How to Bypass the Trash in Outlook Express
Nothing is more frustrating than wading through junk email to get to the things you want to read. Junk email or spam seems to have a life of its own, quickly multiplying and flooding inboxes. While some email programs include trash folders, Outlook Express isn't one of them. But there are ways to beat it. Follow these steps to bypass trash in Outlook Express.
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Instructions
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1
Highlight all the mail you don't want in the preview panes of Outlook Express. You can hold the Ctrl key and press down to highlight or go the Edit menu and "Select All." Then hit "delete."
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2
Block messages from entering your email box. Any time you receive email from an unwanted party, go to the Message menu at the top and click "Block Sender."
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3
Go to the Tools menu and choose "Message Rules" for another view of the "Blocked Senders" list. You can add individual senders or domains directly here. Type the email address or if you don't want anything from that domain coming through your Inbox, just add whatever comes after the @.
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Make a Message Rule. If you notice similar junk mail, make a rule about it in "Message Rules" in the Tools menu. For example, perhaps you want every email that has the word "prescription" deleted. First, put check marks next to the conditions for your rule (#1). You might select "where the Subject line contains specific words." Then "Select the Actions for your rule" (#2) or what you want done with those emails. This is where you could put that you want it deleted. And finally, in "Rule Description" (#3), click "contains specific words" to add a phrase or a word like "prescription."
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5
Resist the urge to click at the tops of junk emails to download pictures. Doing so lets the sender know that you opened the email.
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Create your own trash folder in Outlook Express. Open the File menu and click "New." Select "Folder," and name it whatever you want, perhaps "Trash." Now, every time email trash arrives in your Inbox, right-click it and choose "Move to folder." If you want to, review the "Trash" file before deleting it. Otherwise, follow Step 1 to delete everything.
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Tips & Warnings
There are dozens of spam filters available. But some email trash always manages to get through. You also run the risk of not receiving mail that you do want.
Creating message rules is time consuming, but ultimately a lot of help. Another way to create message rules is to go into the Message menu and choose "Create rule from message."
Eventually, you'll have to delete trash mail from your delete folder. An easy way to do this is by going into "Options" in the Tools menu. Click on the "Maintenance" tab to choose to purge deleted messages upon exiting Outlook Express.
