Then presumable your filter doesn't match, because the spam messages change all the time. It is therefore hopeless trying to fight spam with static filters. Use the built-in junk mail controls instead. http://kb.mozillazine.org/Junk_Mail_Controls

You can also turn on the spam filter on the server, so that spam messages won't even get to Thunderbird in the first place. Depending on your setup, you may then need to check for false positives on the server.

I'm not very sophisticated so pardon any perceived ignorance on my part.

Most of these spam messages are going into my Spamdetector folder, so they are identified as junk in that way. Even though I have the folder set to delete after 1 day it usually takes 2 days before they delete.

The reason this is a problem is because of messages I DO want to receive that get dumped into the spam folder. Most of my medical patient portal messages get dumped in there, even though I have added them to my contact list (I think it's because they say "no reply" in the header). For this reason it makes things miserable to sift through all the crap to identify personal messages that have landed there that I DO want to receive.

I know most spam senders use constantly changing addresses, but in this current crop I'm being inundated with there are about 30 of them that are the same addresses and subjects, over and over, day after day. I don't understand why the message filter doesn't catch things that are clearly on the list.

The reason this is a problem is because of messages I DO want to receive that get dumped into the spam folder.

You'll have to train the adaptive junk filter. Read the article linked above.

I did read it, but I didn't understand a lot of it, thus what I said about my being ignorant. I'm retired so am not in a work environment where I stay up to date on computer stuff. Oh, to be a millennial.

I thought by leaving the unwanted messages in the spam folder marked as junk that I was "training" Thunderbird about what items I didn't want. It does eventually delete the items, but I would like them to delete without being delivered to the folder.

In looking at the article I did find the option for retraining filters, but it seemed to be cautioning about the fact that all accounts would be affected. I have 4 accounts and the other 3 accounts rarely get spam. I'm also unclear...should I be using a "junk" folder instead of a spam folder? They sound alike. And if so, should I continue entering unwanted email senders into a block list or will it eventually train to identify them without direction from me?

OK christ1, a dunderheaded I may be, but I think I've got it. I subscribed to the junk folder, changed settings to reset training data. I saw that some junk was still going to the spam folder, so I unsubscribed to spam with the assumption that junk will either go into junk or to my inbox where I can mark them as junk and I think they transfer over from that action. It seems that one should use either junk or spam, but not both.

If you have time for 2 more questions: 1) Should I set junk to delete automatically after the system seems to be identifying properly of if that is too risky and I would be in danger of losing wrongly routed items. 2) Is there any benefit to having messages in the junk folder marked as "read" or "unread" or is that personal preference.

"Junk" is the folder used by Thunderbird. Any folders named "spam" are put there and managed by something else.

You have two choices. If your 3rd party anti spam tools work effectively, use them and disable Thunderbird's adaptive Junk Controls. Or run both and accept that you have two systems to work with.

I agree with the other poster that setting up local filters for spam management is a poor choice. I do use them myself for managing messages that I don't wish to read, but I make a distinction between malicious emails and all the other stuff from services I have actually subscribed to. (I call these "cruft"). All of the spam tools offered to me regularly mis-categorise good messages, and only rarely do their settings allow me to successfully whitelist these non-malicious messages.

If a 3rd party is labeling good messages as spam even before they get to Thunderbird then there isn't much Thunderbird can do about it.

I also must say that filter operation seems to have changed recently. Other posters have commented on this and I find too that some illogical things happen.

I guess it would have been easier for me to figure out if Thunderbird didn't give the option for junk OR spamdetector on security settings. Now that I've made the change perhaps it will work better.

Fortunately, I believe Thunderbird was sending patient portal messages to the spamdetector. If I understand the retraining of data function I'm guessing that if I see a desired message in the junk folder then I can mark it as non-junk and it will go to my inbox. That happened one time already,

I am so unsophisticated with this stuff that I have no idea how to set filters, which is OK, especially if the filters are not effective. It sure doesn't break my heart to not have to tediously add email addresses one by one onto a block list!

Thanks for taking the time to post.