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Freedom251 › Blog › Email Security

How to Report a Phishing Email in Outlook and Microsoft 365

By Freedom251 Team · · 9 min read

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Select the suspicious message, choose Report, then Report phishing. Outlook can report a phishing message from any mail folder, and the reported message is deleted. Whether the report is sent to Microsoft, your organization’s reporting mailbox, or both depends on Microsoft 365 Defender settings configured by your administrator.

What counts as phishing in Outlook?

Phishing is an attempt to trick you into revealing credentials, payment information, security codes, or other sensitive data. The message may impersonate a bank, employer, delivery company, cloud service, colleague, or executive. A suspicious message can still look polished and use a familiar logo or display name.

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Use Outlook’s Report phishing category when the message appears designed to steal information or impersonate a trusted person or organization. Do not classify every unwanted email as phishing. Advertising, newsletters you no longer want, and other unsolicited mail generally belong in the junk category unless they also contain a deceptive credential or impersonation attempt.

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Before you report

  • Do not reply to the message.
  • Do not click links, scan codes, or open attachments.
  • Do not call a phone number or use contact details supplied in the message.
  • If the message claims to come from a company, locate that company’s contact information independently, such as from a statement, contract, or manually entered web address.
  • If you already entered a password or other information, contact your organization’s security team immediately and change the affected password through the legitimate service.

How to report a phishing email in Outlook

The labels vary slightly between Outlook clients, but the workflow is the same. The built-in reporting control supports Outlook for Microsoft 365, Outlook for Mac, Outlook for iOS and Android, new Outlook for Windows, and Outlook on the web when the client and organization settings meet Microsoft’s requirements.

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  1. Open the folder containing the suspicious message. You can report from the Inbox, Junk Email, and other mail folders.
  2. Select the message. In clients that support multi-select, select more than one suspicious message if appropriate.
  3. Choose Report in the toolbar or message menu.
  4. Choose Report phishing.
  5. Read the confirmation, if shown. Outlook deletes the reported phishing message.

Reporting from a list view is usually safer than opening the message. If you must open it to identify the sender, avoid interacting with its content and do not follow any embedded instructions.

Outlook on the web

In Outlook on the web, select the message in the message list, choose Report on the toolbar, and select Report phishing. The same action is available when the message is displayed in another mail folder, provided your organization has enabled the reporting control.

New Outlook for Windows

Select the suspicious message, select Report, and then select Report phishing. The message is removed after reporting. If the command is missing, the cause is usually client support or an administrator setting rather than the folder in which you found the message.

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Classic Outlook for Microsoft 365

With a supported Microsoft 365 build, select the message and use the Report button in the ribbon or message actions menu. Select Report phishing. Microsoft’s supported-version requirements can change by update channel, so an administrator should verify the current requirement for the organization’s installed build.

Outlook for Mac

Select the message, choose Report, and select Report phishing. The command is available only in supported app versions and when user reporting is enabled for the organization.

Outlook for iOS or Android

Open the message list, select the suspicious message, open the message actions, and choose Report followed by Report phishing. The exact placement of the actions menu can differ between app releases. Install the organization-approved current app version if the command is not present.

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What happens after you choose Report phishing?

The message is deleted from the mailbox. The destination of the report is controlled by your Microsoft 365 administrator. Depending on the organization’s user-reported settings, the report can be sent to Microsoft, to an Exchange Online reporting mailbox controlled by the organization, or to both.

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When the organization sends reports only to its own reporting mailbox, Microsoft does not automatically receive the message for analysis. An administrator must submit it separately if Microsoft analysis is needed. This distinction explains why your organization’s security team may contact you even though the message did not go directly to Microsoft.

Do not assume that a successful report means the sender’s account or website has already been disabled. Reporting supplies information for filtering, investigation, and response; the security team still has to review and act on it.

Report phishing versus Report junk

These options have different purposes and side effects. Choosing the wrong category can send the message through the wrong workflow.

Action Use it for What Outlook does
Report phishing Suspected credential theft, impersonation, or another deceptive attack Reports the message according to organizational settings and deletes the reported message
Report junk Unwanted or unsolicited mail that is not necessarily an attack Moves the message to Junk Email and adds the sender to the user’s Blocked Senders list
Not junk A legitimate message incorrectly placed in Junk Email Moves the message from Junk Email to the Inbox

Outlook’s junk workflow can be used from the Inbox or another folder except Junk Email. If a legitimate message is already in Junk Email, select Report and then Not junk to move it to the Inbox.

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Why the Report button may be missing

The reporting command depends on two separate conditions: the Outlook client must be supported, and the organization must enable user reporting with the built-in Report button.

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Check the client

  • Install pending Outlook or mobile-app updates approved by your organization.
  • Confirm whether you are using Outlook on the web, new Outlook for Windows, classic Outlook for Microsoft 365, Outlook for Mac, or Outlook for iOS or Android.
  • Ask the administrator to verify the current supported-version list. Microsoft’s minimum desktop versions vary by Microsoft 365 update channel, and Mac, iOS, and Android have their own minimums.

Ask the administrator to check user-reported settings

In the Microsoft Defender portal, the administrator opens Settings > Email & collaboration > User reported settings. The administrator must enable user reporting and select the built-in Report button. Those settings determine where reports go and whether users can report messages from quarantine while releasing them.

Check whether the mailbox is supported

The Defender Submissions page, including its User reported tab, is available to organizations with cloud mailboxes. A mailbox arrangement that uses delegation or a shared mailbox can also change how a report is delivered.

Reporting from a shared or delegated mailbox

When you access a shared mailbox or another mailbox as a delegate, supported Outlook versions require the delegate to have Send As permission for the report to be sent to the organization’s reporting mailbox. Without that permission, Outlook removes the message from the folder but cannot send the report to that reporting mailbox.

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If a delegated user sees this behavior, the mailbox owner or Microsoft 365 administrator should verify the delegate’s permissions and the organization’s reporting destination. Do not repeatedly report the same message expecting a different result; fix the permission or reporting configuration first.

How administrators configure and review reports

Configure the destination

  1. Sign in to the Microsoft Defender portal with an account that has the required administrative permissions.
  2. Open Settings.
  3. Open Email & collaboration.
  4. Select User reported settings.
  5. Enable user reporting and select the built-in Report button for supported Outlook clients.
  6. Choose whether user reports are sent to Microsoft, an Exchange Online reporting mailbox, or both.
  7. Configure the option governing reports from quarantine if your organization allows users to report messages while releasing them.

Use an organizational reporting mailbox when the security team wants a review queue under its own control. Sending to Microsoft can provide Microsoft with the message for analysis. Sending to both supports internal triage and Microsoft analysis, subject to the organization’s policy and licensing configuration.

Review submitted messages

Administrators review user reports on the User reported tab of the Defender portal’s Submissions page. The team can use the reported message to investigate whether other users received the same campaign, whether related messages were delivered, and whether additional remediation is necessary.

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If reports are configured to go only to the organization’s reporting mailbox, the security team must submit a message separately when Microsoft analysis is required. A message sitting in that mailbox is not automatically a Microsoft submission.

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Use quarantine reporting deliberately

User-reported settings also govern whether users can report a message from quarantine as they release it. Administrators should decide whether that workflow fits their review process, especially when users are allowed to release messages without security-team approval.

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What to do if Outlook cannot report the message

Use this sequence rather than forwarding the message repeatedly:

  1. Try another supported client. If the command is absent in a desktop app, check Outlook on the web or an approved current mobile app.
  2. Check the folder and selection. Select the message itself, not a search result or conversation header that does not expose message actions.
  3. Contact the Microsoft 365 administrator. Ask whether user reporting and the built-in Report button are enabled under Settings > Email & collaboration > User reported settings.
  4. Confirm the client version. Ask the administrator to compare the installed version with Microsoft’s current supported-version requirements for that update channel or mobile platform.
  5. For delegated mailboxes, verify Send As. Without it, the message may be removed without reaching the reporting mailbox.
  6. Use Microsoft’s submission portals when appropriate. If the organization does not have Defender for Office 365, Microsoft provides submission portals that users and administrators can use instead of the built-in workflow.

Microsoft cautions that simply forwarding a suspicious email is not a replacement for Defender-based reporting. Forwarding may omit message metadata needed for analysis, so follow your organization’s security-team instructions when the Report command is unavailable.

Safe handling after a phishing report

If you only received the message

After reporting, do not interact with copies in other folders or devices. If the same campaign appears again, report the new message rather than replying to it or clicking its links. Tell your security team if the message targeted a shared address, executive, finance role, or other high-impact account.

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If you clicked a link or opened an attachment

Disconnect from sensitive work where your organization’s incident process instructs you to do so, and contact the security team immediately. Report what you did, including whether a page opened, a file ran, or credentials were entered. Do not delete evidence outside the normal Outlook reporting action if the security team asks you to preserve it.

If you submitted credentials

Use the legitimate service—not a link in the email—to change the password. Tell the security team which account was affected and whether the password was reused elsewhere. The team may need to revoke sessions, reset authentication methods, review sign-in activity, and check for forwarding rules or other mailbox changes.

Practical examples

A fake Microsoft 365 sign-in notice in the Inbox

The message says your mailbox will be closed unless you sign in within an hour. You did not request a change, and the link points to an unfamiliar domain. Select the message, choose Report > Report phishing, and let Outlook delete it. Do not use the sign-in link to verify the warning.

A genuine newsletter you no longer want

The sender is known, the message contains an expected unsubscribe option, and there is no attempt to steal credentials. Use the subscription’s legitimate unsubscribe process or Report junk according to your organization’s policy. Do not use the phishing category simply because the message is unwanted.

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A legitimate message in Junk Email

You recognize the sender and were expecting the message. In Junk Email, choose Report > Not junk. Outlook moves it to the Inbox instead of sending it through the phishing workflow.

A suspicious message in a shared mailbox

Select Report > Report phishing. If the message disappears but the security team never receives it, ask the administrator to confirm that your delegate account has Send As permission and that the reporting destination is configured.

Quick checklist

  • Identify whether the message is a suspected attack or merely unwanted mail.
  • Do not click, reply, call, scan, or open anything in the suspicious message.
  • Select the message in a supported Outlook client.
  • Choose Report > Report phishing.
  • Expect the message to be deleted.
  • Contact your security team if you interacted with the message or entered information.
  • If the command is unavailable, ask the administrator to check supported versions, user-reported settings, mailbox permissions, and the organization’s approved submission portal.

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