Introduction


This Article gives an overview of the most common used Office 365 Anti-Spam functions which can be used by a "Super User" and thus does not require full Exchange Online Protection Admin capabilities. For a good understanding of this article and the referenced information it will help to understand the following:


Office 365 - a suite of products that Microsoft uses to Collaborate. SharePoint, OneDrive and Exchange are examples of Services "in" Office 365.

Outlook - the Microsoft client used for email. It is available on Windows, Mac and Mobile Devices

SPAM - unsollicited emails like an email telling a user to purchase bitcoins or viagra

Exchange Online - the Microsoft Services that takes care of email and calendaring. Outlook uses Exchange Online for its functionality

Exchange Online Protection - the Mechanism to filter incoming emails and protect users from emails with bad intentions


More on Office 365 anti-SPAM can be found here: Generic information on Office 365 and anti-SPAM protection


Configure End-User SPAM Notifications


Office 365 can be configured to notify users of mails that have been isolated (or quarantined), predominantly to have users verify the work of the Exchange Online Protection System and release mails that are not SPAM (so called "False Positives". An Exchange Admin needs to enable this functionality as follows:

  1. Sign-in in to the Office 365 Portal by pointing your Browser to: http://portal.office.com
  2. Click on "Administration"
  3. In the Office 365 Admin Centter click on "Exchange" under "Admin Centers"
  4. In the Exchange Admin Center click on "SPAM Filter" under "Protection"
  5. In the right pane of that screen there is a link to "Configure End User Spam Notifications"
  6. Here the number of days can be configured that users will receive an overview of mails marked as spam, including the functionality to release false-positives to their normal (live) mailbox

 



End-User access to spam-quarantined messages

  1. Specify the following URL in a web browser: https://admin.protection.outlook.com/quarantine

  2. On the sign in page, specify your valid Office 365 user ID and password. (Contact your administrator if you don’t know what your credentials are.)

    After you’ve signed in and been authenticated, you’ll be directed to the end user spam quarantine



Users can be shared this link, https://support.office.com/en-us/article/Use-user-spam-notifications-to-release-and-report-quarantined-messages-56de4ed5-b0aa-4195-9f46-033d7cc086bc, for futher explanation of the functionality.  


Admin Access to the spam-quarantined messages

Users with Exchange Online Admin Rights can review en release SPAM-quarantined messages on behalf of the end users. For this the Exchange Online Admin needs to follow these steps:

  1. Sign-in in to the Office 365 Portal by pointing your Browser to: http://portal.office.com
  2. Click on "Administration"
  3. In the Office 365 Admin Centter click on "Exchange" under "Admin Centers"
  4. Click on "Quarantine" under "Protection"
  5. You will now be able to review and release spam-quarantined messages. Please handle with care!