---
title: "Enabling SpamAssassin for Spam Filtering"
source: "https://docs.nexcess.com/hosting/email/spam/enabling-spamassassin-for-spam-filtering/"
description: "Reduce inbox spam by enabling SpamAssassin in cPanel or Plesk. Learn how to configure scoring thresholds, auto-delete, blacklists, and more."
vertical: "Hosting"
date: "2024-03-04"
last_modified: "2026-07-02"
---

# Enabling SpamAssassin for Spam Filtering

There are two potential problems when it comes to using your own mailserver and spam: spam email being sent *to* your account and spam email being sent *from* your account. The free program SpamAssassin can reduce how much spam email gets *to* your inbox. This article will show you how to enable SpamAssassin on a domain.

SpamAssassin assigns a score to each email you receive. Then, based on your settings, it rejects email that scores too high. The scoring is from 0 to 10, with 0 having the strictest rules and 10 having the most relaxed rules. It’s like a threshold: if you set the threshold to 5, emails that score 6 or higher will be marked as spam. We generally recommend starting at a threshold of 5, then adjusting as necessary.

SpamAssassin is available for both [cPanel](#cPanel) and [Plesk](#Plesk) servers.

## Enabling SpamAssassin in cPanel

1. Log into the cPanel account that has your email account. If you haven’t set up an email address on your domain, read our article on [Creating Email Accounts in cPanel](https://docs.nexcess.com/hosting/control-panel/whm/cpanel/email-management/creating-email-accounts-in-cpanel/) first.
2. Scroll down to the **Email** section on the cPanel homepage and click on **Apache SpamAssassin**.  
    ![SpamAssassin](https://docs.nexcess.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/help.liquidweb.com_PMXFHf.gif)
3. Click **Enable Apache SpamAssassin**. SpamAssassin will start and you’ll see a success message.   
    ![enabling SpamAssassin](https://docs.nexcess.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/help.liquidweb.com_vSSVAt.png)

That’s all you need to do to enable SpamAssassin! But, after you’ve turned SpamAssassin on, you can fine-tune the settings.

## Configuring SpamAssassin in cPanel

Depending on your mailbox setup, you can change different SpamAssassin settings.

### **Spam Auto-Delete**

SpamAssassin can either deliver or delete messages flagged as spam.

1. On the Apache SpamAssassin page (where you just enabled SpamAssassin), scroll down to the **Filters** section.
2. Use the **Score** dropdown menu to set the score at which you want to start rejecting spam. Remember this works like a threshold: the higher the number, the more relaxed the rules are.
3. Then, click **Auto-Delete Spam**. If you start auto-deleting spam and realize you no longer want to, come back to this page and click **Disable Auto-Delete Spam**.  
    ![disable auto delete spam](https://docs.nexcess.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/help.liquidweb.com_xSXTIa.png)

### **Spam Box**

When you enable SpamAssassin, Spam Box is also enabled. This places all the spam that SpamAssassin finds into a folder in your mailbox called *spam*.

1. On the Apache SpamAssassin page (where you just enabled SpamAssassin), scroll down to the **Spam Box** section.
2. Simply click **Disable Spam Box** or **Enable Spam Box** to change this setting.  
    ![disable spam box](https://docs.nexcess.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/help.liquidweb.com_tI8SnY.png)

### **Address Whitelists and Blacklists**

You can get very specific with your SpamAssassin rules. Here, you enter certain email addresses or domains you want to whitelist or blacklist. Usually the default SpamAssassin settings work pretty well, but you can add addresses to these lists if they are being filtered incorrectly.

1. On the Apache SpamAssassin page (where you just enabled SpamAssassin), scroll down to the Apache **SpamAssassin Configuration** section.
2. Open the SpamAssassin configurations by clicking on **Configure Apache SpamAssassin**.  
    ![configure SpamAssassin](https://docs.nexcess.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/help.liquidweb.com_pXgjIk.png)
3. Add email addresses to the **blacklist\_from** fields to mark email from those addresses as spam . You can also add records as “\*@adomain.com” to block all addresses from a certain domain.  
    ![blacklisting](https://docs.nexcess.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/help.liquidweb.com_NI0TLh.gif)
4. Add email addresses to the **whitelist\_from** fields to mark email from those addresses as legitimate. You can also add records as “\*@adomain.com” to allow all addresses from a certain domain.  
    ![whitelisting](https://docs.nexcess.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/help.liquidweb.com_PoexgD.gif)

SpamAssassin is a good open source spam solution. Unfortunately, SpamAssassin isn’t perfect and can miss some spam. We recommend also [Filtering Spam Using RBLs](https://docs.nexcess.com/hosting/email/spam/filtering-spam-using-rbls/) and [Using ClamAV for Virus Protection](https://docs.nexcess.com/hosting/security/antivirus/using-clamav-for-virus-protection/) on your server. If you want the most precise spam filtering, we recommend moving to our [Premium Business Email](https://www.liquidweb.com/premium-email-hosting/) product.

## Enabling SpamAssassin in Plesk

1. In the left navigation menu, click on **Tools & Settings**.  
    ![tools and settings link highlighted](https://docs.nexcess.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/help.liquidweb.com_5JvzEX.png)
2. Click on **Spam Filter** under **Mail**.  
    ![spam filter link highlighted](https://docs.nexcess.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/help.liquidweb.com_OVnAUH.png)
3. First, you’ll enable SpamAssassin by checking the box for **Switch on server-wide SpamAssassin spam filtering**. If you want, you can also **apply individual settings to spam filtering**.  
    ![enabling SpamAssassin](https://docs.nexcess.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/help.liquidweb.com_0iIy2T.gif)
4. Now, choose your SpamAssassin settings. The most important setting is **the score that a message must receive to qualify as spam**. Remember this works like a threshold: the higher the number, the more relaxed the rules are.  
    ![spam assassin settings page](https://docs.nexcess.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/help.liquidweb.com_elPZB3.png)
5. Every other setting depends on the type of email your server receives. You can choose trusted languages and locales, as well as choose how you want potential spam to be marked in your inbox.
6. Once you’ve changed the settings to work for your server, click **OK**. Remember you can change these settings at any time if you need to!

SpamAssassin is a good open source spam solution. Unfortunately, SpamAssassin isn’t perfect and can miss some spam. We recommend also [Filtering Spam Using RBLs](https://docs.nexcess.com/hosting/email/spam/filtering-spam-using-rbls/) on your server. You can also have automatic spam filtering through our [Premium Business Email](https://www.liquidweb.com/premium-email-hosting/) product offering!