This wikiHow teaches you how to identify, prevent, and block spam emails. While blocking spam in your inbox won't always prevent future spam from appearing, the steps you take will help your email provider determine which messages contain spam. You can block spam messages in Gmail, Outlook, Yahoo, and Apple Mail, both desktop and mobile versions.
Step
Part 1 of 9: Preventing Spam
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Step 1. Check the sender of the email
Often times, spam comes from unknown senders and unfamiliar email addresses. However, this does not necessarily mean that all unknown emails are spam. Electronic newsletters, website administration emails (e.g. password reset or authentication requests), and others may be sent from addresses you do not recognize. However, spam emails usually have some odd numbers, hyphens, and/or letter combinations.
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Step 2. Do not click on the link included in the email
Generally, the main purpose of spam messages is to “persuade” you to click on a link. Therefore, only click on links in emails sent by people you know and trust.
If you have any doubts about the link inserted in a message from a friend, try contacting the friend and ask about the link that was sent. There is a possibility that his contact list was compromised or “polluted” by spam
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Step 3. Spell check the email
Spam often includes misspellings and sentences with odd wordings/choices. This includes capitalization and use of extraneous punctuation, or messy text formatting such as bolded, italicized, or randomly colored text.
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Step 4. Read the sent message
Any message that says you won a contest you've never entered before, offers access to money that nobody acknowledges, or promises you electronics, jewelry or any product for free is not a genuine message. Any message asking you for a password is also not a genuine message as all legitimate websites have automatic password setting programs. Requests from strangers should also be ignored.
Many email services have a preview window to show the beginning of the email, without having to open it
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Step 5. Don't give out your email address on the internet
“Robots” (commands made to retrieve addresses from websites) can quickly collect thousands of email addresses at once from websites that publicly display email addresses. Therefore, never enter an email address to register for events such as coupon searches, and never enter an email address in comments or online posts.
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Step 6. Make sure your email address cannot be scanned
If you must provide your email address in a general context, try giving your address in a creative way (eg “name[at]yahoo[dot]com” instead of "[email protected]"). This step can prevent spammers from being able to withdraw or have your email address removed from automated programs.
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Step 7. Don't make the username the same as the email address
Usernames are almost always generic. This means, if the email address used is the same as the username, the address can be easily identified once the perpetrator knows the appropriate email service to add to the end of the name.
Services such as Yahoo! Chat makes it easy for the address search process because it is possible for everyone who uses it to get the @yahoo.com email address domain
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Step 8. Never respond to spam
Replying to or clicking the “Unsubscribe” link will only result in more spam because it will indicate that your email address is valid and active. It's a good idea to report and remove spam using the steps in the next method.
Part 2 of 9: Blocking Spam on the Desktop Version of Gmail
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Step 1. Open Gmail
Visit https://www.gmail.com/ via a browser. After that, your Gmail inbox will be displayed if you're already signed in to your account.
If you're not logged into your account, type in your email address and password before continuing
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Step 2. Select the spam message
Click the checkbox on the left side of the spam message to select it.
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Step 3. Click the “Spam” icon
This icon resembles a stop sign with an exclamation point. Usually, you'll find them in the row of buttons above your inbox. After that, a pop-up window will be displayed.
Step 4. Click Report spam
It's a blue button in a pop-up window. After that, spam messages will be removed from the inbox and placed in the “ Spam ”.
If you see the option “ Report spam & unsubscribe ”, click the option.
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Step 5. Click the Spam tab
This tab is on the left side of the page.
You may need to click on the tab “ More labels ” first to see the options.
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Step 6. Click Delete all spam messages now
This link is at the top of the page.
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Step 7. Click OK when prompted
After that, all spam messages will be deleted from the “Spam” folder.
Part 3 of 9: Blocking Spam on Gmail Mobile
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Step 1. Open Gmail
Tap the Gmail app icon, which resembles a red “M” on a white envelope. After that, the inbox will be opened if you are already signed in to your account.
If you're not logged in yet, type in your email address and password before continuing
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Step 2. Select the spam message
Touch and hold the message you want to mark as spam.
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Step 3. Touch (iPhone) or (Android).
It's in the upper-right corner of the screen. After that, the menu will be displayed.
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Step 4. Touch Report spam
This option is in the menu. After that, the message will be moved to the “ Spam ”.
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Step 5. Touch
It's in the top-left corner of the screen. After that, a pop-out menu will be displayed.
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Step 6. Touch Spam
This option is in the menu.
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Step 7. Touch EMPTY SPAM NOW
It's at the top of the screen.
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Step 8. Touch OK when prompted
After that, the “Spam” folder will be emptied.
Part 4 of 9: Blocking Spam on Desktop Version of Outlook
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Step 1. Open Outlook
Visit https://www.outlook.com/ in a browser. After that, the Outlook inbox will be opened if you are already signed in to the account.
If you're not logged in yet, type in your email address and password before continuing
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Step 2. Select the message
Hover over the message you want to mark as spam, then click the white circle that appears to the left of the email preview. A check mark will appear on the circle.
If you're not using the beta version of Outlook, click the checkbox on this page
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Step 3. Click Junk
This tab is at the top of the inbox page. The selected message will be immediately moved to the " Junk Email " folder.
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Step 4. Click Junk Email
This option is on the left side of the inbox page.
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Step 5. Click Delete all
It's above the message list.
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Step 6. Click Delete all when prompted
After that, the “Junk Email” folder will be emptied.
Part 5 of 9: Blocking Spam on Outlook Mobile
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Step 1. Open Outlook
Touch the Outlook app icon, which looks like a white box on a blue background. After that, the Outlook inbox will be opened if you are already signed in to the account.
If you're not logged in yet, type in your email address and password before continuing
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Step 2. Select the message
Press and hold the spam message until a check mark appears next to it.
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Step 3. Touch the “Move to” icon
The folder icon with this arrow is at the bottom of the screen. After that, a new menu will be opened.
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Step 4. Touch Spam
This option is in the menu.
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Step 5. Touch
It's in the top-left corner of the screen. After that, a pop-out menu will be displayed.
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Step 6. Touch Spam
It's in the middle of the pop-out menu.
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Step 7. Touch Empty Spam
It's at the top of the screen.
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Step 8. Touch Permanently Delete when prompted
After that, all spam messages in the “Spam” folder will be deleted.
Part 6 of 9: Blocking Spam on Yahoo Desktop Version
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Step 1. Open Yahoo
Visit https://mail.yahoo.com/ in a browser. After that, the inbox will be displayed if you are already signed in to your account.
If you're not logged into your account, enter your email address and password before continuing
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Step 2. Select the message
Click the check box to the left of the message you want to mark as spam.
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Step 3. Click Spam
It's at the top of your inbox. After that, the selected message will be directly moved to the folder Spam ”.
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Step 4. Select the Spam folder
Hover over the folder Spam ” which is on the left side of the inbox. After that, you can see the trash icon.
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Step 5. Click the trash can icon
This icon is to the right of the “ Spam ”.
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Step 6. Click OK when prompted
After that, all messages in the folder " Spam " will be deleted.
Part 7 of 9: Blocking Spam on Yahoo Mobile
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Step 1. Open Yahoo
Tap the Yahoo Mail app icon, which looks like an envelope on a purple background. The inbox will be displayed if you are already signed in to your Yahoo account.
If you're not logged into your account, enter your email address and password before continuing
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Step 2. Select the message
Touch and hold the message you want to mark as spam. After that, a check mark will be displayed next to it.
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Step 3. Touch the button
It's in the lower-right corner of the screen. After that, a pop-up menu will be displayed.
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Step 4. Touch Mark as spam
This option is in the pop-up menu. After that, the selected message will be moved to the “ Spam ”.
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Step 5. Touch
It's in the top-left corner of the screen. After that, the menu will be displayed.
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Step 6. Empty the “Spam” folder
Swipe the screen until you reach the “ Spam ”, then tap the trash can icon next to it.
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Step 7. Touch OK when prompted
After that, the selection will be confirmed and the contents of the folder “ Spam will be deleted.
Part 8 of 9: Blocking Spam on Desktop Version of Apple Mail
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Step 1. Open the iCloud website
Visit https://www.icloud.com/ in a browser. After that, the iCloud login page will be displayed.
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Step 2. Sign in to your account
Type in the Apple ID email address and password, then click →.
Skip this step if you're already signed in to an iCloud account
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Step 3. Click Mail
This app icon resembles a white envelope on a light blue background.
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Step 4. Select the message
Click the message you want to mark as spam.
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Step 5. Click the "Flags" icon
It's a flag icon in the top-right corner of the page. After that, a drop-down menu will be displayed.
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Step 6. Click Move to Junk
This option is in the drop-down menu. The selected message will be moved to the “ Junk ”.
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Step 7. Click Junk
This option is on the left side of the page.
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Step 8. Delete spam messages
Click the spam message, then click the trash can icon in the upper-right corner of the page. After that, the message will be deleted.
Part 9 of 9: Blocking Spam on Apple Mail Mobile
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Step 1. Open Mail
Touch the Mail app icon which resembles a white envelope on a light blue background.
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Step 2. Make sure you are on the " Mailboxes " page
Tap the " Back " button in the upper left corner of the screen until it disappears.
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Step 3. Scroll to the "ICLOUD" segment
This segment is at the bottom of the page.
If you don't see the " ICLOUD " section on the " Mailboxes " page, your Apple Mail account isn't linked to the Mail app
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Step 4. Touch Inbox
After that, the iCloud Mail inbox will open.
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Step 5. Touch Edit
It's in the upper-right corner of the screen.
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Step 6. Select the spam message
Touch the message you want to mark as spam.
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Step 7. Touch Mark
It's in the lower-left corner of the screen. After that, a new menu will be displayed.
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Step 8. Touch Move to Junk
This option is in the menu. After that, the selected message will be moved to the “ Junk ”.
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Step 9. Touch "Back" button
It's in the top-left corner of the screen.
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Step 10. Touch Junk
This folder is located several folders under the “ Inbox ”.
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Step 11. Touch Edit
It's in the upper-right corner of the screen.
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Step 12. Touch Delete All
It's at the bottom of the screen.
Step 13. Touch Delete All when prompted
After that, the folder Junk ” will be emptied.