Managing your inbox effectively can boost productivity and ensure critical emails aren’t missed. cPanel offers two powerful yet distinct self-serve filtering tools:
- Email Filters
- Spam Filters (SpamAssassin)
What Are Email Filters?
Email Filters are user-controlled rules that sort messages based on exact criteria such as sender, subject, or body text. They act on delivered emails and allow customized handling.
Ideal when you want to:
- Redirect newsletters to specific folders
- Automatically delete or flag emails from certain senders
- Clean up “non-spam” but undesirable emails
What Are Spam Filters?
Spam Filters, powered by SpamAssassin, automatically detect unwanted email using heuristics, sender reputation, content analysis, and spam scoring.
You can configure:
- The spam score threshold
- Options to mark or auto-delete high-scoring spam
- Spam Box for quarantining suspected messages
Email Filters vs Spam Filters – Quick Comparison
| Feature | Email Filters | Spam Filters (SpamAssassin) |
|---|---|---|
| Control Level | User-specific | Account or domain-wide (admin-set) |
| Criteria | Sender, subject, body, headers, actions | Spam score, content analysis |
| Best Use Case | Organizing or excluding known senders | Detecting unsolicited or malicious mail |
| Operates After Delivery | Yes | No |
| Risk of False Positives | Low if rules are precise | Moderate if threshold too low |
When to Use Each
Email Filters
Use these when:
- You receive unwanted emails from reputable sources or newsletters
- You want to route or delete certain email easily
- You prefer granular control (e.g., by sender or keyword)
Spam Filters
Use these when:
- You’re dealing with bulk, unknown, or phishing emails
- You want hands-off spam detection and quarantine
- You prefer automatic protection based on tuning
How to Set Them Up
1. Email Filters (User-Level)
- Go to Email ➔ Email Filters
- Choose your email account ➔ Manage Filters
- Click Create a New Filter
- Add rule (e.g., From contains [email protected])
- Choose action (e.g., Move to folder, Discard)
- Click Create
2. Spam Filters (SpamAssassin)
- Go to Email ➔ Spam Filters
- Enable SpamAssassin
- Set threshold (e.g., 5.0 for moderate sensitivity)
- Enable Spam Box or Auto-Delete
Best Practices
- Always try “Unsubscribe” first for trusted marketing emails.
- For persistent undesired emails, use Email Filters to auto-route them.
- Use Spam Filters for unknown or malicious email protection.
- Avoid global blocking unless needed—others on the domain may require those emails.
- Monitor your Spam Box to prevent false positives.
- Regularly review and update both Email and Spam filters.
Final Takeaway
Use Email Filters for customizable sorting, ideal for managing non-spam but unwanted mail.
Use Spam Filters for automated spam detection, perfect for unsolicited or phishing emails.
Together, they provide a robust, user-friendly system to manage your inbox in cPanel.