---
sourceDocument: Brazil ServiceNow AI Platform Administration
sourceDocumentLink: https://www.servicenow.com/docs/r/platform-administration

 Release :

    - brazil

ft:locale :

    - en-US

ft:publication_title :

    - Brazil ServiceNow AI Platform Administration

ft:clusterId :

    - platadm

bundleId :

    - platadm

workflow :

    - Platform


---

# Email filters

# Email filters {#ariaid-title1}

Release version: Brazil  
Updated September 10, 2026  
![](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/portal-asset/ico-clock) 2 minutes to read
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## Summary of Email filters

Email filters in ServiceNow enable you to specify which inbound emails should be ignored or moved to a specific mailbox, such as the Junk folder.
Ignored emails are saved as records but are not processed, allowing you to access them if needed.
This feature helps prevent unwanted email actions like creating unnecessary incident records from automated responses.
Show full answer Show less  
The Email Filters plugin is active by default in releases after Kingston. For earlier releases, it requires manual activation.

## Key Features

* **Default Filters:** ServiceNow provides several out-of-the-box filters accessible from *System Mailboxes \> Administration \> Filters* . These include:
  * **Ignore VCAL:** Ignores emails containing vCalendar requests to avoid processing calendar response emails.
  * **Ignore header:** Filters emails based on specific headers, overriding the glide.pop3.ignoreheaders property.
  * **Junk email - sender equals recipient:** Moves emails where the sender matches the SMTP user to the Junk folder.
  * **Ignore subject:** Ignores emails with certain terms in the subject line, overriding glide.pop3.ignoresubjects. Note this may not apply to emails from unknown users.
  * **Move spam to junk folder:** Moves emails marked as spam (identified by the X-ServiceNow-Spam-Status header) to the Junk folder.
* **Filter Actions:** Filters can be configured to either mark emails as ignored or move them to Junk. Custom actions can also be scripted for advanced filtering needs.
* **EmailUtils Script Include:** Utilizes a utility function to detect vCalendar content in emails, supporting the Ignore VCAL filter.
* **Spam Scoring and Virus Scanning:** For instances using ServiceNow email infrastructure, inbound emails are evaluated for spam likelihood and virus infection. Emails flagged as infected receive an X-ServiceNow-Virus:INFECTED header and are ignored automatically.

## Practical Use for ServiceNow Customers

By leveraging email filters, you can reduce noise and prevent automated or malicious emails from cluttering your instance or triggering unnecessary workflows. Configuring filters helps maintain clean email processing, reduces manual intervention, and improves the reliability of inbound email actions.

Creating custom email filters allows tailoring how your instance handles specific email patterns or spam, enhancing security and operational efficiency.

## Next Steps

* Review and adjust default email filters to fit your organization's needs.
* Create custom email filters with specific conditions and actions using the Email Filters module.
* Ensure your instance uses ServiceNow's email infrastructure to benefit from built-in spam scoring and virus scanning.  
Specify which inbound emails to ignore or move to a particular mailbox.
When an email is ignored, the email is saved to your instance but is not
processed. You can access an ignored email by viewing its Email \[sys_email\] record.

The Email Filters (com.glide.email_filter) plugin is active by default for releases after
Kingston, for releases before Kingston, it needs to be activated, for more information see
[Activate email filters](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/3AP1LN7~YcdFdEXj_bmArQ "Administrators can activate the Email Filters plugin (com.glide.email_filter).").

## Default email filters

By default, the following filters are available from the System MailboxesAdministrationFilters module:  
{#c_EmailFilters__table_q4w_5vt_jq__entry__2}

| Filter | Description |
|-|-|
| Ignore VCAL | Ignores all email containing vCalendar requests. This filter prevents [inbound email actions](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/zHfaTewCSbOaRx7DorYrcg "Define an inbound email action to script how the system responds to an inbound email.") from creating unnecessary incident records when the instance receives a response to sent email. vCalendar requests in email responses are identified by the EmailUtils script include. |
| Ignore header | Ignores email that contains specific headers. This filter overrides the glide.pop3.ignore_headers property. |
| Junk email - sender equals recipient | Filters out emails that are from the same user as the SMTP user to the Junk folder. |
| Ignore subject | Ignores email with specific terms or phrases in the subject line. This filter overrides the glide.pop3.ignore_subjects property. This filter might not apply to emails arriving from unknown users. Unknown users can be locked out. |
| Move spam to junk folder | Moves email identified as spam to the Junk folder. This filter checks for the value of the ServiceNow spam header. If the header is `X-ServiceNow-Spam-Status:Yes`, the filter moves the email to the Junk folder |
[Table 1. Default email filters]

{#c_EmailFilters__table_q4w_5vt_jq}  
Note:  
Filter action should be configured to indicate how the system should react when the conditions of this filter evaluate to true. The two choices in the base system are: Mark as Ignored and Move to Junk. You can use the Action script to perform additional email tasks.

To learn more about enabling spam scoring and filtering, see [Email spam scoring and filtering
(instance security hardening)](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/access?context=sc-email-spam-scoring-and-filtering&version=brazil&pubname=brazil-platform-security&ft:locale=en-US) in Instance Security Hardening
Settings.

## Email filter script include

Email filters use a script include called `EmailUtils` that contains a simple
utility function to determine if `vCalendar` is in the body of the response
email. The results of this query are used in a condition script in the Ignore VCAL email filter.

## Spam scoring and virus scanning

Every message sent through email servers is assessed for the likelihood of being spam. Based
on this assessment, the instance adds headers to each message that can be used for filtering
within the customer instance using the Email Filters plugin.

The system also adds the `X-ServiceNow-Virus:INFECTED` header to an email
that contains one or more virus-infected attachments. The system ignores the email.

Spam scoring and virus scanning are available only for instances that use the ServiceNow
email infrastructure. For more information on spam scoring and filtering, see [KB0549426](https://support.servicenow.com/kb_view.do?sysparm_article=KB0549426).
* **[Create an email filter](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/ZeyjC7erqBmMhpVH4NAf1w)**   
  You can create email filters to apply a custom action script or filter actions when email matches your filter's conditions.

**Related tasks**   

* [Create an email filter](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/ZeyjC7erqBmMhpVH4NAf1w "You can create email filters to apply a custom action script or filter actions when email matches your filter's conditions.")

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