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Inbound Mailboxes

The Inbound section of the Mail module groups every message received from external senders into seven mailboxes, one for each outcome of the SpamGuard filtering engine. The screen layout — filter bar, action bar, message list, pagination — is the same in every mailbox; only the messages, the Filter Result badge, and a small set of action-bar buttons change between them.

For the field-by-field description of the shared layout, see Portal Overview. For the filter bar — including the cross-mailbox checkboxes, Match modes, Period presets, and the Detail ▼ advanced filters — see the Filter Bar Reference on the Mail overview page.

The Seven Mailboxes

MailboxPage headerContentsDefault delivery state
CleanMail box (Inbound) - SafeLegitimate messages that passed every checkDelivered
SpamMail box (Inbound) - SpamMessages flagged as unsolicited or bulk by content / source / behaviourNot delivered
Block DKIMMail box (Inbound) - Block DKIMMessages that failed DKIM authentication, often indicating spoofingNot delivered
WhitelistMail box (Inbound) - WhitelistMessages from senders explicitly allowed by policyDelivered
BlacklistMail box (Inbound) - BlacklistMessages from senders explicitly blocked by policyNot delivered
URL BlacklistMail box (Inbound) - URL blacklistMessages containing links flagged as dangerousNot delivered
MalwareMail box (Inbound) - Malicious codeMessages containing malicious attachments or payloadsNot delivered

Selecting a mailbox from the sidebar loads it in the main content area.

Sample Mailbox Views

The Clean mailbox is the most common starting point — every safely delivered inbound message is listed here.

Clean Inbound Mailbox

The Malware mailbox is the most security-relevant view. Every row is held in quarantine and the Delivery Status column shows Not delivered in red.

Malware Inbound Mailbox

The remaining mailboxes use the same screen layout, with the Filter Result badge updated to match the classification (Spam, Block DKIM, Whitelist, Blacklist, URL Blacklist).

Message Detail View

Clicking any row in an inbound mailbox opens the message detail view. The page header reflects the path you arrived from — for example Inbound - Inbound.

SGUARD Inbound Message Detail View

LinkPurpose
Mail Viewing LogAudit trail of who opened the message and when
Inbound logInbound processing log for this message
View HeaderFull raw mail headers
View AISpamGuard's AI-based explanation of the classification
Download EMLDownload the message as an .eml file for offline analysis
🖨 PrintPrint the detail view

Action bar

The action bar at the top of the detail view exposes ten buttons that act on the single message currently being viewed.

ButtonEffect
View ListReturn to the mailbox list
DeleteDelete the message from SGUARD storage
DeliverRelease the message to the recipient
WhitelistAdd the sender to the whitelist policy
BlacklistAdd the sender to the blacklist policy
SpamlistTag the sender as a spam source
+ / Adjust the Bayesian learning weight for this sample
Cancel learningRemove this sample from the Bayesian training set
Inline help for the action bar

Inspection sections

The detail view typically renders three sections stacked vertically:

  • Spam Score (Bayesian Score) — A single line with the engine's score for this message, for example 28.65 (5.65). The number in parentheses is the Bayesian-only contribution to the total.
  • Detail information — A two-column grid containing the Filter Result badge, Sender IP, DKIM Result (for example Safe DKIM), DKIM DOMAIN, Reverse Domain, Delivery Status, and the raw spf record with its result tag (for example [PASS]).
  • Detail filter — The Spam Score Detail breakdown, listing every internal reason that contributed to the score. Reason codes follow the TR_SPAM_REASON_* naming scheme — for example TR_SPAM_REASON_LOCAL_HTML_HIDDEN_TEXT for messages with hidden HTML text, or TR_SPAM_REASON_LOCAL_RECEIVED_NO_FEDEX for forged courier-style headers.

The detail view is the right place to confirm a classification before applying a permanent Whitelist or Blacklist decision from the action bar.

tip

View AI is the fastest way to understand why a message ended up in a given mailbox without parsing the TR_SPAM_REASON_* codes manually.

Action Bar Differences

The filter bar and the message list are identical across all seven mailboxes. The action bar varies because the appropriate remediation depends on what put the message in the mailbox.

MailboxAvailable bulk actionsNotes
CleanDelete · Deliver · Whitelist · Blacklist · SpamlistThe full action set
SpamDelete · Deliver · Whitelist · Blacklist · SpamlistSame as Clean
Block DKIMDelete · Deliver · Whitelist · Blacklist · SpamlistSame as Clean
WhitelistDelete · Deliver · Blacklist · SpamlistWhitelist action omitted — every message is already from a whitelisted sender
BlacklistDelete · Deliver · Whitelist · SpamlistBlacklist action omitted — every message is already from a blacklisted sender
URL BlacklistDelete · Deliver · SpamlistWhitelist and Blacklist omitted — the decision is based on the link, not the sender
MalwareDelete · Deliver · Whitelist · Blacklist · SpamlistThe full action set, but Deliver must be used with extreme care

The Excel icon, the Group option, and the Page size option on the right of the action bar are present in every mailbox.

Common Workflows

The same handful of tasks come up across most mailboxes.

Releasing a quarantined message

  1. Open the relevant mailbox (Spam, Block DKIM, Blacklist, URL Blacklist, or Malware).
  2. Filter by Sender or Subject to locate the message.
  3. Verify out of band that the message is safe before continuing.
  4. Select the row checkbox and click Deliver.

Adjusting trust for a sender

GoalActionWhere it works
Trust a sender permanentlyWhitelistClean / Spam / Block DKIM / Blacklist / Malware
Block a sender permanentlyBlacklistClean / Spam / Block DKIM / Whitelist / Malware
Tag a sender as a spam sourceSpamlistEvery inbound mailbox

Exporting a list for analysis

  1. Apply the Period and any other filters.
  2. Click Search to refresh the list.
  3. Click the Excel icon on the right of the action bar to download an .xlsx file.

Cleaning up old records

  1. Set Period to the older range you want to clear.
  2. Apply any other filters needed to scope the deletion.
  3. Select the rows and click Delete.
tip

The URL Blacklist mailbox is the highest-fidelity indicator of attempted attacks. Even when the messages stay in quarantine, exporting the list periodically gives the security team useful telemetry about who is being targeted and from where.

Releasing malware

Never use Deliver in the Malware mailbox without independent verification that the message is safe. Releasing a quarantined malware message into a recipient's inbox can compromise the user's machine or the wider network.

Bulk actions

Every action in the action bar applies to all selected rows. Verify the selection before clicking — moving a critical partner to the blacklist will block all of their future messages.