If you're missing an email and suspect it was flagged as spam, this article will help you locate your spam folder and check what's inside it.
Why you might not see your spam folder
If you've configured your cPanel hosting account to use the Spam Box feature of SpamAssassin, any mail identified as spam gets moved to a folder named `Junk`. The catch is that this folder won't always appear automatically in your email program or webmail. Even though the folder exists on the server, you may need to subscribe to it before you can see what's inside.
If you use Roundcube Webmail
This is the easiest way to check, since you can do it from any browser without changing any settings.
- Log in to your webmail and choose Roundcube.
- Choose the Settings icon in the left menu bar.
- Click the Folders tab.
- Find the folder named `Junk` in the list and make sure the slider next to it is turned on.
- Exit the Settings area by clicking Mail on the left menu bar.
- Open the `Junk` folder from the folder list on the left to look for your missing mail.
If you use an email program (e.g., Outlook, Thunderbird, Apple Mail)
To see the spam folder in your mail program, you'll need to be connected to the account over IMAP. IMAP syncs all of your server folders, including `Junk`, so they show up alongside your inbox. Once connected, each program has its own way of subscribing to folders on the server. Check the help section of whichever program you use and look for "subscribe to folders" or "manage folders."
If you connect with POP3 instead, this won't work. POP3 only downloads mail from your inbox and has no way to access other server folders like`Junk`. In that case, you have two options. You can use Roundcube webmail (described above) to view the spam folder, or you can turn off the Spam Box feature so that flagged mail is delivered to your inbox instead.
Still can't find your missing email?
If you've checked your spam folder and the message still isn't there, it may have been blocked before delivery or filtered somewhere else. Reach out to us, and we'll be glad to take a look.
To investigate a particular email, please send: to, from, date (and ideally time), and subject line. With this, we can find the mail in the logs and give you a deeper debug.
