Soundwaves Choir
Not getting our emails? Here's how to fix it.
Our rehearsal updates and newsletters are being sent and delivered — but email apps sometimes tuck them away in a Promotions tab or a Junk folder. Ten minutes with this guide and they'll land in your inbox every time.
hello@soundwaveschoir.com
The quickest fix — 30 seconds
Find one of our emails. Hit reply. Send.
Search your email for Soundwaves Choir or hello@soundwaveschoir.com — if you don't see it in your inbox, check your Spam, Junk or Promotions folder. Open the email, tap Reply, type anything at all — even just "Thanks!" — and send it.
That's it. Replying tells your email app we're a real contact, not spam. It's the single most effective thing you can do.
For extra certainty: the two-minute fix
Already replied? Do these three things too and our emails will land in your inbox every single time.
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Find one of our emails. Type hello@soundwaveschoir.com into the search box at the top of your email. Look in your Spam or Junk folder and, in Gmail, the Promotions tab.
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Tell your email it's wanted. If it was in Spam or Junk, mark it Not spam / Not junk — the section just below shows you exactly where that button is. If it was in Promotions, move it to Primary.
Your email app learns from this — it's the strongest signal you can give it.
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Add us to your contacts. Save hello@soundwaveschoir.com as a contact called "Soundwaves Choir".
Email from people in your address book is almost never filtered out.
How to mark our email as "not spam"
Every email service has a folder where it puts messages it thinks are junk. It's usually called Spam or Junk. Sometimes it guesses wrong and puts our emails there. Telling it "this is not spam" moves the email back to your inbox and teaches it not to make the same mistake again.
What you're looking for
Once you open one of our emails inside the Spam or Junk folder, look for a button or link that says one of these — they all do the same thing:
- Not spam
- Report not spam
- Not junk
- Mark as Not Junk
- Move to Inbox
It's normally near the top of the email, next to the delete (rubbish bin) button. On a phone it may be hidden behind a "more" button that looks like three dots ⋯ or ⋮. Tap that and the option will be in the list.
Click it once. The email disappears from Spam and reappears in your normal inbox. That's it — nothing else to confirm.
Gmail
Computer
On the left-hand side, click Spam. Can't see it? Click More and the list gets longer.
Click on our email to open it.
At the top, click the grey Report not spam button (or Not spam).
Phone (Gmail app)
Tap the three lines ☰ in the top-left, scroll down and tap Spam.
Tap our email to open it.
Tap Report not spam in the grey box at the top — or tap the three dots ⋮ in the top-right and choose Report not spam.
Outlook / Hotmail
Computer
On the left-hand side, click Junk Email.
Click on our email to open it.
Look along the toolbar at the top for Not junk. If you can't see it, click Report and choose Not junk from the menu.
If a box pops up asking whether to also add us as a safe sender, click OK — that's a good thing.
Phone (Outlook app)
Tap your picture or initials in the top-left, then tap Junk in the list of folders.
Tap our email to open it.
Tap the three dots ⋯ in the top-right and choose Not junk or Move to Inbox.
Yahoo
Computer
On the left-hand side, click Spam.
Click on our email to open it.
At the top, click Not spam. It goes straight back to your inbox.
Phone (Yahoo Mail app)
Tap the three lines ☰ in the top-left and tap Spam.
Tap our email to open it.
Tap Not spam at the bottom or top of the screen. If you don't see it, tap the three dots ⋯ first.
Apple Mail
iPhone or iPad
Tap Mailboxes in the top-left corner, then tap Junk.
Tap our email to open it.
At the bottom of the screen, tap the curved arrow ↩ (the reply button).
A menu slides up. Tap Mark as Not Junk. If you don't see it, tap Move Message and then Inbox.
Mac
Click Junk in the list on the left.
Click on our email once so it opens on the right.
A coloured stripe at the top of the email says "Mail thinks this message is junk". Click the Not Junk button on that stripe.
Step-by-step for your email
Pick the one you use. If you read email on both your phone and computer, do the computer steps — settings you change there usually apply everywhere.
On a computer (gmail.com)
Where to look
Check the Promotions tab across the top of your inbox — this is where most choir emails end up.
Check Spam in the left-hand list. If you don't see it, click More to expand the list. If our email is there, follow the "not spam" steps above.
Move it out of Promotions for good
Drag the email from the Promotions tab and drop it on the Primary tab.
A small black bar appears at the bottom asking "Do this for future messages from hello@soundwaveschoir.com?" — click Yes.
Make sure it never goes to Spam (the belt-and-braces option)
Click the small sliders icon at the right-hand end of the search box at the top (it's called Show search options).
In the From box, type hello@soundwaveschoir.com, then click Create filter at the bottom.
Tick Never send it to Spam and Categorise as: Primary. Click Create filter.
Add us to your contacts
Open one of our emails, hover your mouse over the sender's name at the top, and click the Add to contacts icon (a small person with a plus sign).
On your phone (Gmail app)
Tap the three lines ☰ in the top-left and look in Promotions and Spam.
Open one of our emails, tap the three dots ⋮ in the top-right, and choose Move to → Primary. If it was in Spam, choose Report not spam instead.
Say Yes when it asks whether to do this for future messages.
On a computer (outlook.com / hotmail.com)
Where to look
Your inbox may be split into Focused and Other tabs. Check Other.
Check the Junk Email folder in the left-hand list.
Move it to Focused for good
Right-click one of our emails in Other.
Choose Move → Always move to Focused inbox.
Prefer one simple inbox? Click the gear icon ⚙ → Mail → Layout → Focused Inbox → choose Don't sort my messages.
Add us as a safe sender (stops it going to Junk)
If the email is in Junk Email, open it and click Not junk at the top (sometimes under Report).
Click the gear icon ⚙ in the top-right, then Mail → Junk email.
Under Safe senders and domains, click Add, type hello@soundwaveschoir.com, press Enter, then Save.
Add us to your contacts
Open one of our emails, click the sender's name at the top, and choose Add to contacts.
On your phone (Outlook app)
Tap Other at the top of your inbox, or open the menu and look in Junk.
Open one of our emails, tap the three dots ⋯ in the top-right, and choose Move to Focused inbox (or Not junk if it was in Junk).
When asked, choose Always move so it remembers.
On a computer (mail.yahoo.com)
Where to look
Check the Spam folder in the left-hand list.
If you open the email there, click Not spam at the top. It moves straight back to your inbox.
Make sure it always lands in your inbox
Click the gear icon ⚙ (top-right) → More Settings.
Click Filters → Add new filters.
Name it "Soundwaves Choir". Under From, choose contains and type hello@soundwaveschoir.com.
Under Choose a folder to move to, pick Inbox. Click Save.
Add us to your contacts
Open one of our emails, click the sender's name, then Add to contacts.
On your phone (Yahoo Mail app)
Tap the menu in the top-left and open Spam.
Open one of our emails and tap Not spam (it may be behind the three dots ⋯).
Tap the sender's name at the top of the email and choose Add to contacts.
On an iPhone or iPad (Mail app)
Where to look
Newer iPhones sort the inbox into Primary, Transactions, Updates and Promotions. Our emails often land in Promotions or Updates — tap those at the top of your inbox.
Tap Mailboxes in the top-left and check the Junk folder.
Move us to Primary for good
Open one of our emails and tap the sender's name at the top.
Tap Categorise Sender and choose Primary.
Or switch the sorting off altogether: tap the three dots ⋯ in the top-right of your inbox and choose List View.
If it was in Junk
Open the email, tap the reply arrow ↩ at the bottom, and choose Mark as Not Junk (or Move to Inbox).
Add us to your contacts
Open one of our emails and tap the sender's name at the top, then tap it again on the card that appears.
Choose Create New Contact. Name it "Soundwaves Choir" and tap Done.
Optional: tap Add to VIP on the same card. VIP emails get a star and always come straight to your inbox.
On a Mac (Mail app) or icloud.com
Click the Junk mailbox in the left-hand list.
Open one of our emails and click Not Junk in the banner at the top (on icloud.com, choose Mark as Not Junk).
Right-click (or Control-click) the sender's name at the top of the email and choose Add to Contacts.
If your Mac sorts mail into categories, click the sender's name and choose Categorise Sender → Primary.
Still can't find them?
I've searched everywhere and there's nothing from the choir at all
Two likely reasons. Either we have your email address written down slightly wrong (a missing letter or an old address), or the "unsubscribe" link was clicked at some point — this can happen by accident, and once it does we're not allowed to email you again until you ask.
Either way the fix is the same: email hello@soundwaveschoir.com from the address you'd like us to use and we'll sort it out.
The emails arrive, but days late
Check whether they're sitting in Promotions, Other or Junk and you're only noticing them when you happen to look there. Following the steps above for your email service will bring them into your main inbox as soon as they arrive.
I get some emails but not others
This usually means your email provider is still deciding whether to trust us. Marking emails as Not spam, adding us to your contacts and replying to one of our emails all tip the balance. Never click "Report spam" on a choir email — it teaches your provider to block us.
The email looks odd or the images are missing
Some email apps hide pictures from senders they don't know yet. Look for a Show images or Always show images from this sender link near the top of the email and click it. Once we're in your contacts, this stops happening.