How to Whitelist Email Domains to Ensure Course Access and Notifications
Email providers like Gmail, Outlook, and others use algorithms and filtering systems to identify and block suspicious emails that may pose security risks. These systems are designed to protect your inbox from phishing scams, malware, and unwanted junk mail. However, despite their sophisticated design, spam filters aren't perfect—and sometimes legitimate emails can be flagged as spam which can cause you to miss important notifications, reminders, or course-related communications. This may happen due to several reasons, including: automated or bulk emails, formatting, content that may contain phrases/links that resemble spam-like patterns, domain trust level, and/or your personal email settings (especially if using a company account).
To ensure you receive all the necessary emails from eCornell, you can create a "whitelist." A whitelist is a list of trusted email addresses or domains that will bypass spam filtering and always land in your inbox.
Why Whitelist?
Whitelisting allows you to:
- Receive account access credentials, notifications, and reminders promptly.
- Ensure you don’t miss assignment alerts or updates from your facilitator.
- Avoid confusion caused by misplaced or delayed emails in your spam folder.
Before You Begin
Please note: Whitelisting must be done by the owner of the email account (or your organization's IT team if you are using a company account). eCornell cannot perform this action on your behalf.
Students using a government address (.gov, .mil, etc), may need to switch to a personal email address, if allowed by their organization, as government accounts have stricter security settings.
Recommended Domains to Whitelist
We recommend adding the following domains to your email account's trusted list to ensure seamless communication:
- cornell.edu
- ecornell.com
- ecornell.cornell.edu
- instructure.com (used for our learning environment, Canvas)
- sendgrid.net and sendgrid.me (used for our automated email delivery)
Whitelisting in Gmail
2. In the top-right corner, click the Gear Icon (Settings), then select See all settings.
3. Navigate to the Filters and Blocked Addresses tab.
4. Click on Create a new filter.
5. In the From field, enter the domains you want to whitelist (e.g., @cornell.edu, @ecornell.com).
6. Click Create filter with this search.
7. Check the box labeled Never send it to Spam, then click Create filter again.
Alternatively, you can add the trusted domains to your Gmail Contacts list by saving specific sender addresses (e.g., notifications@instructure.com) so Gmail recognizes them as legitimate.
Whitelisting in Outlook/Office 365
2. Click the Gear Icon (Settings) in the top-right corner, then select View all Outlook settings.
3. Navigate to Mail > Junk email.
4. In the Safe Senders and Domains section, click Add and enter the trusted domains (e.g., cornell.edu).
5. Click Save to confirm the changes.
Whitelisting in Yahoo Mail
2. Click the Settings Icon, then choose More Settings.
3. Select Filters > Add a new filter.
4. Name the filter (e.g., "Trusted Domains").
5. In the From field, enter the trusted domains (e.g., @ecornell.com, @sendgrid.net).
6. Choose Inbox as the folder for delivered emails.
7. Click Save.
Whitelisting in Other Email Providers
Final Tips
- Regularly check your spam or junk folder for missed emails and mark legitimate messages as "Not Spam" to train your email filter.
- Periodically ensure your whitelist is up to date with any new domains your institution may use for communications.
- For urgent notifications, add both the email domain and specific sender addresses to your whitelist (e.g., studentsuccess@ecornell.cornell.edu, ec_helpdesk@cornell.edu, notifications@instructure.com)
