Microsoft Quarantine: How to Find and Release Quarantined Emails in Outlook
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Last Updated: 8 min read
Key Takeaways
- Microsoft quarantine is not an Outlook folder; quarantined messages are held in the Microsoft 365 security portal.
- Users and admins have different levels of access to review, release, or manage quarantined emails.
- Emails can be quarantined for several reasons, including phishing, malware, bulk spam, DLP rules, and failed email authentication.
- Legitimate emails can also be quarantined when SPF, DKIM, or DMARC authentication fails.
- Quarantined emails are not immediately deleted and are retained for a limited period depending on the quarantine reason and organizational policies.
- Proper email authentication can reduce legitimate mail from being quarantined and improve the trustworthiness of your domain.
- Microsoft quarantine and DMARC `p=quarantine` are different. One is Microsoft’s email-holding mechanism, while the other is a DMARC policy published in DNS.
If an important email you were expecting never arrived, or you suddenly received a “You have messages in quarantine” notification, you are likely dealing with Microsoft quarantine. Microsoft quarantine is a security feature that holds potentially dangerous or unwanted messages in a secure environment before they can reach your inbox.
Finding your missing messages is usually straightforward. This guide explains where the Outlook quarantine is located, how to find and release your quarantined messages, and why emails end up there in the first place.
Where Is the Outlook Quarantine Folder?
A common point of confusion for users is searching their email client for a folder named “Quarantine.” The truth is that quarantine is not a folder in Outlook.
Unlike your Junk Email folder, which lives right inside your mailbox and holds suspected spam, the Microsoft 365 quarantine is a separate, centralized location managed by your organization’s security settings. Microsoft routes emails to the Junk folder when they seem like low-level spam, but it routes emails to quarantine when they trigger higher-level security policies like anti-phishing, anti-malware, or strict authentication failures.
Because it is a distinct environment, you cannot access your Outlook quarantine directly from your desktop or mobile email app. Instead, you must log in to the Microsoft 365 security portal via a web browser to review your withheld messages.
How to Access Outlook Quarantine (Step by Step)
The steps to access and manage quarantined messages depend on whether you are an end user looking for your own mail, or an IT administrator managing mail for the entire organization.
As an end user
If you simply want to find your own missing emails, follow these steps:
1. Open a web browser and go to security.microsoft.com/quarantine.
2. Sign in using your standard Microsoft 365 work or school account credentials.
3.You will land on the Email & collaboration > Review > Quarantine page.
4. Select the Email tab to view a list of all messages quarantined specifically for you.
User view of the Outlook quarantine page in the Microsoft 365 Defender portal.
As an admin
Administrators have access to a broader view, allowing them to manage quarantined messages for all users across the organization.
1. Log in to the Microsoft 365 Defender portal at security.microsoft.com.
2. Navigate to Email & collaboration > Review > Quarantine.
3. By default, the view shows all quarantined items. You can customize the columns by clicking Customize columns to add fields like Sender address, Recipient address, Policy type, and Released by.
4. Click on any message to open a detailed flyout pane containing message headers, threat analysis, and release options.
“You Have Messages in Quarantine”: What That Email Means
Instead of forcing you to check the portal manually, your IT department likely configured Microsoft 365 to send you a quarantine notification email. These notifications are sent on a schedule, usually daily or weekly, depending on how your admin configured the policy.
The notification email provides a digest of recently quarantined messages. From the email itself, you can usually click links to Review, Release, or Block Sender without needing to navigate the portal manually.
Is it a phishing scam? Attackers frequently fake these notifications to steal your Microsoft credentials. A genuine Microsoft quarantine notification will always come from a legitimate Microsoft address (often [email protected]) and direct you strictly to security.microsoft.com. If the links point to an unfamiliar URL or ask you to log in to a strange page, report it to your IT team immediately.
How to Release a Quarantined Email in Outlook
When you find a legitimate email trapped in quarantine, you can request to deliver it to your inbox. Depending on your organization’s policies, you might be able to release it yourself, or your request might require admin approval.
Release Email
Select the message in the quarantine list and click the Release icon. If your organization allows it, the email will be delivered to your Outlook inbox immediately. If the email was quarantined for a severe reason (like suspected malware), the button might say Request release, which sends an alert to your IT admin to review and approve the action.
Releasing a message from Microsoft 365 quarantine.
Share Email
If you are unsure whether an email is safe, you can use the Share email option. This allows you to forward a copy of the quarantined message to a colleague or your IT helpdesk for a second opinion without actually releasing the threat into your inbox.
More Actions
Clicking the three dots (More) provides additional options, such as View message headers for technical troubleshooting, Preview message to safely look at the content without executing any malicious code, or Delete from quarantine to permanently remove the spam.
Does Quarantined Mean Deleted?
No, quarantined does not mean deleted. Quarantined messages are held securely in a temporary state. They remain in the quarantine portal until you or an admin takes action on them, or until their retention period expires. If no action is taken before the retention period ends, the messages are then permanently deleted to free up storage space.
Why Do Emails Get Quarantined in Outlook?
Microsoft 365 evaluates every incoming email against multiple layers of security. The most common reasons an email ends up in your Outlook quarantine folder involve failing these checks.
Emails are typically quarantined if they are identified as:
- High-confidence spam
- Bulk email (like aggressive marketing newsletters)
- Phishing attempts
- Messages containing malware
- Messages triggering internal data loss prevention (DLP) or mail flow rules
The Email Authentication Factor
Another major reason legitimate emails get quarantined is poor email authentication. If the sender’s domain fails SPF (Sender Policy Framework), DKIM (DomainKeys Identified Mail), or DMARC checks, Microsoft 365 treats the email as highly suspicious. If it is your own company’s outbound mail landing in recipient quarantines, you have an authentication problem. You should use a free DMARC record checker or SPF record checker to verify that your DNS records are configured correctly and pass email authentication standards.
Messages are held based on default retention policies, though admins can customize these limits up to a maximum of 30 days.
| Quarantined Reason | Default Retention Period |
|---|---|
| Span or bulk | 15 days |
| High confidence phishing | 15 days |
| Malware | 15 days |
| Mail flow rules | 30 days |
Simplify Microsoft Quarantine with PowerDMARC
If your organization’s legitimate outbound emails are frequently being flagged and quarantined by Microsoft 365 (or other receiving servers), the underlying cause is often missing or broken authentication protocols. PowerDMARC helps you solve this by simplifying the deployment and monitoring of SPF, DKIM, and DMARC. By bringing your domain into full compliance, you stop your legitimate mail from being quarantined and protect your brand’s sending reputation.
Ready to stop your legitimate emails from landing in Microsoft quarantine? Explore DMARC for Office 365 and start authenticating your domain today.
How to Stop Emails Going to Quarantine
As a recipient, you cannot completely turn off the Outlook quarantine, nor should you want to. However, if a specific safe sender is constantly being blocked, you can request a release and ask your IT administrator to add the sender’s domain or IP address to the organization’s allowlist.
If you are an administrator, you can adjust anti-spam and anti-phishing policies to be less aggressive, or route suspected spam to the Junk Email folder instead of quarantine.
As a sender, the only way to stop your emails from going to quarantine is to fix your domain’s authentication infrastructure so receiving servers trust your mail.
Microsoft Quarantine Policies (For Admins)
Quarantine policies in Microsoft 365 allow administrators to dictate exactly what users can and cannot do with their quarantined messages. For example, an admin can configure a policy that allows users to release spam messages independently, but requires admin approval to release anything flagged as high-confidence phishing.
These policies also control whether users receive those periodic notification digests. Admins can create and assign these rules in the Defender portal under the Threat policies section. For complete configuration instructions, refer to Microsoft’s official documentation on quarantine policies.
DMARC Quarantine Vs Reject Explained
It is important to clarify that Microsoft quarantine is not the same as a DMARC quarantine policy. Microsoft’s quarantine is the physical holding area for incoming mail. DMARC’s p=quarantine is an instruction you publish in your DNS telling other servers what to do with mail claiming to be from you. You can learn more about how that works in our guide on the DMARC quarantine policy.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I access Outlook quarantine?
You cannot access it directly from the Outlook app. You must open a web browser, go to security.microsoft.com/quarantine, and sign in with your Microsoft 365 credentials.
How does quarantine work in Outlook?
When Microsoft 365 detects a high-risk email, it intercepts the message before it reaches your inbox and stores it in a secure, centralized holding area. Users or admins must manually review and release the email if it is safe.
How do I turn off Outlook quarantine?
End users cannot turn off quarantine. Administrators can modify threat policies to route less severe spam to the Junk folder instead, but quarantine cannot and should not be completely disabled.
Why does Outlook put emails in quarantine?
Emails are quarantined when they trigger security filters for malware, high-confidence phishing, aggressive bulk spam, or when the sender’s domain fails email authentication checks like SPF or DMARC.
Do I have a quarantine folder in Outlook?
No, quarantine is not a folder within the Outlook client. It is a separate portal located at security.microsoft.com that you must access via a web browser.
How long do emails stay in Microsoft quarantine?
By default, most spam and phishing emails are held for 15 days, while items caught by mail flow rules are held for 30 days. After the retention period expires, the messages are permanently deleted.
Can I release a quarantined email myself, or does an admin have to?
It depends on your organization’s quarantine policies and the severity of the threat. Users can often release standard spam themselves, but high-risk phishing or malware emails usually require an admin to review and approve the release.
Is Microsoft quarantine the same as the Junk folder?
No. The Junk folder lives inside your mailbox and catches low-level spam. The quarantine portal is a separate administrative holding area designed for higher-risk threats that Microsoft does not want anywhere near your mailbox.
Domain & Email Security Expert at PowerDMARC
Ahona is the Marketing Manager at PowerDMARC, with 5+ years of experience in writing about cybersecurity topics, specializing in domain and email security. Ahona holds a post-graduation degree in Journalism and Communications, solidifying her career in the security sector since 2019.
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