How to Use SpamAssassin

SpamAssassin is an anti-spam tool that helps filter out unwanted messages.

SpamAssassin works for all of the email accounts in your cPanel. It can be set to mark spam messages, so they are easy to notice. You can also choose to configure SpamAssassin to delete any emails marked as spam automatically.

HostGator recommends activating SpamAssassin as soon as you create an email account or log in for the first time.

Click on the link below to jump to a section:

• How to Enable/Disable SpamAssassin
• Spam Score Limit
• Auto-Delete Spam
• Email Filtering with SpamAssassin
• Advanced SpamAssassin Configurations

How to Enable/Disable SpamAssassin

1. Log in to cPanel.
2. Navigate to the Email section, then click on the Spam Filters icon.

   

3. Click on the toggle bar to enable or disable the SpamAssassin.
   • If the toggle bar is blue, the SpamAssassin is Enabled.

     

   • If the toggle bar is grayed out, then SpamAssassin is disabled.

     

Spam Score Limit

SpamAssassin screens each incoming email message and scores it based on its spam characteristics. By default, SpamAssassin considers messages with a score of 5 to be spam; however, you can adjust the spam score limit according to your preference:

• 1 means everything incoming will be marked as spam.
• 5 is the default setting (and works well for typical users).
• 10 means that any message with a score of 10 or less will not be marked as spam.

1. Log in to cPanel.
2. Navigate to the Email section, then click on the Spam Filters icon.

   

3. Click on the  Spam Threshold Score link.

   

4. In the dropdown, select your preferred value.

   

5. Click Update  Scoring Options at the bottom of the page.

Auto-Delete Spam

The auto-delete function automatically deletes messages which meet or exceed the spam score limit. Auto-delete can be enabled in the Filters section by clicking the toggle bar for Auto-Delete Spam.

• If the toggle bar is blue, the Automatic Delete New Spam is Enabled.

  

• If the toggle bar is grayed out, the automatic Delete New Spam is disabled.

It would be best to have the Auto-Delete spam score set to a higher number than the one available in Spam Threshold Score though both can be utilized.

Email Filtering with SpamAssassin

You can use Spam Box or email filtering to move spam from your inbox to another folder.

 Spam Box

When Spam Box is enabled, a spam folder is created. Spam is then delivered directly to this folder, allowing you to review all mail marked as spam before it is deleted. To enable Spam Box, simply clicking the toggle bar in the Move New Spam to a Separate Folder (Spam Box) in the Spam Filters section. 

Accessing Your Spam Folder

Spam is delivered to your spam folder when you have Spam Box enabled. However,  you will need to subscribe to the spam folder in your mail client to view or process spam messages held there. You can learn how to subscribe to your spam folder in this article:

• Accessing Your Spam Folder

User-Level Filtering

The settings you choose for SpamAssassin are applied to all email accounts in your cPanel. You can also use filtering for each email account to direct spam appropriately for that account.

Via Webmail

To filter an individual email account:

1. Log in to your webmail. Usually, users will go to example.com/webmail and log in. (Replace example.com with your actual domain name.)
2. Create a folder called spam. Use all lower case letters to name this folder.
   Click Here To See Instructions on How To Create Spam Folders in Roundcube and Horde

   How-to Create a Folder in Roundcube

   1. Log in to cPanel. 
   2. Navigate to the Email section, then click on the Email Accounts icon. 

      

   3. Click on the Check Email button. 

      

   4. Click on Settings at the top-right corner.

      

   5. Navigate to the Folders option, scroll down then, click on the + icon.

      

   6. Label the folder name as "spam."

      

   7. Click on Save.

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   How to Create a Folder in Horde

   1. Log in to cPanel. 
   2. Navigate to the Email section, then click on the Email Accounts icon. 

      

   3. Click on the Check Email button. 

      

   4. Click on the Folder Actions dropdown, then select Create Mailbox.

      

   5. In the pop-up, enter the mailbox name as spam.

      

   6. You can now see the spam folder in the left-hand menu. 
3. Exit webmail.

Via cPanel

1. In the Email section of cPanel, select the Email Filters icon.

   

2. Click Manage Filters next to the appropriate user.

   

3. Click Create a New Filter. You will be taken to a new page.

   

   • In the Filter Name field, enter a name for the filter (such as SpamAssassin or whatever is desired).
   • Under Rules, select Spam Status from the first dropdown menu.
     Note: If this option is not available, check to make sure that Spam Assassin is enabled.
   • In the adjacent dropdown menu, select begins with.
   • In the large, blank box below the dropdown menus, type the word Yes.
   • Under Actions, select Deliver to folder from the dropdown menu.
   • Click Browse and select the "spam" folder.
   • When finished, click Create.

Now you can log back into your mail client and subscribe to the new spam folder.

Advanced SpamAssassin Configurations

Our shared servers support custom Spam Assassin configurations. For more information, please see the following article:

• How to Use SpamAssassin - Advanced