How do I get my emails out of spam for Hotmail and Outlook?
Matthew Whittaker
Co-founder & CTO, Suped
Published 5 Jul 2025
Updated 17 Aug 2025
6 min read
It can be incredibly frustrating to send an important email, only to find it vanishes into the junk folder or, worse, never arrives at all. If your emails are consistently landing in spam folders for Hotmail and Outlook, you are not alone. Many senders face this challenge, and it often points to underlying issues with your email practices or sender reputation.
Email service providers like Outlook (and Hotmail, which now operates under the Outlook platform) use complex algorithms to determine whether an incoming email is legitimate or spam. These filters analyze numerous factors, from your sending infrastructure to the content of your messages and how recipients interact with your emails.
Getting your emails out of the junk folder requires a comprehensive approach that addresses both technical configurations and content strategies. By understanding what Outlook and Hotmail look for, you can systematically improve your deliverability and ensure your messages reach the inbox.
Understanding why Outlook and Hotmail filter emails
Microsoft's filtering systems are highly sophisticated, constantly evolving to combat new spamming tactics. They consider hundreds of signals, making it challenging to pinpoint a single cause when emails go to spam. However, some common culprits often lead to poor inbox placement.
Your sender reputation is a critical factor. This reputation is built over time based on your sending history, including IP reputation and domain reputation. If your IP address or domain has been associated with sending unsolicited emails, it will negatively impact your deliverability. This can happen if your IP is listed on an email blocklist (or blacklist), or if you're on a shared IP that other senders are abusing.
Beyond technical reputation, user engagement plays a massive role. Outlook and Hotmail track how recipients interact with your emails. High complaint rates, low open rates, and frequent unsubscribes signal to these providers that your content may be unwanted, leading to more aggressive filtering.
Key factors influencing deliverability
Sender reputation: The trust score associated with your IP address and sending domain.
Content quality: Avoiding spammy keywords, excessive links, or suspicious formatting.
Engagement metrics: Low spam complaints, high open rates, and click-through rates are positive signals.
Essential authentication and technical checks
Ensuring your email authentication is correctly set up is foundational. SPF, DKIM, and DMARC are crucial technical records that verify your legitimacy as a sender. Microsoft, like other major email providers, heavily relies on these protocols to prevent spoofing and phishing.
If your authentication records are misconfigured or missing, your emails are much more likely to be flagged as suspicious, leading them straight to the junk folder. Regularly checking these records for errors and ensuring they align with your sending sources is a non-negotiable step.
Additionally, monitoring for blacklist (or blocklist) listings is vital. If your sending IP or domain appears on a major blacklist, Outlook and Hotmail will almost certainly block your emails. Addressing these listings promptly and ensuring you're not repeatedly getting listed is key to maintaining a healthy sender reputation.
Improving sender reputation and engagement
Even with perfect technical setup, poor list management can tank your deliverability. Sending to unengaged or invalid email addresses significantly harms your sender reputation. A high bounce rate, especially to non-existent addresses, tells providers that your list quality is low, which can lead to emails being sent to the junk folder.
Regularly cleaning your email list to remove inactive subscribers, hard bounces, and known spam traps is crucial. Beyond cleaning, focus on sending engaging and relevant content. When recipients open, click, and reply to your emails, it sends strong positive signals to Microsoft's filters, improving your standing over time.
Encouraging subscribers to whitelist your email address (add you to their safe senders list) or move your emails from the junk folder to their inbox can dramatically improve your reputation with individual users and, by extension, with Hotmail and Outlook as a whole. This direct engagement is one of the strongest positive signals you can generate.
Do's for improved deliverability
Clean your list regularly: Remove inactive users and hard bounces to maintain good list hygiene.
Encourage engagement: Prompt users to open, click, and reply to your emails.
Ask for whitelisting: Guide subscribers to add your address to their safe senders list.
Provide value: Ensure your content is relevant and anticipated by your audience.
Don'ts for improved deliverability
Send to old lists: Avoid sending to addresses that haven't engaged in a long time.
Ignore spam complaints: High complaint rates signal low quality and can lead to blacklisting.
Use spammy content: Avoid excessive exclamation marks, all caps, or suspicious phrasing.
Send irrelevant emails: If recipients don't find value, they'll mark it as junk.
Advanced strategies and continuous monitoring
Even after implementing best practices, continuous monitoring is non-negotiable. Email deliverability is not a set-it-and-forget-it task, especially with providers like Outlook that frequently update their filtering algorithms. You need to keep a close eye on your key metrics and respond quickly to any changes.
Utilize feedback loops and Postmaster Tools (if available for Microsoft) to understand how your emails are performing. Pay attention to complaint rates, bounce rates, and spam trap hits. These indicators can provide early warnings of deliverability issues before they escalate into full-blown blockages.
If you find your emails still consistently landing in spam, despite following all best practices, it might be time to escalate the issue. Microsoft offers sender support channels, but be prepared with detailed logs and evidence of compliance with their guidelines. Sometimes, recovery can take longer with Outlook and Hotmail compared to other providers.
Metric
Why it matters
Target for Hotmail/Outlook
Spam complaint rate
High rates indicate unwanted emails, leading to blocklists (blacklists).
Shows engagement and content relevance. Higher is better.
Above 15-20%
Views from the trenches
Best practices
Focus on strong authentication: Ensure SPF, DKIM, and DMARC are correctly implemented and aligned.
Maintain a clean email list: Regularly remove inactive subscribers and invalid addresses.
Prioritize user engagement: Encourage opens, clicks, and whitelisting from your subscribers.
Monitor your sender reputation: Keep an eye on your IP and domain health through Postmaster Tools.
Send consistent volumes: Avoid sudden spikes in email volume that can trigger spam filters.
Common pitfalls
Ignoring authentication issues: Missing or misconfigured records often lead to emails being marked as spam.
Sending to unengaged audiences: Low open rates and high spam complaints severely damage reputation.
Not monitoring blocklists: Being listed on a major blocklist (blacklist) will prevent delivery to inboxes.
Using shared IPs with poor reputation: Other senders' bad practices can negatively affect your deliverability.
Overlooking content quality: Spammy keywords or deceptive formatting can trigger filters.
Expert tips
Hotmail/Outlook recovery can be slower than Gmail, so patience and persistent good practices are essential.
For shared IP pools, isolating good senders to a 'golden' IP can help protect their reputation.
Microsoft's filtering behavior can change frequently, requiring ongoing adjustments to your strategy.
Actively encourage subscribers to move your emails from junk to inbox and add you to their safe senders list.
Assess engagement segmentation, volume, and frequency if you notice sudden increases in spam filtering.
Expert view
Expert from Email Geeks says that authentication is crucial, and send mail only to people who want and expect it, not to those who do not.
2024-05-03 - Email Geeks
Expert view
Expert from Email Geeks says that recovery for Hotmail/Outlook takes longer than for Gmail after cleanup.
2024-05-03 - Email Geeks
Moving forward with Hotmail and Outlook deliverability
Getting your emails out of Hotmail and Outlook spam folders is an ongoing process that demands a commitment to best practices. It's about building and maintaining a strong sender reputation through proper technical setup, rigorous list hygiene, and consistent delivery of valuable content that recipients want to engage with.
By following the strategies outlined here, regularly monitoring your performance, and being proactive in addressing any issues, you can significantly improve your chances of reaching the inbox and achieving better email deliverability.
Outlook (and Hotmail, which now operates under the Outlook platform) use complex algorithms to determine whether an incoming email is legitimate or spam. These filters analyze numerous factors, from your sending infrastructure to the content of your messages and how recipients interact with your emails.
Microsoft's filters, improving your standing over time.
