Is your inbox full of emails from people you don’t know? if so, you may be receiving spam emails. Spam emails are unsolicited messages, usually sent for advertising purposes. however, some of these emails are also designed to steal your personal information, such as your bank details. If you’re tired of receiving these types of messages, here’s how to stop spam emails and get rid of the ones currently clogging up your inbox.
train your spam filter
The first impulse you may get when you receive spam is to delete or archive it. however, deleting spam emails will not stop spammers from sending you more emails. If you want to stop receiving spam emails, you need to report them as spam in your email client. here’s how:
how to filter spam in gmail
To report an email as spam in gmail, click the report spam button. First, select one or more emails by checking the box to the left of the subject line. then click the button with the exclamation point at the top of your window. you can find it next to the file and trash buttons.
Doing this will send the selected email(s) to your spam folder and you should not receive any email from that sender in the future.
The process will be almost identical if you use another email client. just look for the “report spam” button or something similar.
how to filter spam on a mac
To report an email as spam in the Mail app on a Mac, select the email you want to block and click the spam button at the top of the window. to train mail to filter our spam, go to preferences > spam > enable spam filtering.
if you want to prevent spam from reaching your mail application, you can also click mail in the apple menu bar at the top of the screen. then click preferences and select the spam tab at the top of the pop-up window. finally, check the box to enable spam filtering at the top.
If you are still receiving spam messages, select them and click the Move Selected Messages to Junk button. you can find this at the top of your window next to the trash can icon. you can also right-click and select move to trash.
this will train mail to move emails from the sender to the spam folder, based on the settings you choose.
Block Spam Email Addresses
If you still receive email from specific spammers, you can block their email address from ever reaching your inbox again.
how to block spam in gmail
Open a message from any sender you want to block. then click the three dots icon to the right of the sender’s details. you can find this next to the star and reply buttons. finally, select “block…” and click block on the popup that appears.
all future messages from this sender will go directly to your spam folder. This process will be similar in different email clients, such as yahoo mail.
how to block spam on a mac
To block emails from one sender on a mac, click mail at the top of the screen and select preferences. go to the rules tab, then click add rule. insert the sender’s email address in from contains and then click ok.
how to block spam in outlook
To block an email address in outlook, right-click the email and hover your mouse pointer over spam. then select block sender.
unsubscribe from mailing lists
To unsubscribe from company newsletters and announcements, you can click the unsubscribe button in an email. you can find this button at the top of the email page or near the bottom. once you click this button, you may need to take additional steps.
If you can’t find that option, you can use your browser’s search function. just press control + f on a windows pc or command + f on a mac and type “unsubscribe” in the search box.
clicking that button means you will no longer receive emails from that company.
don’t give your email address to just anyone
One of the main ways you get spammed is by using your email to sign up for freebies or when you sign up for a site to download content online. doing this allows websites to keep your email address and send you emails whenever they want. so you may want to think twice about entering your email address the next time you see that sale online.
Websites may sell your email addresses to other companies. These companies are then free to email you advertisements, newsletters and other unwanted material. That’s why you may receive spam emails from companies you’ve never heard of.
Therefore, you should be careful when providing your email address, no matter what the purpose. so if a new bakery in your area is offering free samples in exchange for personal information, you may want to omit the email address box.
use a secondary email address
If you really want to take advantage of online sales or download a file, you may want to create a second email address. you can then use that email address as a place where you will receive all spam emails. this way, spammers will no longer invade your main inbox.
hide your email address
If your email address is open, spammers will take this opportunity to send you things. To stop this, make sure to hide your email address from the public, especially on your social media accounts. explore your facebook, twitter, and linkedin account settings to keep your email address just for you or your friends.
how to get rid of your existing spam emails
To get rid of existing spam emails in your inbox, you can use the search function in your email client to “unsubscribe”. then select all emails and click delete or the trash can icon. if you’re using gmail, make sure you click select all conversations that match this search.
Doing this can get rid of a lot of spam emails in your inbox in one go.
once you know how to block spam in gmail, check out our guide on how to organize your gmail inbox, so you see your most important messages at the top.