Aside from staying off of the internet all together, there’s really no way to eliminate spam. The best you can do is filter out most of it – but even that isn’t a sure way to keep the annoying messages away.
Whichever email service you use actively filters spam and moves weird messages into a separate folder… but it’s not perfect. Some spam will still end up in your mailbox while other important emails may end up in the spam folder.
While there aren’t foolproof ways to get rid of spam – there are ways to reduce it. Let’s have a look.
1. Don’t give your email out to any strange sites or email sign-ups.
You’d be surprised how easy this step is, yet how hard it is to actually follow. Marketing these days is outstanding, and sometimes you don’t even know you’re signing up for a sketchy email list. Make sure the site you are on seems reputable and if you have any doubts, don’t.
The more people who have your email address, the more spam you’re going to get. It’s a good idea to make a separate email address for the times when you’re not comfortable sharing your personal email.
2. Train your filter.
Deleting spam once it has made its way into your inbox isn’t enough. Make sure you select it and tell your email provider that the particular message is spam. This may look different for every email service you use, but for Gmail all you have to do is select the email and press the “report spam” button in the toolbar.
If you’ve had real emails end up in spam (annoying), then make sure you’re going through your spam folder regularly and selecting the “not spam” button to make sure those emails don’t end up in the wrong folder again.
3. Do not respond to spam, EVER!
It’s better to realize a message is spam before you open it, but if you open it – close it immediately. Don’t click any links or buttons or download anything. This is a sure way to have your email invaded with issues along with brings malware and viruses to your device.
If you received a spam email from a friend or family member, let them know their email has been compromised.
4. Hit the unsubscribe button.
If you’re getting pesky emails from reputable companies – the easiest thing you can do is unsubscribe. However, make sure when you unsubscribe, you make sure you’re unsubscribing from all emails that you don’t want. Some companies require an extra step or two before you’re fully unsubscribed form all emails.
5. Change your email address.
Yes, this is drastic, but if your email becomes overloaded with spam, it can be a very long and unpromising job to try and get rid of it all.
If you do take up this option, you’ll have to let all of your legitimate contacts know about the change and you’ll probably have to keep both addresses for a few months. However, after a few months, your spam count will plummet.
