Allowing Trusted Senders in SpamExperts

A guide to the Sender Allow List and Allow List Filtering Rules

This guide explains how to make sure email from people and companies you trust always reaches your inbox, even if the spam filter might otherwise hold it back. SpamExperts gives you two tools for this:

1. Sender Allow List — the quick, everyday tool. Allow a single address or a whole domain.
2. Allow List Filtering Rules — a more precise tool for when you need to match on something other than just the sender (a subject line, an attachment, a specific header, and so on).

Most of the time the Sender Allow List is all you need. Reach for filtering rules only when a plain sender entry can’t do the job.

Before you start: what “allowing” actually does

Allowing a sender tells the filter: don’t run your spam-content checks on this mail — let it through.

There is one important limit to understand up front:

Allowing a sender only switches off the spam-content scoring. It does not override connection-level rejections.

If the sending mail server is itself on a public blocklist, is badly configured, or fails basic security checks, the message can still be refused before the content filter ever looks at it — and allowing the sender will not force it through. (Blocking, by contrast, always wins.) If you allow a sender and mail still doesn’t arrive, see the Troubleshooting section at the end.

A second thing worth knowing: allowing a sender removes a layer of protection for that address. Spoofed and forged mail that pretends to come from an allowed sender will sail straight through. So allow only what you actually need, and prefer allowing a specific address over a whole domain wherever you can.

Logging in

1. Login to the Spamexperts panel - it is usually best to login via our billing system
2. Once you’re in, look for the Incoming – Protection Settings section. Both tools in this guide live there.

The Sender Allow List

Use this when you simply want mail from a particular person or company to always come through.

How to add a sender

1. Go to Incoming – Protection Settings and open Sender allow list.
2. Click + Add sender to allow list (some panels label this Add or show a Whitelist a sender box).
3. In the Sender field, enter one of the following:
   • A full email address to allow just that one person — for example jane@example.com
   • A whole domain to allow everyone at that company — for example example.com (do not put an @ in front of it)
4. Click Save (or Add).

The entry appears in the list immediately and takes effect right away.

Which should you enter — an address or a domain?

Recommendation: allow the specific address whenever you can. Allowing an entire domain is convenient but much broader — it also means anyone forging that domain gets a free pass.

Removing a sender

Open the same Sender allow list page, find the entry, and click the delete/remove control (usually a trash icon or a Delete link) next to it.

Allow List Filtering Rules

Filtering rules are the more powerful option. Instead of matching only on who sent the mail, a rule can match on the subject line, the To/From/CC headers, the message body, an attachment, the sending server’s IP or hostname, the country of origin, and more. Any incoming message that matches a rule is always allowed.

Use a rule when a plain sender entry isn’t enough — for example:

• “Always allow anything with [INVOICE] in the subject.”
• “Always allow mail from our accounting system’s exact address and to our billing inbox.”
• “Always allow newsletters from a sender whose address keeps changing but whose From name is consistent.”

How to add a simple rule

1. Go to Incoming – Protection Settings and open Allow list filtering rules.
2. Choose the Domain Rules tab (this is the tab that applies to your own mail).
3. Click + Add rule.
4. Fill in the dialog:
   • Rule name — a short label so you’ll remember what it’s for, e.g. Allow supplier invoices.
   • Match — pick what the rule should look at (see the table below).
   • Operator — pick how it should compare (Is, Contains, Starts with, etc.).
   • Value — type the text, address, or value to match on.
5. Click Save. The rule shows up in the list a moment later.

You can combine more than one condition in a single rule to make it more precise (for example, match on both the sender and the recipient), which greatly reduces the chance of allowing something you didn’t intend.

What each “Match” option looks at

These are the most useful match fields for everyday allowlisting, in plain terms:

Operators you can use

Depending on the field, you can refine the match with: Is, Is not, Contains, Does not contain, Starts with, Ends with. (Country and Continent only offer Is / Is not.)

A tip that saves a lot of confusion

The header From address (what you see) and the envelope Sender address (what the server actually used) are two different things, and legitimate mail doesn’t always make them match. If a rule based on From isn’t catching the mail you expect, look at the message’s raw headers for the exact address in use, or build the rule around the envelope Sender instead — or use both conditions together for the best chance of a reliable match.

Worked examples

Allow everything from one supplier’s real sending address

• Match: Sender → Operator: Is → Value: billing@exmaple.com

Allow anything tagged in the subject line

• Match: Subject → Operator: Contains → Value: [INVOICE]

Allow a specific sender only when it’s addressed to your billing inbox (two conditions in one rule)

• Match: Sender → Contains → example.com
• Match: Recipient → Is → billing@yourexample.com

Sender Allow List vs. Filtering Rules — which do I use?

Start with the Sender Allow List. Only move to a filtering rule when a plain sender entry can’t express what you need.

Troubleshooting

“I allowed the sender but their mail still isn’t arriving.”

Allowing only turns off the spam-content checks. If mail still doesn’t come through, the message is likely being stopped earlier, at the connection level. Common causes:

• The sending server’s IP is on a public blocklist.
• The sending domain fails basic authentication or DNS checks (SPF, etc.).
• The sending server is misconfigured or doesn’t follow email standards.

None of these are fixed by allowlisting on your end — they usually need the sender to correct something. Check your panel’s Log Search (sometimes called the incoming log or delivery queue) to see exactly why a specific message was refused, then share that reason with your provider or the sender.

“The message is sitting in quarantine — do I need a rule?”

Not necessarily. You can release an individual message from quarantine directly from the log/quarantine view, and most panels offer to allow that sender at the same time. That’s often quicker than building a rule.

“My filtering rule isn’t catching the mail.”

The most common cause is matching on the header From when you should be matching on the envelope Sender (or vice versa). Open the message’s raw headers to confirm the exact value, and consider adding a second condition so the rule is both accurate and specific.

Keep your allow list tight. Every entry is a small hole in the filter, so allow only what you genuinely need, favor specific addresses over whole domains, and review the list from time to time.