Documentation > E-mail Phishing (Microsoft 365 Defender)

E-mail Protection Guides - Microsoft ATP - how to report a suspected phishing email with the Outlook "Report Message" Add-in

Microsoft Outlook Report Message Addin I

If you are using Microsoft Outlook 2016 or newer on Windows or in a web browser, and using Exchange Online (not Exchange On premise) reporting a junk or suspicious phishing e-mail is easy, if you have the Outlook "Report Message" add-in.

You can tell if you have the add-in because you will have the "Report Message" icon in your Outlook ribbon bar of buttons.

If you don't have this icon, you can follow our guide for users without the add-in by clicking here.

If you have this icon in Outlook, then you have the Report Message add-in, which works with Outlook 2016 onwards to allow you to report suspicious messages to Microsoft as well as manage how your Microsoft 365 email account treats these messages.

Messages that your Microsoft 365 email account marks as junk are automatically moved to your Junk Email folder. However, spammers and phishing attempts are continually evolving. If you receive a junk email in your inbox, you can use the Report Message add-in to send the message to Microsoft to help us improve our spam filters. If you find an email in your Junk Email folder that's not spam, you can use the Report Message add-in to mark it as a legitimate email, move the message to your Inbox, and report the false positive to help Microsoft improve our spam filters.

Report a message

If you choose the Report Message button on the ribbon, you'll see several different options.

Junk
Phishing
Not Junk
Options
Help

If you choose Junk, Phishing, or Not Junk, you'll have the option to send a copy of the message to Microsoft, along with your classification of the message. This is optional. To turn off the option to send a copy of the message to Microsoft, choose Options and then follow the steps listed below.

What's Junk email?

Junk email messages are typically referred to as spam. These are messages that you don't want to receive that may be advertising products you don't use or find offensive. If you choose the Junk option, a copy of the message may be sent to Microsoft to help update the spam filters, and the message will be moved from your Inbox to your Junk Email folder.

What's phishing?

Phishing is the practice of luring you into disclosing personal information, such as bank account numbers and passwords. Often phishing messages look legitimate, but have deceptive links that actually open fake websites. If you select Phishing, a copy of your message may be sent to Microsoft to help update the filters, and the message will be moved from your Inbox to your Junk Email folder.

What's a legitimate email?

If you know the sender and you're expecting the message, or if you receive a message that's mistakenly marked as junk, you can use the Report Message add-in to mark the message as Not Junk. This will move the message from the Junk Email folder back to your Inbox.

Learn more about how Junk and Phishing e-mails are detected and managed

Read our guide here to understand more about Junk and Phishing e-mails