# Spam filters in cPanel (SpamAssassin and Spam Box)

> Turn on cPanel's spam filters, send spam to a separate folder, tune how strict they are, and allow or block specific senders.

Source: https://helpcenter.ruachost.com/email/cpanel-email/filtering-unwanted-e-mail-spam-in-cpanel/

cPanel email includes **Apache SpamAssassin™**, which checks every incoming message and gives it a spam score. You decide what happens to messages that score too high.

## Turn on spam filtering

1. Log in to cPanel and open **Spam Filters** under **Email**.
2. Turn on **Process New Emails and Mark them as Spam**. Messages that look like spam get `***SPAM***` added to the subject.

## Send spam to a separate folder (Spam Box)

1. In **Spam Filters**, turn on **Move New Spam to a Separate Folder (Spam Box)**.
2. Spam now goes to the **spam** folder in each mailbox instead of the inbox.

Check the spam folder now and then for real messages that were caught by mistake. To empty it, click **Configure Spam Box Settings** and then **Empty Spam Box** for each account.

## Delete obvious spam automatically

Turn on **Automatically Delete New Spam (Auto-Delete)** and set a threshold. A score of **5** or higher is a good starting point for deleting obvious spam. Messages that are deleted can't be recovered, so only use this once you're happy with how the filter behaves.

## Make the filter stricter or looser

Click **Spam Threshold Score**:

- **Lower number = stricter.** More spam is caught, but more real emails may be too.
- **Higher number = looser.** Fewer real emails are caught, but more spam gets through.

The default of 5 suits most people.

## Allow or block specific senders

Under **Additional Configurations**:

- **Whitelist (Edit Spam Whitelist Settings):** senders who should never be marked as spam, for example `boss@partner.com` or `*@partner.com`.
- **Blacklist (Edit Spam Blacklist Settings):** senders who should always be marked as spam.

For more control, such as deleting messages from certain senders or with certain words, see [Configuring email filtering in cPanel](https://helpcenter.ruachost.com/email/cpanel-email/configuring-e-mail-filtering-in-cpanel/) and [Filtering incoming email by IP address](https://helpcenter.ruachost.com/email/cpanel-email/filtering-incoming-e-mail-messages-by-ip-address/).

## Other spam protection

- **Greylisting** delays first-time senders, which blocks a lot of spam. See [Greylisting in cPanel](https://helpcenter.ruachost.com/email/cpanel-email/greylisting-in-cpanel/).
- **Ruachost Business Email** includes its own antimalware and antiphishing protection, managed separately.