How do Apple Mail user settings impact email deliverability and spam filtering?

Summary

Apple Mail user settings influence email deliverability and spam filtering through various mechanisms. User actions, such as adding senders to contacts or marking emails as 'not spam,' can improve deliverability by signaling trust and training spam filters. However, Apple's Mail Privacy Protection (MPP) significantly impacts email tracking accuracy by masking open rates, prompting marketers to prioritize other engagement metrics like click-through rates and conversions. Importantly, Apple Mail client settings primarily affect the Apple Mail client and not necessarily iCloud or other mailbox providers. While encouraging users to add senders to address books has been long-standing advice, its applicability in modern mail servers may be less pronounced. User engagement, in general, remains a critical factor influencing email deliverability, and these settings are similar across multiple email platforms.

Key findings

  • Direct Impact on Deliverability: User engagement in Apple Mail, such as adding senders to contacts or marking emails as 'not spam,' can improve deliverability.
  • MPP's Impact on Tracking Accuracy: Apple's Mail Privacy Protection (MPP) significantly inflates open rates, making them unreliable for measuring user engagement.
  • Importance of Alternative Metrics: Email marketers need to prioritize other engagement metrics, like click-through rates and conversions, due to MPP.
  • Limited Scope of Client Settings: Apple Mail client settings primarily affect the Apple Mail client, not necessarily iCloud or other mailbox providers' spam filters.
  • Address Book Addition's Uncertain Impact: The effectiveness of instructing users to add senders to address books might be less pronounced in modern mail servers.
  • User Engagement as a Key Factor: User engagement, including marking emails as 'not spam' and moving them to the inbox, remains a key factor in determining email deliverability.
  • Cross-Platform User Controls: User controls for spam filtering and deliverability are a common feature across multiple email platforms, including Apple Mail, Gmail and Outlook.

Key considerations

  • Encourage Positive Engagement: Encourage recipients to add your sending address to their Apple Mail contacts and mark your emails as 'not spam' to improve deliverability.
  • Adapt Tracking Strategies: Re-evaluate and adapt email tracking strategies to rely less on open rates and more on other engagement metrics due to MPP.
  • Recognize Scope of Settings: Recognize that Apple Mail client settings primarily affect the Apple Mail client itself and not necessarily iCloud or other providers.
  • Implement Best Practices: Continue to implement email marketing best practices, even if their individual impact is uncertain, as they collectively contribute to overall deliverability.
  • Educate Users: Educate users on how to use Apple Mail settings to manage their inbox and ensure your messages reach them.

What email marketers say
9Marketer opinions

Apple Mail user settings influence email deliverability and spam filtering in several ways. User actions like adding senders to contacts can improve deliverability by signaling trust. However, Apple's Mail Privacy Protection (MPP) significantly impacts email tracking accuracy by masking open rates, forcing marketers to adapt by focusing on alternative engagement metrics like click-through rates and conversions. Importantly, Apple Mail client settings primarily affect the Apple Mail client and not necessarily iCloud or other mailbox providers.

Key opinions

  • Direct Impact on Deliverability: User actions within Apple Mail, such as adding senders to contacts, can improve deliverability by signaling sender trustworthiness.
  • MPP's Impact on Tracking: Apple's Mail Privacy Protection (MPP) inflates open rates, making them unreliable for measuring user engagement.
  • Shift in Metrics: Email marketers need to shift focus to other engagement metrics like click-through rates and conversions due to MPP.
  • Client Specific Settings: Apple Mail client settings primarily affect the Apple Mail client itself, not necessarily iCloud or other email providers.

Key considerations

  • Encourage Contact Addition: Encourage recipients to add your sending address to their Apple Mail contacts to improve deliverability.
  • Adapt Tracking Strategies: Re-evaluate and adapt email tracking strategies to rely less on open rates and more on other engagement metrics.
  • Client Variation: Recognize that Apple Mail client settings impact deliverability differently compared to iCloud or other providers.
  • Authentication Implementation: Implement proper email authentication protocols (SPF, DKIM, DMARC) to improve sender reputation and deliverability.
Marketer view

Email marketer from Email Geeks says that the Apple Mail setting only impacts the spam filter of the Apple Mail client and not iCloud or other mailbox providers' spam filters.

November 2022 - Email Geeks
Marketer view

Email marketer from Reddit explains that Apple's Mail Privacy Protection (MPP) significantly impacts email marketing by masking open rates, which affects segmentation strategies. Marketers need to adapt by focusing on other engagement metrics.

June 2024 - Reddit
Marketer view

Email marketer from Litmus shares that Apple's Mail Privacy Protection (MPP) affects email tracking accuracy by pre-loading images, leading to inflated open rates. This makes it difficult to reliably measure user engagement based on opens alone.

October 2023 - Litmus
Marketer view

Email marketer from Campaign Monitor states that Apple's Mail Privacy Protection inflates open rates due to pre-fetching images, making them an unreliable metric for measuring engagement. Other metrics, like clicks and conversions, should be prioritized.

June 2023 - Campaign Monitor
Marketer view

Email marketer from Gmass shares that asking recipients to add your email address to their address book helps you avoid the spam folder and improve your sender reputation, as it signals to email providers like Apple Mail that your messages are wanted.

January 2022 - Gmass
Marketer view

Email marketer from EmailToolTester suggests that encouraging recipients to add your sending address to their contacts in Apple Mail can improve deliverability as it signals that the sender is trusted. Also implement authentication protocols.

October 2021 - EmailToolTester
Marketer view

Email marketer from Mailjet explains that Apple's Mail Privacy Protection has made open rates less reliable, making it necessary to look at other engagement metrics like click-through rates and conversions to measure campaign success.

January 2025 - Mailjet
Marketer view

Email marketer from Email on Acid shares that Apple's Mail Privacy Protection affects A/B testing based on open rates because of inflated open counts. Focusing on click-through rates and conversion metrics provides more reliable insights.

February 2025 - Email on Acid
Marketer view

Email marketer from Return Path shares that positive user interaction, such as adding senders to contacts and moving emails to the inbox, improves sender reputation and deliverability. Apple Mail user settings directly impact these interactions.

May 2023 - Return Path

What the experts say
4Expert opinions

Apple Mail user settings influence email deliverability and spam filtering, though the impact of certain actions, like adding senders to address books, may be less significant than in the past. Apple Mail Privacy Protection (MPP) significantly affects email tracking by inflating open rates, requiring a shift to other engagement metrics. User engagement overall, including marking emails as 'not spam' and moving them to the inbox, plays a crucial role in deliverability, especially within Apple Mail.

Key opinions

  • User Engagement Impact: User engagement actions (marking emails as 'not spam,' moving to inbox, adding to contacts) greatly impact deliverability, particularly with Apple Mail.
  • MPP Inflation of Open Rates: Apple Mail Privacy Protection (MPP) inflates open rates, making them an unreliable metric for measuring engagement.
  • Settings Influence: Apple Mail client settings, such as the ability to allow mail from previous recipients or contacts, directly influence what reaches the user's inbox.
  • Address Book Addition Impact: Adding senders to address books may have less impact than in the past, but it can still contribute to positive sender reputation.

Key considerations

  • Focus on User Engagement: Prioritize strategies that encourage positive user engagement, such as prompting users to add you to their contacts or mark your emails as 'not spam'.
  • Adjust Tracking Strategies: Adapt email tracking strategies to rely less on open rates and more on alternative metrics like click-through rates and conversions due to MPP.
  • Implement Best Practices: Continue to implement email marketing best practices, even if their individual impact is uncertain, as they collectively contribute to overall deliverability.
Expert view

Expert from Spam Resource explains user engagement (such as marking emails as 'not spam,' moving to inbox, adding to contacts) greatly impacts deliverability, particularly with Apple Mail. Positive actions improve sender reputation; negative actions harm it.

October 2022 - Spam Resource
Expert view

Expert from Email Geeks shares that Apple mail client has a setting to allow mail either from previous recipients or folks in your contact list.

April 2023 - Email Geeks
Expert view

Expert from Word to the Wise explains that Apple Mail Privacy Protection (MPP) impacts email tracking by pre-loading images, leading to inflated open rates and making it harder to determine true engagement. Suggests focusing on clicks, conversions, and other user actions.

April 2024 - Word to the Wise
Expert view

Expert from Email Geeks states that while providing instructions to users to add senders to their address book has been advice going back to AOL days and likely has some impact, it is unclear how applicable it is on modern mailservers and doesn’t recall seeing many senders actually do this in a long time.

March 2021 - Email Geeks

What the documentation says
5Technical articles

Apple Mail user settings significantly impact email deliverability and spam filtering by allowing users to customize their mail preferences. These settings, such as blocking senders, marking emails as junk, and managing contacts, directly influence which emails are filtered as spam or reach the inbox. User engagement signals, like marking emails as 'not spam' or moving them to the inbox, are key factors in determining deliverability. These actions help train spam filters, improving their accuracy over time, across different email providers including iCloud, Gmail and Outlook. This user control is a consistent feature across various email platforms.

Key findings

  • User Customization: Users can customize mail settings to block senders, mark emails as junk, and manage their contacts, influencing email filtering.
  • Direct Influence on Spam Filters: User settings directly train spam filters, improving their accuracy in identifying unwanted emails.
  • Importance of User Engagement: User engagement (marking emails as 'not spam,' moving to inbox) is a key factor in determining email deliverability.
  • Consistent User Control Across Platforms: User control over spam filtering and deliverability settings is a common feature across major email providers like Apple Mail, Gmail, and Outlook.

Key considerations

  • Encourage Positive Engagement: Encourage recipients to take positive actions, such as adding you to their contacts or marking your emails as 'not spam,' to improve deliverability.
  • Monitor Deliverability Metrics: Monitor deliverability metrics and adjust strategies based on how users are interacting with your emails.
  • Provide Clear Instructions: Provide clear instructions to recipients on how to manage their email settings to ensure your messages reach their inbox.
Technical article

Documentation from Apple Support explains how users can customize mail settings on their Mac to block senders, mark emails as junk, and manage their contacts, influencing what emails are filtered as spam or reach their inbox.

September 2021 - Apple Support
Technical article

Documentation from Apple explains that iCloud mail uses sophisticated spam filtering techniques. User settings like blocking senders and marking emails as junk directly train iCloud's spam filters, improving accuracy over time.

September 2024 - Apple
Technical article

Documentation from Spamhaus explains that user engagement, including whether users mark emails as spam or move them to the inbox, is a key factor in determining email deliverability. Apple Mail's user settings directly influence these signals.

August 2023 - Spamhaus
Technical article

Documentation from Microsoft explains about how using Safe Senders lists, and blocking email addresses helps ensure you control what you see. Although this is for Outlook the same concepts apply across all major email providers.

September 2022 - Microsoft
Technical article

Documentation from Google explains that Users can prevent emails from going to spam in Gmail by adding the sender to their contacts or by marking the email as “Not spam.”

June 2021 - Google