Junk phishing emails from ending in .online rule doesn't delete the emails

Jason Sarkari 40 Reputation points
2026-04-18T10:19:32.2+00:00

So I got a flood of phishing emails in the last few days where the email sender address ends with .online

So I created a rule on the web version of Outlook7

Description> Sender address includes .online in Junk Email Folder

Condition> Sender address includes > .online

Add an action> Delete

I also tried adding another action to Forward as an attachment to various address to get it looked into further but I removed this to see if it would process using one simple action.

The problem is you cannot state which folder to work on.

So when you select Run now it processes all my emails I think from the Inbox so doesn't process what i wanted it to do which was only look at the Junk Email folder.

So I then created a rule from one of the emails in the Junk Email folder and when I ran that rule it went through all the emails but never deleted it, or any others.

There needs to be a option to specify which folder to work on for this to work on Phishing emails rather than having to report manually on each one, delete one or all which your preference is.

I have been methodically reporting each one to the relevant bodies in order to get the culprit investigated, the website/URL or offending domain/sub-domain taken down.

But I cannot do that forever and need an automated way to do this.

Thanks

Outlook | Web | Outlook.com | Email
Answer accepted by question author

AI answer

2026-04-18T10:19:49.2433333+00:00

Outlook on the web rules always evaluate messages as they arrive and are not limited to a specific folder such as Junk Email. The rule engine processes incoming mail (typically in Inbox) based on the conditions and actions defined; there is no supported option in Outlook on the web to scope a rule to “only run in Junk Email.”

For handling phishing or junk messages from specific senders or domains, Outlook on the web provides these built‑in mechanisms instead of folder‑scoped rules:

  1. Use rules on arrival
    • In Outlook on the web, select a message from the sender or pattern to filter.
    • On the menu bar, choose Create rule.
    • In When the message arrives, and it matches all of these conditions, set conditions such as sender address or domain.
    • In Do all of the following, choose actions like Move to a folder or Delete.
    • Select OK to save the rule.
    • This will apply to new messages as they arrive, not retroactively to only the Junk Email folder.
  2. Use Junk/Spam controls and safe/blocked lists
    • At the top of Outlook on the web, select Settings.
    • Select Mail > Junk email.
    • Under Safe senders and domains or blocked senders, manage addresses and domains so that Outlook’s junk filter handles them automatically. Messages from safe senders will not go to Junk; blocked senders will be treated as junk.
  3. Manually handle existing Junk items
    • For messages already in Junk Email, use commands like Sweep or Move to from the menu bar to bulk delete or move messages from a particular sender.
    • Sweep can automatically delete unwanted emails from a specific sender or keep only the latest message.

Because rules cannot be restricted to a specific folder, there is no way in Outlook on the web to create a rule that runs only on the Junk Email folder and deletes only those items while ignoring Inbox and other folders. Existing tools (rules on arrival, Junk settings, Sweep/Move) must be used instead.

References:

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  1. EmilyS726 271K Reputation points Independent Advisor
    2026-04-18T12:08:34.45+00:00

    The rules are for inbox not for emails already on junk folder.

    Emails in junk folder are already flagged by Microsoft, hence they are in junk folder. If you view the email header source info, there’s usually some code lines that show the reason it was flagged as junk. So that’s why you don’t need to report them either. These emails are deleted automatically when they are 10 days old. If you send them to deleted box they actually stay 30 days instead.

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  2. Hornblower409 16,350 Reputation points
    2026-04-19T01:16:24.93+00:00

    @Jason Sarkari said

    what i wanted it to do which was [run Rules on] the Junk Email folder

    New Outlook (Web or for Windows) now allows "Run Rule Now" for a single Rule and you can pick a folder for the Rule to run on (e.g. Junk). So, if you can devise a Rule that picks out the real garbage in your Junk folder, you can use this feature to delete them.

    This is NOT an automatic process. This will NOT stop new garbage from being delivered to your Junk folder. You have to run your Rules MANUALLY when you want to cleanout the Junk folder.

    The hard part is going to be designing the Rule, or Rules, to match the items you want. Since the spammers are continually changing their email and content.

    Since your Rule will also run automatically on any new mail received in your Inbox, be sure it doesn't accidentally match any legitimate emails your might receive.

    1 -- Create a Clean Junk Garbage Rule

    • View -> View Settings -> Mail -> Rules
    • [+ Add new rule]
    • Build the Rule like you would for any normal Rule and [Save].
    • I would suggest that initially you set your Action to Categorize and use a specific Category (e.g. "Garbage"). Run you Rule every day for a few days to be sure you are not getting any false positives, and then change the Action to Delete.

    2 -- Run your Rule on the Junk Folder

    • View -> View Settings -> Mail -> Rules
    • Click the ellipsis menu for the Rule and choose > Run rule now
    • Pick your Junk Email folder from the folder selection dialog
    • [Run rule]

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