SpamAssassin Email Filter: How to Enable or Disable in cPanel
What Is SpamAssassin?
SpamAssassin Email Filter is a great industry standard spam-fighting tool that's a free service on most hosting accounts. We recommend activating it when you create an account or log in for the first time. You only have to enable it once, which will work for all your email accounts. This is entirely crucial especially if you're using a professional email for your business.
Both anti-spam software, SpamAssassin and SpamExperts, can be enabled in your cPanel. You should only use one of the two, depending on your needs. To learn more about SpamExperts, check out SpamExperts: Simply Spam Free.
- How Does SpamAssassin Work?
- How to Enable or Disable SpamAssassin in cPanel
- Email Security Best Practices
- Summary
How Does SpamAssassin Work?
SpamAssassin scans the contents of each message before it reaches your inbox. It searches for words, phrases, and formats common to spammers. The search then assigns a score, higher being more likely to be spam and lower being less likely. You choose what score is allowed to enter your inbox.
How to Enable or Disable SpamAssassin in cPanel
To enable and disable your SpamAssassin email security filter, please follow these steps:
- Log in to your Bluehost Account Manager.
- Click Email & Office in the left navigation menu.
- Choose Spam Filter and click Continue.
- You will then be taken to cPanel, where you can manage the settings for spam filters.
- You can then enable the following by moving the toggle switch to the right:
- Process New Emails and Mark them as Spam - Marks suspicious email messages as spam. If the calculated spam score of new messages is equal to or greater than the default Spam Threshold Score (5), the server will update the header of those messages.
- Move New Spam to a Separate Folder (Spam Box) - Sorts incoming emails based on their calculated spam score. Any email that meets or exceeds the default Spam Threshold Score (5) will be automatically directed to a separate folder for your review.
- Automatically Delete New Spam (Auto-Delete) - Automatically deletes spam messages. This option permanently deletes emails that meet or exceed the calculated spam score per the default Auto-Delete Threshold Score (5).
Note:
- We suggest you enable the Spam Box settings over the Auto-Delete settings, as Spam Box allows you to retrieve emails marked as spam from your spam folder.
- You can update the Spam Threshold Score by clicking the Spam Threshold Score link.
- You can customize your spam filter settings by clicking the Show Additional Configurations drop-down. Here, you can edit your whitelist, blacklist, and spam score settings.
- To disable the settings mentioned above, move the toggle switch to the left, and you will receive a green notification that it has been successfully disabled.
Email Security Best Practices
Below are articles that you may find helpful to protect your email account:
- What Is Spam Email, and How Do I Stop Getting It?
- How To Protect Yourself From Phishing
- Data Security Advice: Why You Need a Strong Password Policy
Summary
SpamAssassin is an effective spam prevention tool that will help you protect your email account from malicious content. Most hosting accounts offer this industry-standard spam-fighting feature for free. To ensure you only receive emails important to you, SpamAssassin allows you to preview the contents of every message before it enters your Inbox. Logging into your Bluehost account and accessing your cPanel spam filter settings will allow you to enable or disable SpamAssassin quickly.
If you need further assistance, feel free to contact us via Chat or Phone:
- Chat Support - While on our website, you should see a CHAT bubble in the bottom right-hand corner of the page. Click anywhere on the bubble to begin a chat session.
- Phone Support -
- US: 888-401-4678
- International: +1 801-765-9400
You may also refer to our Knowledge Base articles to help answer common questions and guide you through various setup, configuration, and troubleshooting steps.