How to stop getting spam emails on Gmail, Apple Mail, and Outlook

Although many new digital messaging services have emerged in recent years, email remains the most effective way to communicate online. It works great for marketing, business connections, and personal engagement. The problem is that emails used to be fun and exciting to receive. Now, most of them are spam or just plain annoying. 

Thankfully, you can take steps to stop your inbox from being flooded with spam every day on all the popular email platforms. Follow this guide to learn how to stop getting spam emails on Gmail, Apple Mail, and Outlook. 

How to stop junk email: The 3 most effective ways

Although you can try several different things to block spam, the 3 most effective methods are:

• Report the email as spam
• Block the spam email address
• Create an email spam filter

Some additional tips include creating an email alias, unsubscribing from unwanted newsletters or lists, using a secondary email address for sign-ups, using a third-party email filter, and changing your privacy settings.

With Apple, you can hide your email address and use a “fake” one when signing up for accounts you may want to delete later. If you have self-hosted email on your server, you can also turn on spam filters there. 

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1. Stop receiving spam emails by reporting them

One way to stop spam is to report it on the platform. Email platforms keep a database of known spammers. When you report an email as spam, the address it was sent from will be added to the list. 

Keep in mind that this is an excellent practice for all malicious spam, but it may not stop messages from coming in entirely. Unfortunately, spammers often use dozens of different addresses.

How to report spam on Gmail

Gmail is a top-rated email app that cleverly filters out most spam. However, if something slips through the cracks, you can manually report it. 

Here’s how to stop spam email in Gmail:

1. Open Gmail on your computer.
2. Visit your inbox.
3. Check the box next to each email you want to report.
4. Click the “Report spam” button at the top.

How to report an email as spam on Apple Mail

Mac and iPhone users typically rely on Apple Mail for their email needs. It’s a powerful, flexible, easy-to-use program with built-in spam tools.

To report an email as spam in Apple Mail:

1. Open Apple Mail on your computer or mobile device.
2. Click to highlight the email you want to report. 
3. Click the Junk Mail icon in the toolbar. This will move the email to the Junk folder and report the sender.

How to flag an email as spam on Outlook

Microsoft’s email platform Outlook has a robust spam filter, but even this isn’t always enough. Fortunately, Outlook users also have a way to flag email as spam. 

Here’s how to report an email as spam in Outlook:

1. Open Outlook on your computer.
2. Right-click the email you want to report.
3. Navigate to Security Options and click Mark as Junk.

2. Block spam email addresses

Another way to address the spam issue is to block repeat offenders. When you block a specific “from” address, those emails will no longer fill up your inbox.

How to block emails on Gmail

Blocking emails on Gmail is very easy. Just follow the steps below: 

1. Open Gmail in your browser.
2. Check the box next to the email you want to block.
3. Click the vertical three-dot menu at the top and choose “Filter messages like these.”
4. Click “Create filter.”
5. Select “Delete it from the list” and click “Create filter” again.

All new emails from that recipient will be deleted automatically. You can add new ones to the block list any time they come in. 

How to block a junk email address on Apple Mail

Apple Mail also includes a built-in blocking feature. To use it:

1. Open Apple Mail.
2. Select the email you want to block.
3. Click the arrow next to the name of the sender.
4. Select Block Contact.

How to block spam emails on Outlook

If you are an Outlook user, follow these steps to block a spam email:

1. Open Outlook.
2. Right-click on the email you want to block.
3. Choose Security Options, then Block Sender.

3. Create a filter to stop junk email

Setting up a filter is the final option to stop getting junk mail. Depending on how you set up the filter, these filters will automatically process emails as they come in based on the criteria you set. 

How to create an email filter on Gmail

Creating a filter on Gmail takes only a few steps, and then the app does what you want with any email that follows the settings you selected. 

Here’s how to block junk email in Gmail:

1. Open Gmail.
2. In the search bar at the top, click “Show search options” (side arrows menu).
3. Enter your search criteria and make your selections. 
4. Click “Search” to see what comes up.
5. At the bottom, click “Create filter.”
6. Choose what the filter should do.
7. Click “Create filter” again. 

How to create a filter for junk mail on Apple Mail

Apple Mail makes it super easy to filter emails you don’t want to see using the junk filtering feature. 

How to block junk email on Apple Mail:

1. Open Apple Mail.
2. In the top menu, navigate to Click Mail > Settings > Junk Mail. 
3. Check “Enable junk mail filtering.”
4. Choose what you want the filter to do with the email. Your choices include “Mark it as junk but leave it in the inbox,” “Move it to the junk inbox,” and “Perform custom actions,” which allows you to choose other advanced settings.
5. Choose how you want exemptions to be handled. 
6. Select “Trust junk mail headers in messages.”

If, for some reason, you want to reset all junk mail filter settings in Apple Mail, here’s how: 

1. Open Apple Mail.
2. In the top menu, navigate to Click Mail > Settings > Junk Mail. 
3. Click Reset.

You can also use complex rules to filter your email even further. 

How to add an email filter on Outlook

Outlook uses rules to filter unwanted emails. Use the following steps to remove spam from your Outlook inbox:

1. Open Outlook.
2. Navigate to your inbox.
3. Click the “Home” tab.
4. Click “Rules” and then “Create rule.”
5. Specify your criteria and what you want Outlook to do with the filtered email.
6. Click “OK” to create the rule.

To adjust these settings later, navigate to Home > Rules > Manage Rules > Alerts. You can change the settings or delete rules from there.

Modern life is busy enough without dealing with an inbox full of spam. Fortunately, you can use the techniques above to clean out the junk and focus only on what matters to you. 

This is an independent publication, and it has not been authorized, sponsored, or otherwise approved by Apple Inc., Google LLC, or Microsoft Corporation. Apple Mail is a trademark of Apple Inc. Gmail is a trademark of Google LLC. Outlook is a trademark of Microsoft Corporation.