Skip to main content

Cornell University

Email Problem: Finding Messages Marked as Spam

This information applies to both faculty/staff and students. Even though students receive their mail through Google Workspace (formerly known as G Suite), the messages first pass through Microsoft's spam and virus filters.

This article applies to: Email @ Cornell

Messages classified as unsafe (viruses and malware) are not delivered, period.

Messages classified as spam are placed in your account's Office 365 Junk Email folder. For students, this means the spam never gets as far as your Office 365 or Google Workspace Inbox.

If you were expecting a message but it didn't arrive, check the Junk Email folder in your Office 365 account. See below for step-by-step instructions.

You should also check this folder occasionally for valid messages mismarked as spam. Messages remain in this folder for 30 days, so checking every month is a good idea.

To check your Junk Email folder,

  1. Open Outlook on the web at outlook.cornell.edu
  2. Sign in using your NetID@cornell.edu email address and your NetID password.
  3. In the left column, click Junk Email and review the messages you see there.

If you find a valid message,

  1. Make a note of the date of the message and/or the exact Subject. This will help you find it later.
  2. Right-click it (Mac: ctrl-click), then select Mark as not junk. The message will be moved into your Office 365 Inbox.
  3. You may be asked whether you want to report this back to Microsoft to improve their spam filtering process. We suggest you click Report, but it's really up to you.
  4. In the left column, click Inbox.
  5. Find the message you just retrieved from Junk Email.
  6. Right-click (Mac: ctrl-click) the message, then select Forward.
  7. Address the message to your own NetID@cornell.edu address and send it.

We cannot guarantee that the message will be delivered to your Google Workspace account. Office 365's outgoing filters might block it or might let it through. If the message doesn't arrive within a few minutes, you will need to deal with it from your Office 365 mailbox. 

Comments?

To share feedback about this page or request support, log in with your NetID

At Cornell we value your privacy. To view
our university's privacy practices, including
information use and third parties, visit University Privacy.