rules, as shown in the Setting Up Outlook 2011 section:
   1. Make sure that the rules are of the proper type. That is, if you have a POP mail account, you need two POP rules; if you have an IMAP account, you need two IMAP rules.
   2. Make sure that the SpamSieve - Move Messages rule says “If any conditions” rather than “If all conditions.”
   3. Make sure that the SpamSieve rules are at the top of the list.
   4. Make sure that the SpamSieve - Set Category rule is above the SpamSieve - Move Messages rule.
   5. Make sure both SpamSieve rules have check marks next to their names, indicating that they are enabled.
   6. Make sure there are no other rules that move messages to the Junk E-mail folder.
6. Choose Accounts… from Outlook’s Tools menu. If you have any IMAP accounts, click the Advanced… button, then click the Folders tab, and make sure that it’s set to Move deleted message to this folder. Otherwise, the caught spams may still appear on your iPhone.
7. Choose Settings… from the Outlook menu and click on Reading. Make sure that Hide IMAP messages marked for deletion is checked. This will ensure that you do not see spam messages that were caught on another computer.

To test that the rules work:

1. Select a spam message in Outlook.
2. Choose SpamSieve - Train as Spam from the Scripts menu to tell SpamSieve that it is spam.
3. Remove the categories of the message (using Message ‣ Categorize ‣ Clear All).
4. Drag the message back to your inbox and select it there.
5. Choose Rules ‣ Apply ‣ SpamSieve - Set Category from the Message menu.

If the message’s category was changed to Junk after Step 5, the rule worked. SpamSieve will be able to catch other messages like this if it’s properly configured and trained.

If the message’s category did not change to Junk, there is some other problem with Outlook or SpamSieve. Please contact technical support and explain what happened when you followed these instructions.

7.1.9   Checking the Outlook Setup

This section is about checking the setup of Microsoft Office 365 (also known as Outlook 2016 and Outlook 2019, versions 15.x and 16.x) and SpamSieve when using the Inbox setup. If you are using the InboxSpamSieve setup, you should instead go to the Checking the Outlook Setup (Large Inboxes) section. For older versions of Outlook, please see the Checking the Outlook 2011 Setup section.

1. In Outlook, go to the Outlook menu and make sure that Legacy Outlook is checked or that New Outlook is unchecked. (Some versions of Outlook don’t have these settings, which is OK.)
2. In System Settings ‣ Privacy & Security ‣ Automation, make sure that SpamSieve has access to control Outlook. This is described more in the Granting Automation Access section. (This step only applies if you are using macOS 10.14 or later.)
3. In SpamSieve, go to Settings ‣ Outlook ‣ Setup. Make sure that Enable spam filtering for Inbox is selected. (If Outlook is hanging or acting unresponsive, reduce the number of messages stored in your inbox or switch to Enable spam filtering for InboxSpamSieve, as described in the Setting Up Outlook (Large Inboxes) section.)
4. To test that messages are able to move properly for manual operations:
   1. Make sure that you see the SpamSieve menu bar icon at the top of the screen or follow the What If I Don’t See the SpamSieve Menu Bar Icon? instructions.
   2. Drag a spam message to the inbox. Select it and choose Train as Spam from the SpamSieve menu bar icon. Its category and color should change to Junk. It should move to the Junk Email folder.
   3. Drag the spam message back to the inbox again. This time, select it and choose Filter Messages from the SpamSieve menu bar icon. It should move to the Junk Email folder.
5. Finally, we need to check whether automatic operations work:
   1. Drag the spam message from the previous step to the inbox and mark it as unread.
   2. Go to Settings ‣ Outlook ‣ Filtering and click the Filter Now button. The message should move to the Junk Email folder.
   3. If it works with Filter Now, it should work automatically, although there may be a slight delay before messages are filtered, depending on how often you’ve set SpamSieve to check for new messages and how much mail you have.

If something is not as described above check the Log window in SpamSieve to see whether an error was reported. If you don’t understand what the problem is, please go to SpamSieve’s Help menu and choose Save Diagnostic Report. Contact technical support, attaching the report file, and explain what happened when you followed these instructions.

7.1.10   Checking the Outlook Setup (Large Inboxes)

This section is about checking the setup of Microsoft Office 365 (also known as Outlook 2016 and Outlook 2019, versions 15.x and 16.x) and SpamSieve when using the InboxSpamSieve setup. If you are using the Inbox setup, you should instead go to the Checking the Outlook Setup section. For older versions of Outlook, please see the Checking the Outlook 2011 Setup section.

1. In Outlook:
   1. Go to the Outlook menu and make sure that Legacy Outlook is checked or that New Outlook is unchecked. (Some versions of Outlook don’t have these settings, which is OK.)
   2. Make sure that each account has an InboxSpamSieve folder. You need to be able to move messages into this folder. With some mail hosts, this is only possible if the InboxSpamSieve folder is created inside the Inbox or if the IMAP Root Folder in Outlook’s settings is set to the Inbox. Otherwise, Outlook may report the error “Client tried to access nonexistent namespace. (Mailbox name should probably be prefixed with: INBOX.).”
   3. In the Tools ‣ Rules window, make sure that each account has a rule for moving new messages to the InboxSpamSieve folder, as described in the section Outlook IMAP/Exchange Account Rules, Outlook Gmail Account Rules, or Outlook POP Account Rules (depending on the type of the account).
2. In System Settings ‣ Privacy & Security ‣ Automation, make sure that SpamSieve has access to control Outlook. This is described more in the Granting Automation Access section. (This step only applies if you are using macOS 10.14 or later.)
3. In SpamSieve, go to Settings ‣ Outlook ‣ Setup. Make sure that Enable spam filtering for InboxSpamSieve is selected.
4. To test that messages are able to move properly for manual operations:
   1. Make sure that you see the SpamSieve menu bar icon at the top of the screen or follow the What If I Don’t See the SpamSieve Menu Bar Icon? instructions.
   2. Drag a spam message to the inbox. Select it and choose Train as Spam from the SpamSieve menu bar icon. Its category and color should change to Junk. It should move to the Junk Email folder.
   3. Drag the spam message back to the inbox again. This time, select it and choose Filter Messages from the SpamSieve menu bar icon. It should move to the Junk Email folder.
5. Finally, we need to check whether automatic operations work:
   1. When new messages are sent to you, they should temporarily move to the InboxSpamSieve folder. They will stay there longer depending on the time interval set in Settings ‣ Outlook ‣ Filtering.
   2. Good messages in the InboxSpamSieve folder should move to the inbox, and spam messages there should move to the Junk Email folder. After filtering is complete, the InboxSpamSieve folder should be empty (unless new messages have arrived in the interim).
   3. You can test this by dragging a spam message to the InboxSpamSieve folder. Then go to Settings ‣ Outlook ‣ Filtering and click Filter Now.
   4. If it works with Filter Now, it should work automatically, although there may be a slight delay before messages are filtered, depending on how often you’ve set SpamSieve to check for new messages and how much mail you have.

If something is not as described above check the Log window in SpamSieve to see whether an error was reported. If you don’t understand what the problem is, please go to SpamSieve’s Help menu and choose Save Diagnostic Report. Contact technical support, attaching the report file, and explain what happened when you followed these instructions.

7.1.11   Checking the Postbox Setup

The Setting Up Postbox section describes how to set up Postbox to filter your mail using SpamSieve. Versions 2.x through 5.x of Postbox are supported.

1. Go to Postbox’s Tools menu and choose Add-ons. The Installed Add-Ons section of the window should show SpamSieve Postbox Plug-in.
2. Make sure that Do not mark mail as junk if the sender is in… is not checked.
3. Make sure that Trust junk mail headers set by… is not checked.

To test that the setup works:

1. When you receive a new message, note its subject.
2. Click on SpamSieve’s icon in the Dock.
3. Choose Log from the Window menu.

The setup is correct if there’s a log entry (near the bottom) that says Predicted: Good or Predicted: Spam and shows the subject for the new message.

If you don’t see the expected log entries for new messages, please contact technical support and explain what happened when you followed these instructions.

7.1.12   Checking the PowerMail Setup

1. Quit PowerMail, delete the folder:

   /Users/<username>/Library/Application Support/PowerMail
   

   and then re-launch PowerMail. (See the How can I open the Library folder? section.) If the script files that PowerMail uses to communicate with SpamSieve are damaged, this will fix them.

2. Make sure that you’ve followed the instructions in the Setting Up PowerMail section.

   • Make sure that the conditions for the Spam: evaluate filter are not excluding the messages that you want SpamSieve to filter. For example, try editing the filter so that it has just a single condition that says Always.
   • Make sure that the Spam: evaluate filter is at the top of the list.
   • Make sure that the Spam: actions filter is directly below the Spam: evaluate filter.

To test that the setup works:

1. Select a spam message in PowerMail.
2. Choose Mark as Spam from the Mail menu to tell SpamSieve that it is spam.
3. Choose Perform Filter ‣ Spam: evaluate from the Mail menu.
4. Click on SpamSieve’s icon in the Dock. Then choose Log from the Window menu.

The setup is correct if the last entry in the log says Predicted: Spam and shows the subject for the message that you had selected. SpamSieve will be able to catch other messages like this if it’s properly configured and trained.

Otherwise, there is some other problem with PowerMail or SpamSieve. Please contact technical support and explain what happened when you followed these instructions.

7.1.13   Checking the Training

SpamSieve is nearly 100% accurate, but only when properly trained. Here’s how you can check the training:

1. Choose Statistics from the Window menu. Does the Corpus section show at least 100 spam messages and 100 good messages? If not, follow the instructions in the Do an Initial Training section.

2. If SpamSieve has misclassified any messages, it needs to know this or its accuracy will decline. This is described in the Correct All Mistakes section. If SpamSieve misclassified some messages and you have not yet corrected its mistakes, do so now. You can check the lists of good and spam messages in the Corpus window to see whether any need correcting.

3. Check the percentage of spam messages in the Corpus section of the Statistics window. It should be between 55% and 75%. If not, train SpamSieve with more spam or good messages so that the percentage is in this range.

4. Check the number of spam and good messages in the Corpus section of the Statistics window. If the corpus is very large (more than 4,000 messages) and SpamSieve is not catching your spam, the corpus may contain incorrect or obsolete messages that reduce SpamSieve’s effectiveness and make it slower to adapt. Choose Reset Corpus… from the File menu and then follow the instructions in the Do an Initial Training section.

   Note: You should only reset the corpus after you’ve checked all the other items in the Why is SpamSieve not catching my spam? section.

7.2.1   Sending in an Error Report

If an error window appeared on your screen, please include the exact text of the error message in your e-mail. (It may help to use Copy and Paste.)

Please also send in any errors that were reported in the system log:

1. From SpamSieve’s Help menu, choose Save Diagnostic Report… at the bottom. (If you can’t access the Help menu because the Dock icon is hidden, click this link to save a diagnostic report. If you can’t launch SpamSieve to access its Help menu, see below.)
2. Choose a location such as your desktop and click Save. Saving the report may take a minute or so.
3. Create an e-mail to spamsieve@c-command.com and drag the Diagnostic Report.tbz file into the e-mail message to include it as an attachment/enclosure. (Do not post it in the forum or in reply to a forum e-mail.) If the file is too large to e-mail, you can share a link using iCloud Drive or Dropbox or use the C-Command Forum to send it to us via private message.

If you can’t launch SpamSieve, you can access the log directly (if you’re using macOS 10.15 or later), rather than using the automated diagnostic reporter:

1. Click on Finder in the Dock.
2. Open the Library folder, as described in the How can I open the Library folder? section.
3. Open the Logs folder.
4. Open the “SpamSieve” folder.
5. Find the App Log.log file and attach it to your e-mail message.

7.2.2   Sending in Screenshots

To help troubleshoot problems in your mail program, please include screenshots of:

1. Any errors that were reported (if applicable).
2. The message list in your mail program.
3. The rule list in your mail program (including both regular rules and mailing list manager rules, if applicable).
4. The individual SpamSieve rule(s) that you created in the mail program (if any).

To take a screenshot, hold down the Command and Shift keys and press the number 4. Then use the mouse to select the area of the screen that you want to take a picture of. This will create a file called Screen Shot <date> at <time>.png on your desktop. Pressing the keys again will create Screen Shot <date> at <new time>.png, etc.

You can also take screenshots using the File ‣ Take Screenshot command in the Preview application.

To send in screeenshots, drag the files into your e-mail window to attach them to your message. If you’re using Apple Mail, be sure to set the Image Size pop-up menu at the bottom of the message window to Actual Size.

7.2.3   Sending in a “Sample” Report

If an app is slow, hangs (e.g. with a spinning beachball), or freezes, a “sample” report can record what your Mac was doing in order to locate the source of the problem. Depending on which app is slow or not responding, you may want to record samples from SpamSieve, Apple Mail, and/or another app.

1. Click on Finder in the Dock.
2. From the Go menu, choose Utilities.
3. Double-click the Activity Monitor program.
4. Select the app in the Activity Monitor window.
5. Do whatever it is in the app that causes the slowness, hang, or freeze. Immediately, click on Activity Monitor in the Dock and choose Sample Process from the View menu.
6. After Activity Monitor has finished taking the sample, click the Save… button in the “Sample of <App>” window. Save the file to your desktop and then include it in your e-mail message to spamsieve@c-command.com as an attachment. (Please do not copy and paste the text from the Activity Monitor window.)

7.2.4   Sending in Crash Log Files

If SpamSieve itself crashes, the SpamSieve Crash Reporter window should automatically come up. Make sure that you enter a valid e-mail address and then click the Send Report button.

If your mail program (or a helper process such as spamsieve-reader) crashes, you’ll need to send in the crash log file manually.

Crash logs are stored in the folder:

/Users/<username>/Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/

First click on the Finder in the Dock, then click on the Go menu, and hold down the Option key as you choose Library. Open the Logs folder, then DiagnosticReports.

Once you’ve opened the DiagnosticReports folder, find the most recent crash log file for the app that crashed and add it to your e-mail message to spamsieve@c-command.com as an attachment.

The crash log file’s name will end with either .crash or .ips. It may be in the DiagnosticReports folder or in the Retired folder inside of DiagnosticReports.

Note: On macOS 13 and earlier, you may be able to temporarily stop crashes in Apple Mail by removing all of the .mailbundle files from the folder:

/Users/<username>/Library/Mail/Bundles/

7.6.1   Turning Off the AOL Spam Filter

It is not possible to turn off the AOL spam filter, however:

• You can set up SpamSieve to rescue good messages caught by AOL’s junk filter and move the spam messages to SpamSieve’s mailbox.
• You can tell AOL to move certain known good messages to a specific folder to prevent them from being moved to Junk:
  1. Log into your AOL account using a Web browser.
  2. Go to Options ‣ Mail Settings ‣ Filter Settings ‣ Create filter.
  3. Under Look for incoming messages matching all of the follow, select From contains and enter an e-mail address or domain.
  4. Next to Move matched messages to folder, select a folder for your good messages. (Unfortunately, AOL does not let you select the inbox itself.)
  5. Click Save.

7.6.2   Turning Off the DreamHost Spam Filter

You can set certain addresses to always be allowed or turn off spam filtering entirely.

7.6.3   Turning Off the Fastmail Spam Filter

1. Log into Fastmail’s Web mail and click on the Mail menu at the top left.

2. Click on Settings, then Spam Protection.

3. Make sure that Custom is selected:

   

4. Make sure that Move and Permanently delete are unchecked.

5. Make sure that Mark spam as read is unchecked.

6. You can optionally click Show advanced preferences, go to the Backscatter section, and select With bounce spam: Do nothing to have Fastmail ignore messages where it thinks a spammer impersonated you to send spam.

7.6.4   Turning Off the Gmail Spam Filter

SpamSieve users often find that Gmail’s spam filter is unnecessary because SpamSieve catches more of the spam, and they want to turn off the Gmail filter to prevent any good messages from accidentally being caught. To disable Gmail’s junk mail filter:

1. If you normally log into https://gmail.com in your browser, do that now and then move on to Step 2. If you normally use https://inbox.google.com, you can get to regular Gmail by clicking the 3×3 grid button at the top and then clicking the Gmail icon:

   

2. Click the gear at the top right, choose Settings, then click on Filters and Blocked Addresses.

   

3. Click Create a new filter. Enter {(to:me) (deliveredto:USERNAME@gmail.com)} in the Has the words field (replacing USERNAME with your actual Gmail username). Click Create filter.

   

4. Make sure that Never send it to Spam is checked and click Create filter.

   

6. Your filter should now look like this:

   

7. If you use multiple variants of your Gmail address, e.g. some with periods and some without, you may need to create an addition filter using the USERNAME for each variant.

7.6.5   Turning Off the GoDaddy Spam Filter

GoDaddy has two levels of junk mail filtering. The mail servers (both Exchange and IMAP) have built-in global spam filtering (affecting all users) that cannot be disabled. There are also per-user additional settings that can be disabled by selecting Turn off filtering.

7.6.6   Turning Off the HostGator Spam Filter

The instructions here explain how to disable SpamAssassin.

7.6.7   Turning Off the Hover Spam Filter

1. Log into your Hover Webmail at https://mail.hover.com.
2. Go to Settings ‣ Spam Settings.
3. Change the folder so that spam messages are moved to your inbox.

7.6.8   Turning Off the iCloud Spam Filter

It is not possible to turn off iCloud’s junk filter, and iCloud deletes some suspected spam messages without even putting them in your Junk mailbox. Thus, iCloud is not one of our Recommended Mail Hosts.

If iCloud’s junk filter is moving good messages to the Junk mailbox, they will show up in Apple Mail’s message list with a white background and/or brown text, as compared with the messages caught by SpamSieve, which have black text and a colored background.

You can can train iCloud with those messages using iCloud.com (not from within Mail) or set up SpamSieve to scan the Junk mailbox and rescue the good messages.

7.6.9   Turning Off Microsoft Spam Filters

Rule Method

To turn off the server junk filter for an Outlook.com, Hotmail, or Office 365 mail account:

1. Log into the account using your Web browser, e.g at https://outlook.live.com.

2. Click on the gear icon at the top right, then click View all Outlook settings.

   

3. Click on Mail, then Rules, then Add new rule.

   

4. Set the rule’s name to Turn off Spam Filter, set the condition to Apply to all messages, and set the action to Move to Inbox.

   

5. Click the Save button.

Power Automate Method (Requires School or Work Account)

We’ve heard that for some users Outlook does not honor a rule created in the above manner. In such cases, there is another way to disable the server junk filter using Power Automate:

1. Log into Microsoft Flow.

2. Click on Connectors at the left, then Outlook.com (not Office 365 Outlook).

   

3. Click on the When a new email arrives (V2) trigger.

   

4. Choose Junk Email for the Folder and click New Step.

   

5. Search for move email and select Move email (V2) as the action.

   

6. Set the Folder to Inbox and click Save.

7.6.10   Turning Off the Proton Mail Spam Filter

This can be done by creating a custom filter using SIEVE (unrelated to SpamSieve):

1. Log into Proton Mail with your browser.

2. Go to Settings ‣ Filters.

3. Click the Add sieve filter button.

4. Replaced the existing code in the text box with:

   require “fileinto”;
   fileinto “Inbox”;
   

7.6.11   Turning Off the Yahoo Mail Spam Filter

Note: As of December 2024, we’ve received a report that Yahoo rules can no longer move messages that its spam filter caught, so it’s possible that the workarounds below will no longer work. However, other users have not reported this problem, so we continue to offer these instructions in the hope that they’re helpful. If you are unable to turn off the Yahoo filter, another option is to follow the Rescuing Good Messages Caught By a Server Filter instructions.

New Yahoo Mail

1. Log into your Yahoo Mail at https://mail.yahoo.com.

2. Click on the gear menu.

   

3. Click on More Settings.

   

4. Click on Filters.

   

5. Click + Add new filters and create a filter named Turn Off Spam Filter, with From contains @ that moves the messages to Inbox. If Inbox is not selectable from the Choose folder to move to menu at the left, you may need to type Inbox in the text field that says Folder name.

   

6. Click Save.

7. Make sure that the new rule is at the bottom of the list. You can move it by selecting the rule and clicking the down-arrow button.

Classic Yahoo Mail

1. Log into your Yahoo Mail at https://mail.yahoo.com.

2. Click on the gear menu.

   

3. Click on Settings, then Filters.

   

4. Click Add and create a filter that matches @ in the sender and delivers the messages to Inbox.

   

5. Click Save.

6. Make sure that the new rule is at the bottom of the list. You can move it by selecting the rule and clicking the down-arrow button.

7.6.12   Turning Off Other Spam Filters

Many mail hosts offer SpamAssassin or a similar filter. Make sure the filter is set not to add **Junk**, [Spam], or another tag to the message’s subject. Also, try to configure the filter not to move the messages out of the inbox. It is actually good if you can leave the filter on, but set so that it only tags the message’s headers (e.g. by adding X-Spam-Status and X-Spam-Report headers). This will allow SpamSieve to incorporate the work that the server filter has done into its analysis.

7.12.1   Why doesn’t my serial number work?

You need to enter the serial name and serial number exactly as they appear on your order confirmation e-mail. If you no longer have this e-mail, you can look up the name and number. Launch SpamSieve and choose Purchase from the SpamSieve menu. Then click the Look Up My Serial Number button.

7.12.2   Should I download SpamSieve from this free site?

No. We only recommend downloading SpamSieve from https://c-command.com and from reputable download sites such as Apple and MacUpdate. The C-Command Store lists all the vendors that are authorized to sell SpamSieve. Downloads from other sites may include adware or viruses.

The following sites:

DropDMG.downloads4mac.com
DropDMG.install4mac.com
DropDMG.macsoftware.com
DropDMG.onFreeDownload.com
EagleFiler.downloads4mac.com
EagleFiler.install4mac.com
EagleFiler.macsoftware.com
EagleFiler.onFreeDownload.com    
SpamSieve.downloads4mac.com
SpamSieve.install4mac.com
SpamSieve.macsoftware.com
SpamSieve.onFreeDownload.com

are not authorized to distribute our software. They have been a source of confusion because they often appear in ads at the top of search results for Bing, DuckDuckGo, and Yahoo. We do not recommend downloading from these sites. In many cases, they will say that they are offering an “official” copy of SpamSieve that is anything but. In fact, the installer asks for your administrator password, installs adware, and makes other changes that may damage your Mac.

CNET’s Download.com offers a Direct Download Link, which is valid; however it also offers a more prominent Download Now Installer Enabled link, which we do not recommend. The CNET installer installs toolbar adware and changes browser settings. This page explains how you can remove the toolbar.

7.12.3   How can I copy my training data to another machine?

SpamSieve’s Data Files

SpamSieve stores its training data in the folder:

/Users/<username>/Library/Application Support/SpamSieve/

and it stores its preferences in the file:

/Users/<username>/Library/Preferences/com.c-command.SpamSieve.plist

You should back up both of these. (See the How can I open the Library folder? section for how to access them.)

Moving or Copying SpamSieve to Another Mac (or User Account)

To transfer SpamSieve’s data to another machine, first quit both copies of SpamSieve. Then copy the folder and the preferences file to the corresponding locations on the other machine.

• You can do this using Migration Assistant.
• Or you could temporarily copy them from one Mac to iCloud Drive and then from iCloud Drive to the other Mac. (Do not keep the live copy of SpamSieve’s data in cloud storage; this will lead to database corruption.)

Your SpamSieve license will be transferred when you copy the preferences file. You can also transfer it manually, by looking up your order information.

When copying your SpamSieve setup to a Mac that didn’t previously have SpamSieve installed, you’ll need to put the SpamSieve application file in the Applications folder and do the setup in your mail program, but you can skip the initial training process because of the files that you copied above.

If you are copying the training data because you want to use SpamSieve on both Macs (rather than just moving it from one to the other), please see the SpamSieve and Multiple Macs section.

Restoring From a Backup

1. Restore the SpamSieve folder and the com.c-command.SpamSieve.plist file that are mentioned above.
2. Go to the SpamSieve Web site and click the Download button.
3. Complete the installation steps in the Installing SpamSieve and Using SpamSieve sections, except that you can skip the initial training.

7.12.4   Does SpamSieve launch automatically?

Yes. Once it’s installed, you do not need to launch SpamSieve yourself:

• Apple Mail and Outlook will launch SpamSieve when they launch.
• The other mail clients will launch SpamSieve when they receive new e-mail messages that need to be processed or when you train a message as spam or as good.

In order to avoid SpamSieve showing the Settings window when it’s not wanted, we recommend that you do not add SpamSieve to System Settings ‣ General ‣ Login Items ‣ Open at Login. It should only be under Allow in the Background.

If SpamSieve is not auto-launching as it should, please:

• Make sure that it’s installed in the /Applications folder as described in the Installing SpamSieve section.
• Go to System Settings ‣ General ‣ Login Items and make sure that SpamSieve is enabled under Allow in the Background.
• Find the appropriate section to check the setup in your mail client.
• Try toggling filtering off and then on again in Settings ‣ Apple Mail ‣ Setup or Settings ‣ Outlook ‣ Setup.
• See the Sending in an Error Report section.

Although the SpamSieve application must be running in order to filter your mail, it ordinarily runs in the background with no user interface visible. The Dock icon can be hidden if desired, and you can also set it to quit when your mail client quits.

7.12.5   Can I use SpamSieve with more than one mail program at a time?

Yes; many people do this to separate their personal and business mail, and you can even use the two mail programs simultaneously. Whether you’re using multiple mail programs or just switching from one to another, you just need to follow the setup instructions once for each mail program. SpamSieve will automatically share its training data, rules, and statistics among all the mail programs.

7.12.6   Why does SpamSieve need to access my contacts?

SpamSieve tries to read your macOS address book in order to prevent marking messages as spam if they were sent by one of your known contacts. This is controlled by the Use macOS Contacts preference.

It also reads which e-mail addresses are yours, in order to detect spam messages that may have been forged to come from your own address. This is controlled by the Catch spam sent from my own addresses preference.

Normally, macOS will remember when you’ve given SpamSieve permission to access the contacts. If it keeps prompting you each time SpamSieve is launched, this is probably because you have modified your copy of the SpamSieve application, breaking its code signature. It is no longer necessary to modify SpamSieve to hide its Dock icon; please see the Show Dock icon section.

7.12.7   How can I open the Library folder?

The user library folder is stored at the path /Users/<username>/Library/. The way to access it is different depending on which version of macOS you are using:

macOS 10.12.3 and Later

The Library folder is hidden by default. To open it, click on Finder in the Dock. Click on the Go menu at the top of the screen, hold down the Option and Shift keys, and then choose Library. (Only one of Option and Shift is needed, but due to an OS bug, which one you need to hold down can vary. Thus, it is easier to hold down both.)

Another way to access the Library folder is to choose Home from the Go menu, then type Command-Shift-Period to show invisible files, and then open the Library folder.

Mac OS X 10.7 Through 10.12.2

The Library folder is hidden by default. To open it, click on Finder in the Dock. Click on the Go menu at the top of the screen, hold down the Option key, and then choose Library.

Another option is to go to your home folder, choose View ‣ Show View Options and then make sure that Show Library Folder is checked.

Mac OS X 10.6

Click on Finder in the Dock, click on the Go menu, and choose Home. This will show your home folder, and you can open the Library folder directly.

7.13.1   Why are Apple Mail inbox messages not being processed?

Mail Extension

When using the Mail extension, please follow the Checking the Apple Mail Setup instructions to make sure that Apple Mail and SpamSieve are properly set up. Normally, SpamSieve will then immediately filter new messages that arrive unread in the inbox.

In rare cases, a macOS bug can prevent Apple Mail from sending new messages to the SpamSieve extension for analysis. You can check the Log window to see whether this is the case; if the log is not showing the messages as Predicted, that means SpamSieve is not seeing them. If this bug is affecting you, please let Apple know and reference bug number FB12819637.

SpamSieve has a built-in feature to work around this bug. In most cases, all you need to do is make sure that Check inboxes for new messages not sent to Mail extension is enabled in the Settings ‣ Apple Mail ‣ Setup window. Then SpamSieve will periodically double-check the inboxes to make sure that any new messages have been filtered. This happens on a slight delay. If you want to see for sure whether a message in the inbox has been processed yet, you can enable the Add green flag to unread good messages option or check the Log window to see whether there is a Predicted log entry.

We strongly recommend granting SpamSieve Full Disk Access. Otherwise, the workaround will be be slower and may report an error, as described below. If you are using macOS 12 Monterey or earlier, it is recommended that you use the Mail plug-in setup, which avoids all of these issues.

Large Inboxes Without Full Disk Access

If you haven’t granted SpamSieve Full Disk Access, to avoid slowing down Apple Mail, SpamSieve will skip checking an inbox if it contains more than 5,000 messages, and it will tell you in the Log window and in Settings ‣ Apple Mail ‣ Setup that it did this. Such mailboxes are shown in orange in the Select Mailboxes to Filter… sheet. If you have an inbox with more messages:

• You can reduce the size of the inbox by moving some messages to the Archive mailbox or to another mailbox that you create, such as Inbox2. This is what we recommend because it will make checking the inbox faster and ensure that Mail doesn’t slow down or freeze.
• If there are fewer than 10,000 messages, you can select your inboxes in Filter spam messages in other mailboxes to tell SpamSieve that you want it to use this higher limit, understanding that depending on the speed of your Mac this may cause slowness or freezes in Mail.
• If you have a very fast Mac and really know what you’re doing, you can go to the esoteric preferences to raise the limits.

Mail Plug-In

When using the Mail plug-in, please follow the Checking the Apple Mail Setup (Plug-In) instructions to make sure that Apple Mail and SpamSieve are properly set up. Then SpamSieve should immediately filter new messages that arrive unread in the inbox.

Other Mailboxes

If the unprocessed spam messages are not in your inbox, see the Why are other Apple Mail mailboxes not being processed? section.

7.13.2   Why are other Apple Mail mailboxes not being processed?

First, please follow the Checking the Apple Mail Setup or Checking the Apple Mail Setup (Plug-In) instructions to make sure that Apple Mail and SpamSieve are properly set up.

When using the Mail extension, a limitation of macOS is that extensions only see new messages that remain in the inbox. Extensions do not have access to messages that were moved to another mailbox by a Mail rule.

You can use the Filter spam messages in other mailboxes option to have SpamSieve filter messages in other Apple Mail mailboxes after they have been moved by a Mail or a server rule. Just click Select Mailboxes to Filter… to choose which mailboxes SpamSieve should periodically check for new messages. This happens on a slight delay. If you want to see for sure whether a message outside the inbox has been processed yet, you can enable the Add green flag to unread good messages option or check the Log window to see whether there is a Predicted log entry.

We strongly recommend granting SpamSieve Full Disk Access. Otherwise, filtering will be be slower and report an error for mailboxes containing more than 10,000 messages.

Inbox

If the unprocessed spam messages are in your inbox, see the Why are Apple Mail inbox messages not being processed? section.

7.13.3   Why don’t I see the SpamSieve commands in Apple Mail’s Message menu?

When using the Mail extension, the SpamSieve menu commands are in the SpamSieve menu bar icon.

When using the Mail plug-in, the Message menu in Apple Mail should contain several SpamSieve commands, after completing Step 2 of the Setting Up Apple Mail (Plug-In) section.

Note that these commands should be in the Message menu at the top of the screen, not in the contextual (right-click) menu.

If you don’t see these commands, that means that SpamSieve’s Mail plug-in is not loaded. If the plug-in is not loaded, you will not be able to train SpamSieve, and Mail will move good messages to the spam mailbox without consulting SpamSieve.

To re-install the plug-in, go to Settings ‣ Apple Mail ‣ Setup and click Install Plug-In.

If you are using macOS 10.14 or later, you will need to click Manage Plug-ins… in Mail’s settings and enable SpamSieve.mailbundle. This is described in more detail in the Enabling and Updating the Apple Mail Plug-In section.

Troubleshooting

First, see the troubleshooting information in the Enabling and Updating the Apple Mail Plug-In section if you don’t see the plug-in in Manage Plug-ins… or if it doesn’t stay enabled there.

If you still don’t see the SpamSieve commands in the Message menu after relaunching Mail, try restarting your Mac. There may also be errors reported in the Console that point to the source of the problem.

In rare cases, Mail may be set not to load plug-ins and “stuck” so that this setting cannot be changed. To fix this, make sure that the Terminal application has Full Disk Access, open the Terminal application and enter these commands:

cd ~/Library/Containers/com.apple.mail/Data/Library/Preferences/
/usr/libexec/PlistBuddy com.apple.mail.plist -c 'Add EnableBundles bool YES'
killall -SIGTERM cfprefsd

7.13.4   Why do good messages move to the wrong inbox when trained in Apple Mail?

When you train a message in the Junk mailbox as good, SpamSieve normally moves it back to your inbox. If the messages are not going to the inbox, see the Why does a message disappear or go back to the Junk mailbox after I train it as good? section.

If the messages are going to the wrong inbox, follow the instructions in the Setting the Junk Mailbox in Apple Mail section to make sure that each account’s Junk mailbox is stored on the mail server. Also, make sure that you’ve told Apple Mail about your account aliases in Mail’s Settings ‣ Accounts ‣ Account Information window. The Email Address menu (for the proper account) should list the address that the message was sent to.

If you are using the Mail plug-in setup, make sure that your SpamSieve rule in Apple Mail is set to move the messages to the special All Junk mailbox.

7.13.5   Why do I see spam messages in my “Unread” smart mailbox in Apple Mail?

A smart mailbox in Apple Mail is not a mailbox in the sense of “a place where messages are stored.” Rather, a smart mailbox is a “saved search” across multiple actual mailboxes. When you’re viewing a smart mailbox, the message list shows the name of the mailbox that actually stores the message.

Thus, a smart mailbox that searches for unread messages will, by default, also find unread messages in the Junk mailbox. To avoid seeing spam messages in your Unread smart mailbox, make sure it’s set up as follows:

• Contains messages that match all of the following conditions:
• Message is Unread
• Message is not in Mailbox All Junk

7.13.6   Why does the Spam mailbox in Apple Mail appear empty even though there’s a number beside it?

Mail shows a number next to the Junk mailbox to indicate how many unread messages it contains. Sometimes you’ll see the number, but when you click on the mailbox to see its contents you’ll see either no messages or no unread messages. This may be because:

1. The unread messages are actually in a second mailbox, inside the Junk mailbox. If there’s a triangle to the left of the mailbox icon, click to make it point down. This will reveal any mailboxes inside and allow you to access their contents.
2. Mail’s database is damaged so that the numeric display is out of sync with the actual mail that’s stored on your Mac and/or your server. You can fix this by rebuilding Apple Mail’s database.

7.13.7   What can I do if my Spam or Junk mailbox in Apple Mail disappeared?

First, from Mail’s View menu, choose Show Sidebar (or Show Mailbox List on older versions of macOS) if necessary so that the mailboxes are visible.

Junk Mailbox

If you’re using the recommended setup described in Setting the Junk Mailbox in Apple Mail, the special Junk mailbox should always be visible within each account. To see the spam messages from all accounts consolidated into a single All Junk mailbox, you can click the + button next to Favorites at the top of Mail’s mailbox list and then add the All Junk mailbox to the favorites.

Spam Mailbox

If you are instead using a Spam mailbox under On My Mac, it is most likely it’s still there but Mail is currently hiding it. To show the Spam mailbox:

1. Locate the On My Mac section of the mailbox list. It is typically below the Mailboxes and Smart Mailboxes sections of the mailbox list. You may need to scroll down in order to find this. (macOS may have made the scroll bars invisible, but you can scroll down by two-finger dragging on your Mac’s trackpad or by using the scroll ball on the mouse.)
2. Move your mouse over On My Mac in the mailbox list. Then click the > or Show button that becomes visible at the right.

7.13.8   Why are messages marked as spam in Apple Mail but not moved?

All Apple Mail Setups

Sometimes SpamSieve may classify a message as spam (as shown in the log), and change its color in Apple Mail, but the message does not move to the Junk mailbox; it remains in the inbox.

Here are some ways to fix this:

1. Follow the Setting the Junk Mailbox in Apple Mail instructions to make sure that each mail account has a Junk mailbox and that it’s stored on the mail server.
2. You can test that Mail is able to move the messages by manually applying SpamSieve. Select one of the messages in the inbox that was marked as spam and choose Filter Messages from the SpamSieve menu bar icon. You can check in the Log section of the manual whether SpamSieve predicted the message to be spam. If it did, but the message did not move, Mail may be encountering an error when it tries to move the message. Please see Sending in an Error Report.
3. Mail’s database may be damaged. Please see the How can I rebuild Apple Mail’s database? section of the manual.

Mail Plug-In Setups

1. Make sure that your SpamSieve rule in Apple Mail looks like the one shown in the Setting Up Apple Mail (Plug-In) section of the manual. If Mail loses track of the Junk mailbox, there may be no mailbox specified in the rule’s actions, and so Mail will not move the spam messages.
2. You can test that the rule works and that Mail is able to move the messages by manually applying the SpamSieve rule. Select one of the messages in the inbox that was marked as spam and choose Apply Rules from the Message menu. You can check in the Log section of the manual whether SpamSieve predicted the message to be spam. If it did, but the message did not move, Mail may be encountering an error when it tries to move the message. Please see Sending in an Error Report.
3. Sometimes Mail rules will not move messages that were processed immediately after the Mac woke from sleep. You can work around this problem by quitting Mail before sleeping your Mac or by setting your Mac to not go to sleep, as described in the Filtering Spam During Power Nap instructions. You can also use the QuitMailWhenMacSleeps esoteric preference to make SpamSieve automatically quit Mail before the Mac sleeps and launch it when it wakes.
4. A bug in macOS 10.15 through macOS 15, affecting a small number of customers, can prevent Mail rules from moving messages to certain mailboxes. Although the server may show them as moved, Mail on the Mac may also show them colored in the inbox. You can work around this by ensuring that the rule moves the messages to a mailbox that’s on the same server. The easiest way to do this is to use Mail’s special Junk mailbox, as described in Setting the Junk Mailbox in Apple Mail.
5. See whether the problem still occurs if you disable other Mail plug-ins, as described in the Can other Apple Mail plug-ins cause problems with SpamSieve? section.

7.13.9   Why do Apple Mail messages bounce back to the inbox after I train them as spam?

Sometimes when you train an uncaught spam message in the inbox as spam, the message will move to the spam mailbox and then appear to “bounce back” to the inbox. That is, the same message (not a new one that looks similar) will appear again in the inbox and no longer be in the spam mailbox. Usually, the same thing will happen if you move the message via drag and drop rather than training it with SpamSieve, which indicates that it’s a general problem with moving messages rather than something specific to spam filtering.

Typically, this means that Apple Mail and the mail server did not successfully move the message in the first place. Mail moved the message locally, but it did not get moved on the server, and so the next time Mail synchronized with the server it reinstated the message in the inbox.

Sometimes this is caused by a problem with Mail’s database, and you can fix it by doing a complete rebuild of the database.

Other times, most commonly with Gmail, there can be a problem moving the message from the inbox (on the server) to a local mailbox (the Spam mailbox under On My Mac). We recommend Setting the Junk Mailbox in Apple Mail.

7.13.10   How can I rebuild Apple Mail’s database?

Many common problems with Mail can be fixed by rebuilding all or part of its index database. For example:

• You have a mailbox that shows a number of unread messages in the mailbox list, but when you click on the mailbox there do not seem to be any unread messages inside.
• Messages seem to have disappeared; they show up when you search your Mac using Spotlight but not when browsing or searching in Mail.
• A smart mailbox doesn’t seem to be finding the messages that you think it should.
• You click on a mailbox that you know contains some messages, but Mail doesn’t show any.
• Messages are colored as spam but remain in the inbox, even though your SpamSieve rule is set to move them to the Spam mailbox.
• You try to delete messages, but they come back or Mail reports an error.
• Mail is very slow at browsing or searching messages.

To do a complete rebuild of Mail’s database:

1. First toggle some settings to prevent SpamSieve from refiltering old messages if Mail redownloads them after the database rebuild:

   • In SpamSieve’s Settings ‣ Apple Mail ‣ Setup window, turn off Check inboxes for new messages not sent to Mail extension and then turn it back on again.
   • In SpamSieve’s Settings ‣ Apple Mail ‣ Filtering window, turn off Filter spam messages in other mailboxes and then turn it back on again.

   (If these are already off, you can leave them off.)

2. Quit Mail.

3. Locate the Envelope Index file. On macOS 15, macOS 14, and macOS 13, the file is stored at:

   /Users/<username>/Library/Mail/V10/MailData/Envelope Index
   

   Open your user Library folder. (See the How can I open the Library folder? section if necessary.) Then open the Mail folder, then V10, then MailData to find the Envelope Index file.

   • On macOS 12, the MailData folder is inside of the V9 folder rather than V10.
   • On macOS 11, the MailData folder is inside of the V8 folder rather than V10.
   • On macOS 10.15, the MailData folder is inside of the V7 folder rather than V10.
   • On macOS 10.14, the MailData folder is inside of the V6 folder rather than V10.
   • On macOS 10.13, the MailData folder is inside of the V5 folder rather than V10.
   • On macOS 10.12, the MailData folder is inside of the V4 folder rather than V10.
   • On macOS 10.11, the MailData folder is inside of the V3 folder rather than V10.
   • On macOS 10.7 through 10.10, the MailData folder is inside of the V2 folder rather than V10.

4. Once you’ve found the Envelope Index file, drag it to the trash. Also delete Envelope Index-shm and Envelope Index-wal (if they exist).

   Note: Rebuilding the index database is normally perfectly safe. Even though it seems that you are deleting a file, Mail stores its primary copy of your message data elsewhere. When you delete the damaged database, Mail uses this primary copy to create a new index database. However, please be careful if you are using macOS 10.15. We’ve heard some reports that rebuilding the Envelope Index can lose messages in On My Mac mailboxes on macOS 10.15.0–10.15.2 due to a bug in Mail. If you are using macOS 10.15 prior to macOS 10.15.3, be sure that you have a backup first, and proceed with caution.

5. Relaunch Mail. It will welcome you as if you haven’t used it before. This step may take a few minutes, as Mail searches through all of your stored messages to build your new database file. IMAP and Exchange messages will need to be re-downloaded from the server.

7.13.11   How can I reset Apple Mail’s junk database?

A corrupt database for Mail’s built-in junk mail filter can cause Mail to crash when processing incoming messages or when training messages with SpamSieve. To reset the database, find the LSMMap2 file and drag it to the trash.

• On macOS 15, macOS 14, and macOS 13, the file is stored at:

  /Users/<username>/Library/Mail/V10/MailData/LSMMap2
  

  See the How can I open the Library folder? section. Open the Mail folder, then V10, then MailData to find the LSMMap2 file.

• On macOS 12, the file is stored at:

  /Users/<username>/Library/Mail/V9/MailData/LSMMap2
  

  See the How can I open the Library folder? section. Open the Mail folder, then V9, then MailData to find the LSMMap2 file.

• On macOS 11, the file is stored at:

  /Users/<username>/Library/Mail/V8/MailData/LSMMap2
  

  See the How can I open the Library folder? section. Open the Mail folder, then V8, then MailData to find the LSMMap2 file.

• On macOS 10.15, the file is stored at:

  /Users/<username>/Library/Mail/V7/MailData/LSMMap2
  

  See the How can I open the Library folder? section. Open the Mail folder, then V7, then MailData to find the LSMMap2 file.

• On macOS 10.14, the file is stored at:

  /Users/<username>/Library/Mail/V6/MailData/LSMMap2
  

  See the How can I open the Library folder? section. Open the Mail folder, then V6, then MailData to find the LSMMap2 file.

• On macOS 10.13, the file is stored at:

  /Users/<username>/Library/Mail/V5/MailData/LSMMap2
  

  See the How can I open the Library folder? section. Open the Mail folder, then V5, then MailData to find the LSMMap2 file.

• On macOS 10.12, the file is stored at:

  /Users/<username>/Library/Mail/V4/MailData/LSMMap2
  

  See the How can I open the Library folder? section. Open the Mail folder, then V4, then MailData to find the LSMMap2 file.

• On macOS 10.11, the file is stored at:

  /Users/<username>/Library/Mail/V3/MailData/LSMMap2
  

  See the How can I open the Library folder? section. Open the Mail folder, then V3, then MailData to find the LSMMap2 file.

• On macOS 10.7 through 10.10, the file is stored at:

  /Users/<username>/Library/Mail/V2/MailData/LSMMap2
  

  See the How can I open the Library folder? section. Open the Mail folder, then V2, then MailData to find the LSMMap2 file.

7.13.12   Can other Apple Mail plug-ins cause problems with SpamSieve?

We try to ensure that SpamSieve is compatible with other Apple Mail plug-ins. Nevertheless, it is possible for another plug-in—especially an old version—to prevent SpamSieve or Mail from working properly.