How to Prevent Unwanted Email Using Spam Filters in cPanel April 14, 2025

This article explains how to prevent unwanted email using Spam Filters in cPanel. Unwanted emails, also known as spam, can confuse your inbox and pose security risks through malicious links and attachments. Thankfully, cPanel offers the Spam Filters tool, powered by Apache SpamAssassin™, to help identify and reduce spam.

What are Spam Filters?
Spam Filters examine all incoming emails and allot a spam score to every message. Depending on this score, you can:

• Route spam to a particular folder
• Automatically remove spam messages (not suggested)
• Whitelist trusted senders
• Blacklist known spammers

Note: Automatically removing spam is not suggested, as it may result in the loss of genuine emails. Instead, redirect spam to a dedicated folder.

Enabling Spam Filters
To activate Spam Filters in cPanel:

1. Log in to cPanel.
2. Navigate to the Email section and click Spam Filters:
   • Jupiter Theme: Tools page> Email> Spam Filters.
   • Paper Lantern Theme: EMAIL section> Spam Filters.
     
3. Click “Process New Emails and Mark them as Spam.”
   
4. (Optional) To automatically delete spam:
   • Click “Automatically Delete New Spam (Auto-Delete).”
   • Click “Configure Auto-Delete Settings” to set the spam score threshold.
     • Lower scores = stricter filtering.
     • Example: A score of 1 is very aggressive; a score of 10 is more lenient.
       

Configuring Advanced Spam Filter Settings
To fine-tune how Spam Filters handle emails:

1. Log in to cPanel and open the Spam Filters tool.
2. Click “Show Additional Configurations.”
   
3. Add to Whitelist (Trusted Senders):
   1. Click “Edit Spam Whitelist Settings.”
      
   2. Add email addresses or domains.
   3. Click “Update Whitelist.”
      
4. Add to Blacklist (Known Spammers):
   1. Click “Edit Spam Blacklist Settings.”
   2. Add email addresses or domains.
   3. Click “Update Blacklist.”
5. Customize Spam Score Settings:
   1. Click “Configure Calculated Spam Score Settings.”
   2. Click “Add a New ‘scores’ item.”
   3. Select the test and set its score.
   4. Recommended Custom Scores:

      URIBL_DBL_SPAM     10.0
      URIBL_WS_SURBL     10.0
      URIBL_BLACK        10.0
      T_DKIM_INVALID     2.0
      RDNS_NONE          1.8

   5. To reset to default values:

      URIBL_DBL_SPAM     1.7
      URIBL_WS_SURBL     1.608
      URIBL_BLACK        1.725
      T_DKIM_INVALID     0
      RDNS_NONE          0.7

   6. Click “Update Scoring Options” to save your changes.

Disabling Spam Filters
If you are having problems receiving legitimate emails and suspect they are being filtered as spam, you can disable Spam Filters:

1. Log in to cPanel.
2. Open Spam Filters from the Email section.
3. Toggle the switch for “Process New Emails and Mark them as Spam” to disable the feature.

Contact our support staff at any difficult moment if you need extra assistance setting up your email filters.

Filtered the spam? Now learn How to check SpamExperts SPAM filter logs