About AOL® Mail and Spam Controls
About AOL® Advanced Spam Filter and Additional Spam Filters
FAQs

About AOL Mail and Spam Controls

The Mail and Spam Controls allow you to personalize your level of spam filtering and decide the frequency at which you are notified of new messages in your Spam folder. You can report junk e-mail and block e-mails in the future from the sender right from your mailbox. Select an e-mail, then click the Report Spam or Notify AOL button. The e-mail will be moved to the Spam folder.

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About AOL Advanced Spam Filter and Additional Spam Filters

The Advanced Spam Filtering feature will automatically move junk e-mail and unwanted e-mail into your Spam folder. This process is simple, automatic, and personalized based on how you use e-mail. There are 4 levels of protection you can choose from. The default recommended setting is Medium.

Notes:

• To clear your individual Advanced Spam Filter and allow it to start over, go to AOL® Keyword: Spam Controls. In the Mail and Spam Controls window, click AOL's Advanced Spam Filters link, then click the Clear Filter button.
• Each AOL® screen name uses a separate Spam Filter.

Additional Spam Filters allow you to manually filter your e-mail to block specific words, specific senders, or specific types of content.

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FAQs

Sender Filter
Custom Sender List
Blocked Mail Settings
Content Filter
Words and Phrases Filter
Mail Settings Save Options
Spam Folder Settings

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Sender Filter

The Sender Filter allows you to control from whom you get e-mail by selecting one of the following options:

• Allow mail from all senders: Anyone can send you e-mail.
• Allow mail only from AOL members: Only AOL members can send you e-mail.
• Allow mail only from People I know: Only people on your Buddy List® window or Address Book can send you e-mail.
• Block mail from all senders: No one can send you e-mail.

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Custom Sender List

The Custom Sender List lets you customize who is allowed to send you e-mail or who will be blocked from sending you e-mail. When you select the Custom Sender List, you can choose from the following settings:

• Block all senders and domains listed below: Select this option to block e-mail from the e-mail addresses and domains you specify.
• Allow only the senders and domains listed below: Select this option to only allow e-mail from the e-mail addresses and domains you specify.
• Add: Click this button after typing an e-mail address (name@aol.com) or domain (aol.com) in the box.
• Remove: Click this button to remove a selected e-mail address or domain.
• Use AOL® Smart Block: Click this box to place a check mark in it to enable AOL Smart Block, which automatically removes inactive addresses from your block list to make room for other addresses.

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Blocked Mail Settings

Once you have chosen your settings, you need to select how blocked e-mail should be handled. If you choose to permanently delete blocked e-mail, then all e-mail that is blocked will be deleted. This includes e-mail that may come to you from people who are not on a custom sender list that you may want to receive e-mail from. It is recommended that you have all blocked e-mails sent to your Spam folder.

You can select one of the following options from the Blocked mail should be: section:

• Permanently deleted: Delete blocked e-mail permanently.
• Delivered to Spam Folder: Move blocked e-mail to the Spam folder.

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Content Filter

The Content Filter allows you to control what type of e-mail you receive by selecting one or more of the following options:

• Block messages containing clickable hyperlinks (URLs) and deliver them to my Spam Folder: Move e-mail that contains Web page links to the Spam folder.
• Block messages containing pictures or files: Based on the preference you set in your Sender Filter, the blocked messages can be sent to your Spam folder or be deleted.

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Words and Phrases Filter

The Words and Phrases Filter allows you to control the e-mail you receive based on words or phrases in the message. The filter will move e-mail containing words you specify into your Spam Folder. You can edit the filter by using one of the following options:

• Add: Type a word, then click this button to add it to the Word and Phrases Filter list.
• Remove: Click this button to remove a selected word from the Word and Phrases Filter list.

Note: You can use wildcards in the Word and Phrases Filter list. Type the asterisk (*) next to a word to allow partial matches to be moved to the Spam folder. For example, type "*berry" and the Word and Phrases Filter list will move e-mail containing words such as "strawberry" and "cranberry" to the Spam folder.

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Mail Settings Save Options

Once you have made any changes to the Mail and Spam Controls, you can save or cancel your changes through the following options:

• Save: Click this button to save the current Mail and Spam Controls settings for the selected screen name.
• Save & Copy: Click this button to save the current Mail and Spam Controls settings for the selected screen name and also copy the settings to another screen name. Select the screen names that you want to have the same Mail and Spam Controls settings from the Copy Spam Controls window.
• Cancel: Click this button if you don't want to save the current Mail and Spam Controls settings.

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Spam Folder Settings

Once you determine your level of filtering, you can decide how frequently you would like to be notified of new messages in your Spam folder by editing your settings through the Spam Folder Settings link. The Spam Folder Settings window allows you to control the frequency by selecting one of the following options:

• Remind me once each time I sign on
• Remind me at most once every three days
• Don't remind me again

Select your frequency, then click the Save button.

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