Microsoft OLC Email Deliverability Guidelines
Posted: Mon Apr 21, 2025 9:56 am
Microsoft consumer mailbox spam filter
Microsoft consumer mailboxes like Hotmail, Outlook, Live and MSN have strict spam filters, so it is very difficult for senders (even legitimate ones) to get their emails into the desired recipients' mailboxes. Microsoft is very harsh on illegitimate senders, so messages/senders are quickly blocked or marked as spam. This does not sit well with email marketing experts, because Outlook.com is the third most popular email website and email service provider with over 400 million users. This means that there is a high chance that marketing emails will end up in the spam box. So let's explore if there is anything you, as a sender, can do to avoid this.
Online complaints
There are many complaints circulating online about how Outlook's spam telegram data filter has become unreliable and irrational lately. Believe it or not, Outlook users check their junk folders multiple times a day because they expect genuine conversations to be there. It even identifies senders and mail servers on the allowed list as spam. What's worse is that it takes much longer to resolve such issues than with other mailbox providers.
Return information
If you’re getting the bounce messages mentioned above now more than ever, then you need to update your mailing list, get identified as a sender, and follow these five tips.
Sender Policy Framework
(Sender Policy Framework) Allows domain owners to specify which IP addresses or mail servers are authorized to send email on their behalf. Email from any other sender will be marked as spam or bounced.
DKIM
(DKIM (DomainKeys Identified Mail) uses a pair of cryptographically secure keys to help verify the sender's authenticity by telling the recipient server what to do with emails that fail SPF and/or DKIM checks.
DMARC
You can set up appropriate DMARC policies to instruct them to take no action on such messages, mark them as spam, or reject them. Combining these three protocols makes your domain legitimate and trustworthy while keeping hackers away.
Microsoft consumer mailboxes like Hotmail, Outlook, Live and MSN have strict spam filters, so it is very difficult for senders (even legitimate ones) to get their emails into the desired recipients' mailboxes. Microsoft is very harsh on illegitimate senders, so messages/senders are quickly blocked or marked as spam. This does not sit well with email marketing experts, because Outlook.com is the third most popular email website and email service provider with over 400 million users. This means that there is a high chance that marketing emails will end up in the spam box. So let's explore if there is anything you, as a sender, can do to avoid this.
Online complaints
There are many complaints circulating online about how Outlook's spam telegram data filter has become unreliable and irrational lately. Believe it or not, Outlook users check their junk folders multiple times a day because they expect genuine conversations to be there. It even identifies senders and mail servers on the allowed list as spam. What's worse is that it takes much longer to resolve such issues than with other mailbox providers.
Return information
If you’re getting the bounce messages mentioned above now more than ever, then you need to update your mailing list, get identified as a sender, and follow these five tips.
Sender Policy Framework
(Sender Policy Framework) Allows domain owners to specify which IP addresses or mail servers are authorized to send email on their behalf. Email from any other sender will be marked as spam or bounced.
DKIM
(DKIM (DomainKeys Identified Mail) uses a pair of cryptographically secure keys to help verify the sender's authenticity by telling the recipient server what to do with emails that fail SPF and/or DKIM checks.
DMARC
You can set up appropriate DMARC policies to instruct them to take no action on such messages, mark them as spam, or reject them. Combining these three protocols makes your domain legitimate and trustworthy while keeping hackers away.