Email whitelisting (also called “safe sender,” “approved sender,” or “allow list”) is the act of marking a given email address or domain as trusted so that future messages from that sender are more likely to land in your inbox (and not in Spam, Promotions, or Junk).
For senders (like you), asking subscribers and contacts to whitelist your sending address helps improve deliverability. For recipients, it ensures you don’t miss important messages.
Because email clients and providers vary (and due to privacy changes like image caching, Apple Mail Privacy Protection, etc.), whitelisting isn’t a guarantee — but it still significantly boosts your chances of landing in the inbox.
Whitelisting on Common Devices & Email Apps
Below are instructions for whitelisting (or its closest equivalent) on popular phones, desktop clients, and webmail providers.
iPhone / iPad (iOS Mail)
Add to Contacts or VIPs
Open the Mail app.
Open an email from the sender you want to whitelist.
Tap the sender name/address at the top.
Choose “Add to Contacts” (or “Add to VIPs”). This signals to iOS that this sender is trusted.
If the message is in Junk, tap “Mark as Not Junk”.
Note: iOS Mail doesn’t have a formal “Safe Senders” list — adding to Contacts or VIP often has a similar effect.
Android / Default Mail Apps
Android and OEM mail clients vary heavily (Samsung, Google, etc.), but common approaches include:
Add to Contacts
Open the sender’s message, tap sender’s name/email, and choose “Add to Contacts.”Mark as Not Spam / Move to Inbox
If the email is in the spam folder, open it and select “Not Spam” or “Report not spam.”Use built-in “Safe Senders” / Filters (if available)
Some vendors’ mail apps or accounts (e.g. Gmail on Android) allow filters or “approve sender” settings via their account settings (see Gmail section below).
Apple Mail (macOS)
Open the email from the sender you want to trust.
Click the sender’s address and select “Add to Contacts” (if not already in contacts).
If the message is in Junk, click “Not Junk” or “Move to Inbox.”
To make it more robust, create a Rule (Mail > Settings/Preferences > Rules) such that:
• Condition: “From contains [sender address or domain]"
• Action: “Move message to Inbox”
This way, future messages matching that rule bypass Junk.
Gmail (Web & Mobile)
Web / Desktop
Log into Gmail on the web.
Click the gear icon → See all settings.
Go to Filters and Blocked Addresses.
Click Create a new filter.
In the From field, enter the email address (or domain, e.g.
@example.com).Click Create filter.
Select Never send it to Spam. Optionally, also choose Always mark as important, Apply label, etc.
Click Create filter to save.
(Optional) If the email is currently in Spam, open it and click “Not spam” to retrain the filter.
Gmail Mobile App
The Gmail app doesn’t support full filter creation.
If a desired email is in Spam, open it and tap “Report not spam” or “Not Spam”.
If the message is in the Promotions tab, you can move it to your Primary tab: open the message → tap the three dots → Move to → Primary. Then select the prompt “Do this for future messages from [sender]?” to instruct Gmail to place future messages there.
For images: tap “Always display images from this sender” — this helps with tracking images loading properly.
Outlook / Microsoft 365 / Outlook.com
Web / Desktop
Log into Outlook (or Outlook.com).
Go to Settings (gear icon) → View all Outlook settings.
Navigate to Mail > Junk email.
Under Safe senders and domains, click Add.
Enter the email address or domain (
sender@example.comorexample.com).Click Save.
Alternative: in some Outlook clients, when you open an email, there may be a banner or alert like “Click here to download pictures… Add sender to Safe Senders list.” Clicking that will add the sender.
Outlook Mobile App (iOS / Android)
The mobile app doesn’t let you edit the safe-senders list directly.
Instead, open the email → tap the three dots → Move to Focused Inbox → select Always Move (for future messages).
To fully whitelist, you’ll need to add the address/domain via Outlook Web settings (as above). whitelist.guide
Yahoo Mail
Web / Desktop
Sign into Yahoo Mail.
Go to Settings (gear icon) → More Settings.
Select Filters.
Click Add new filters.
Enter a filter name (e.g. “Whitelist”) and in From, enter the sender or domain.
Set the action to Inbox (so messages pass through).
Save the filter.
Alternatively, if a message from the sender is in Spam, open it and click “Not Spam”. This helps train Yahoo’s filter.
Yahoo Mobile App
Open the Spam folder → find the email → tap Move → select Inbox.
The action “Not Spam” will help Yahoo learn to accept that sender in future.
Other Providers (Zoho, ProtonMail, AOL, etc.)
Zoho Mail: Go to Settings → Anti-Spam → Allowlist / Blocklist → Add the address or domain under Allow.
ProtonMail: In Settings → Filters → under Spam / block / allow list, add the address/domain and choose Allow.
AOL Mail: Add the sender to your Contacts. AOL treats contacts as trusted senders.
Tips & Caveats for Whitelisting
Use domain-level entries when possible (e.g.
@yourdomain.com), so all addresses from that domain are allowed.Encourage adding to address book — many clients treat contacts as safe.
“Not spam” and “move to inbox” actions help “train” filters — over time, the email client learns that this sender is trusted.
Apple MPP and image caching may still prevent pixel tracking or open detection, but whitelisting helps with delivery.
Whitelisting doesn’t override all filters — some security filters (e.g. for malware, attachments) may still block messages even if the sender is whitelisted.
Ask users explicitly — include a link or instructions in your welcome email to guide them through whitelisting.