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MailWasher Pro: A POP and IMAP Email Spam Filter

What is MailWasher Pro?

MailWasher Pro is an anti-spam program that effectively filters unsolicited commercial e-mailMailWasher Pro is an email screening program that sits between your email servers and your desktop email client. MailWasher fetches email via the POP or IMAP email protocols. It automatically detects spam by scanning the headers, subject and body text of incoming email messages and analyzing the raw source code with both Bayesian learning and user-configurable filters, which include positive and negative conditions and Regular Expressions filters. MailWasher Pro also consults online databases of known spam messages, spam domains and IP addresses, and also checks against a blacklist the user has created of spam senders.

A desktop email client is a standalone email program (a.k.a. app) used to send and receive email messages via the POP or IMAP protocols. This is a different protocol than is normally used by web browsers when doing "webmail." They typically use the https protocol to login to the email system. You must have a desktop email client (e.g. Windows Live Mail, Windows Mail, Microsoft Outlook [desktop version], Mozilla Thunderbird, etc.) that uses "POP" or "IMAP" protocols to use MailWasher Pro, at this time. Close this

The software has a simple three-step process:

  1. Checks incoming mail: separates friends from unknowns, or blacklisted names/domains
  2. Marks known, filtered, or probable spam mail for deletion and/or blacklisting
  3. Processes email, either manually, or automatically, when a filter condition or blacklist entry is matched

Spam tools now use a weighted approach to recognizing spam, so instead of just one spam tool making the decision about whether an email is spam or not, all spam tools are evaluated to ensure a more accurate evaluation.

MailWasher Pro can be set to auto-delete, display marked as probably spam, or hide messages identified as spam until they are manually deleted by clicking the "Wash Mail" button. MailWasher Pro also includes an option to forward spam directly to your SpamCop account for reporting. Included in the cost of the program is the FirstAlert! global spam honeypot system, developed by FireTrust, the makers of MailWasher Pro. Once a particular message has been verified as being unsolicited spam, it is added to the global spam database used by FirstAlert! subscribers. When you check your email in MailWasher Pro, FirstAlert! dynamically trains your filters so you get the latest spam filtering capability. Known spam can be automatically deleted, or marked as spam, for your review.

One very useful feature of the program is its recycle bin, which stores deleted emails for user-selectable periods of time. If you, or a spam filter accidentally delete a legitimate message, it can be restored, as long as you haven't disabled the recycle bin. The default filter set includes as its first filter a stop processing rule that allows restored email to not trigger a custom filter and re-delete itself. That filter is labeled: Restored Email.

Because MailWasher Pro displays messages in plain text, and can display the raw source code, dangerous messages, viruses, or other unwanted huge files can be identified by sight, then safely deleted off the email server. MailWasher Pro can be set to check for new messages on whatever interval you desire, and now includes a button to quick-reply to incoming messages, using your default email program. The program supports all POP3 and IMAP accounts, as well as SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) Authentication, and can check unlimited email accounts simultaneously, or sequentially. MailWasher Pro is free to try for 30 days, and costs only $39.95 (or less when on sale) to register, for a one year license (includes all updates to the series). For those wanting to register it on a multi-year basis, the price per year drops for two or three years prepaid. Or, you can purchase a lifetime license for $99.95.

Use the Purchase link below to save from 25% up to 55% on a new annual or lifetime subscriptions to MailWasher Pro!

The aforementioned prices include all new versions, updates, real-time spam blocking and customer support. Your paid license is now good for 3 computers and your mobile smartphones (Apple, Android and Windows phones). MailWasher Mobile is free for registered users, from the iPhone Store, the Google Play Store and the Windows (Phone) Store. There is a 90-day, no questions asked money back guarantee.

If your subscription runs out, the current renewal price for version 7 (formerly version 2010, 2011, 2012) is US $24.95 for one year.

You can download the latest version of MailWasher Pro here: Download MailWasher Pro Here   Purchase a lifetime license and download MailWasher Pro

Current version, design improvements and upgrading information

The current version of MailWasher Pro is 7.12.173, which was released on August 27, 2023 (see change log). Since the re-designed version of MailWasher Pro was released on July, 2010, there have been frequent updates and improvements made to the program. Series 7 has a totally rewritten interface, touting a brand new spam recognition engine and the use of XML files for lists, settings and filters and a new database for the learning filter. A new setup wizard makes it easier to import and manually enter email accounts and there is a new icon Aero for Windows Vista and Windows 7 PCs. MailWasher Pro 7 is fully compatible with Windows 7, 8, 10, 11, Vista and XP. It does not install or run on older versions of Windows.

Display additional details about the new MailWasher Pro, its import/export feature, upgrade issues and the program's version history.

Another feature of the new versions of MailWasher Pro (since March 2012) is its import/export tool. Found under the File menu item (usually on upper right of interface), one can export their entire database of user settings, filters, friends and blacklists, email account details and even their Bayesian Learning data. You can choose where to export this file (I use My Documents). The default file name is "My MailWasher Pro Settings.mwp" - which you can add to or alter. It only takes a minute or less. I run this export just before I update to a newer version. If anything is missing afterward, I first close and reopen the program. That can fix a simple update issue. If something is still amiss, I can import the just saved data, either via the File > import command, or by double-clicking on the saved .mwp file itself.

Read the MailWasher Pro changelog here, for details about fixes and improvements. Registered owners of previous versions of the same series can just install the newest version over your existing version and all settings will carry forward (but close the version you are running first). After upgrading I would open and close MailWasher Pro once. This seems to fix an occasional problem I just began seeing, where your filters, lists and accounts are not immediately imported into the newer version. Closing and reopening the new program fixes that. If you use a software firewall you may need to authorize the change in the program's filesize signature. Close this

Display more details about the old MailWasher Pro version 6.x, its upgrade info and very special upgrade price.

The previous series 6, with the old interface, is version 6.54, which was released on May 30, 2010, and last updated on June 13, 2010. MailWasher Pro version 6.x is compatible with most versions of Windows, from W98 through Windows 7. This old version tends to suffer from excessive memory and CPU usage if you have lots of spam filters, or have way too many emails in your inbox. A lot of people have chosen to upgrade to the newer version and haven't looked back.

Registered owners of the previous MailWasher Pro series 6 can upgrade to the new version 7 for only $10.00! Here's how. When you download and install MWP 7 (or later), the installer will detect that you have a registered previous version and will offer you an upgrade price of $10.00 (US or equiv). If you accept, your browser will open to the Firetrust shopping cart, with the $10.00 price already filled in. Alternately, You can wait until you've tested the program, then upgrade for $10.00, using the Buy button, under Help > Registration, on the upper right side of the program interface. You will still have to pay for annual renewals to keep using the new version after your year has expired.

If you upgrade from a previous registered version of MailWasher Pro to the new version 7, all your contacts, most settings (except filters) and email account information will be imported. Close this

Try MailWasher ProGet your trial copy, or purchase MailWasher Pro, here!

I use MailWasher Pro to screen all incoming email, using all of its built-in tools, plus my own blacklist and most importantly, Wizcrafts' custom spam filters which I compose and publish.

View my custom MailWasher Pro spam filters on this page. They are ready copy and paste from an iframe, or download as Filters.xml (filters.txt for the old version). These rules will block or flag up to 99% of the current incoming spam, scams and viruses, and are updated frequently to respond to changes in spam techniques.

Check out my security blog for tips about writing, sorting and using MailWasher Pro spam filters, as well as some articles about Regular Expressions filters and other security matters affecting computers, email and websites.

I am available for hire to assist other MailWasher Pro users with creating their own filter rules. Contact me here.