Light in the shape of an envelop

Report a suspicious email

Keep your email account secure by reporting any suspicious email using the Report Message button. Quick reporting of phishing or emails that appear suspicious, helps reduce the success of malicious campaigns and helps us improve our filters. This function should be reserved for suspicious emails only and not SPAM.

How to report a suspicious message on the new version of Outlook

  1. In Outlook (on a computer), select the select the suspicious or phishing email.
  2. Click the Report button in the main menu next to Archive at the top left of the Outlook home ribbon, or the Report Message on the top right (view full image).
  3. In the case the Report Message button is disabled, use the Report button on the right instead.
  4. A prompt will appear to confirm whether you wish to report your message. Click OK, then, another prompt confirming the report will appear, click OK again to confirm.

Once reported, the email will be deleted from the inbox and moved safely to the deleted items folder.
If you mistakenly report an email, you can retrieve the email from the Junk folder if you report it as Junk mail or the Trash bin if reported as a phishing email.

Screenshot of outlook ribbon highlighting the report buttons

When to use the Report Message button

Use the Report Message button anytime you believe you have received a phishing email or any potentially dangerous email. You should only use this option to signal emails with malicious intent.  Use the “Junk Email” option to report any other type of emails, such as spam or marketing emails.

The emails you report using the Report Message button will automatically be deleted from your inbox and moved to the deleted items folder. The emails you report will also be forwarded to the Information Technology Security team to help identify phishing campaigns and to improve Microsoft spam filtering.