Is your inbox packed with emails from a bunch of people or organizations you don’t know? If yes, you’re one of the many victims of spam emails.
Statistics show that approximately 90% of all sent emails are spam. Unfortunately, these unsolicited messages clutter your inbox, making it hard for you to identify your relevant emails. That’s why it is useful to know how to stop spam from happening.
Spam emails are more than just annoyances, however. They’re also incredibly time-consuming to delete, and some contain malicious links designed to steal your personal information. The good news is you don’t have to sit and watch as such emails take over your inbox.
In this article we will cover 5 tips to put an end to spam emails.
A Brief History of Spam
Before we even take a look at how to stop spam emails, note the word “spam” didn’t always represent unwanted messages. It was instead a leading product of Hormel Food Corporation, a successful food conglomerate in the early 80s.
Spam is a canned cooked pork mixed with salt, water, sugar, sodium nitrite, and potato starch. It gained popularity during World War II and was sold around the globe by 2003. It was so popular it flooded supermarket aisles and went on to become one of the most notable four-letter words during and after the second World War.
Some say spam email got its name because the canned Spam meat product wasn’t true meat — and spam email is fake mail. Getting rid of spam mail will clean up your inbox and make using email for your work or personal correspondence more efficient.
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Get The Shred Cube1. Unsubscribe
The first, most straightforward way to save your inbox from the spam email deluge is to unsubscribe from those you don’t need. These are not spam messages, but can often have the same emotional effect if you no longer want to receive them. If you subscribed to a food blog email list years ago, for example, and now no longer need the recipes, the easiest way to prevent countless future emails from the company is to unsubscribe.
You can find the “unsubscribe” or “unsubscribe from all future emails” option at the bottom of the email in question. Click the link and you will be redirected to a webpage where you confirm that you want to be removed from the mailing list.
2. Block Spam Emails
Some email lists continue to send messages after you have unsubscribed, or continue to find you regardless of whether you’ve signed up for their updates at all. You may want to block these senders’ email addresses so you never get their messages again. How you block depends on the platform you use.
If you are a Gmail user, open the message from the sender you are trying to block, click the three-dot icon on the upper right, and select the “block” option from the pop-up. If you are a Mac user, open your mail, select the preferences at the top of your screen, click on the Rules button, click Add Rule, then add the address you want to block.
The process is even more seamless for Outlook users: Right-click on one of the emails, and move your cursor over the Junk option. Click on the “block sender” pop-up, and you will have permanently stopped messages from that particular address.
3. Report Spam
People’s first instinct is usually to trash messages when they receive spam emails. Unfortunately, this doesn’t prevent the senders from spamming you again. Reporting them as spam is another efficient way to stop unsolicited messages from flooding your inbox, and how to do so also depends on the platform.
If you are a Gmail user, check the icon with an exclamation point at the top of your screen next to the archive option. For Outlook users, right-click on the email in question, and click on the “Mark as Junk” option from the menu that appears. The process is similar if you are using mail for Mac: Right-click on the spam message and click “Move to Junk” from the pop-up menu.
Reporting spam regularly trains your email platform to filter similar messages in the future. If you can identify spam messages before opening them, you should report spam without opening. Opening such emails notifies the sender your account is active, prompting them to flood your inbox with even more spam emails.
4. Create a Separate Email
Usually, spammers get a hold of your email address when you use it extensively on the web. Using your primary email on social media and to sign up for freebies means the internet, spammers, and even hackers can more easily find it.
Some companies are even established with the sole intent of gathering email addresses from the web and selling the lists to other businesses. They’re looking to make profits, and that means they care less about who buys the lists and more about their cash flow.
You do not want your primary address to fall in the hands of such companies. Consider creating a separate, disposable email address or using the childhood email you rarely use for freebies, social media, and other nonessentials. This will allow you to keep your primary email for more important matters, which will improve your chances of ensuring it stays spam-free. Always avoid signing up to platforms you do not trust, however — even when using that separate email address.
5. Deploy a Third-Party Antispam Filter Software
If none of these tips applies to you, you might want to consider employing a third-party anti-spam filter software. These products provide additional layers of protection from spam beyond what your normal email platform offers, including intelligent filters to identify messages as they move between the server and your email and automatically filtering them before they show in your inbox.
Discover a Spam-Free World Today
Emails are an important part of the digital world. They’re a convenient way to keep up with clients, vendors, and associates, and have become particularly crucial as more businesses embrace remote working.
It’s no secret that spam emails are irritating, though. Our list of tips on how to stop spam emails goes a long way in helping you avoid unsolicited messages, but you can prevent them entirely by deploying a reputable file shredder like Shred Cube. Contact us today to learn more about how permanently deleting unwanted files can help keep your inbox as streamlined as possible.
