Understanding Quarantine in Microsoft 365
To help protect you and the Kean University community from malicious content and spam, Microsoft 365 uses filters that automatically place suspicious or potentially harmful messages into quarantine.
When a message is flagged, it is moved to a secure quarantine environment where you can safely review its contents without risking your device or data.
Daily Quarantine Notifications
You will receive a daily notification email from [email protected] if any messages have been quarantined. This notification allows you to:
- Preview quarantined messages
- Release legitimate emails caught in error
- Report suspicious content
Handling Quarantined Email
If a legitimate message is mistakenly placed in quarantine, you have two options to release it to your inbox:
- Directly from the daily quarantine notification email
- Via the Microsoft 365 Quarantine Portal (see instructions below)
We recommend checking your quarantine periodically—especially if you're expecting an email that hasn’t arrived.
From the Quarantine Notification Email
When you receive a daily summary from [email protected], you’ll find options for managing quarantined items:
- Review – Opens the Microsoft Defender Quarantine Portal where you can safely preview the email and take further action.
- Release – Sends the email directly to your inbox without requiring a preview.
- Block Sender – Blocks future messages from the sender without reviewing the email.
- Do Nothing – The message remains in quarantine and will be automatically deleted after 15 days.
Accessing the Quarantine Portal
You can visit the Microsoft 365 Quarantine Portal at any time to review, release, or report messages flagged by the system.
Managing Quarantined Email in the Microsoft 365 Defender Portal
You can manage quarantined emails directly in the Microsoft 365 Defender portal at any time. This is especially helpful if you need to check for missing or delayed messages.
How to Access and Manage Quarantined Messages:
- Go to https://security.microsoft.com.
- In the left-hand navigation pane, click Review.
- Under the Review section, click Quarantine.
- You’ll see a list of messages currently in your quarantine.
- Click on any message to view and take available actions, including:
- Release message – Delivers the message to your inbox.
- Request release – Asks an admin to review and release the message.
- Delete message – Permanently removes the message from quarantine.
- Preview message – View the contents of the email safely.
- View message headers – Inspect the technical details of the message.
- Block sender – Prevent future emails from the same sender.
Releasing a Message:
When selecting Release message, a confirmation pop-up will appear asking you to verify that the message poses no threat. If you’re confident it’s safe:
- Check the confirmation box.
- Click Release message.
⚠️ Note: A copy of the released message is sent to Microsoft for analysis. This feedback helps improve filtering but does not guarantee that similar messages will be allowed through in the future.