Prevent BigPond (Telstra) Emails from Being Marked as Junk in Outlook for Mac (IMAP/POP Accounts)

Posted by apb

Purpose

To ensure legitimate emails — particularly from ClubRunner and other trusted senders — are delivered to the user’s Inbox rather than the Junk or Spam folder when using Outlook for Mac connected to a BigPond/Telstra mailbox via IMAP or POP.

Scope

Applies to:

  • Users receiving BigPond/Telstra email in Outlook for Mac (any version)

  • Accounts configured with IMAP or POP3

  • Senders verified as legitimate (e.g. ClubRunner, Rotary communications)

Summary

BigPond/Telstra applies spam filtering on the server before Outlook downloads messages. Outlook for Mac also has its own local Junk filter.
To ensure reliable delivery:

  1. Whitelist trusted senders on the Telstra mail server.

  2. Safelist and create an Inbox rule in Outlook for Mac.

Procedure

Step 1: Verify the Source of Junking

  1. Log into Telstra Webmail at email.telstra.com.

  2. Check whether the affected message appears in:

    • Inbox → the issue is on the Mac client.

    • Spam/Junk → the issue is on the Telstra server.

Step 2: Fix Server-Side Filtering (Telstra Webmail)

Important: Server-side junking must be fixed here; Outlook cannot override Telstra’s spam decisions.

  1. Log into email.telstra.com.

  2. Go to ⚙ Settings → Mail → Safe senders.

  3. Add the trusted senders:

    • mailservice@clubrunner.ca

    • @clubrunner.email

  4. Click Save.

  5. Navigate to Spam/Junk folder → select legitimate emails → click Not spam.

This ensures future emails from those senders are delivered to the Inbox before Outlook syncs via IMAP/POP.

Step 3: Configure Outlook for Mac (Client-Side)

Perform these actions on each user’s Mac.

A. Add Safe Senders

For Classic Outlook

  1. Open Outlook → Tools → Junk Email Preferences.

  2. Select the Safe Senders tab.

  3. Add:

    • mailservice@clubrunner.ca

    • @clubrunner.email

  4. Click OK.

For New Outlook

  1. Go to Settings (⚙) → Mail → Junk Email.

  2. Under Safe senders and domains, click + Add.

  3. Enter the addresses/domains listed above.

  4. Click Save.

Tip: Adding the sender to Contacts also prevents Outlook from treating them as junk.

B. Create a Rule to Force Inbox Delivery

  1. Open Outlook → Rules → New Rule.

  2. Choose All Messages (or “When a new message arrives”).

  3. Condition: From contains clubrunner.ca OR clubrunner.email.

  4. Action: Move to Inbox.

  5. Check Stop processing more rules.

  6. Save and enable the rule.

This guarantees Inbox delivery even if the Junk filter triggers.