How to Be Taken Off Email Junk Mail on the Computer

Block unsolicited emails from clogging your inbox.

Junk mail is unsolicited email that is sent to your email address through bulk email lists. Although you can remove your name from these mailing lists by submitting an unsubscribe request, often the best solution is to set your email server preferences so that junk email is automatically blocked or deleted. Junk mail settings are also known as email rules, depending on the mail client on your computer.

Instructions

Junk Mail Setup for Apple Mail

1. Click the "Mail" icon on your computer screen's dock, and click "Mail" at the top of the window.

2. Select "Preferences" from the drop-down menu, and click the "Junk Mail" button.

3. Check the box next to "Enable junk mail filtering" and select "Move it to the junk mailbox."

4. Check the boxes next to "Sender of message is in my Address Book," "Sender of message is in my Previous Recipients" and "Message is addressed using my full name" to apply the junk mail rules.

Junk Mail Setup for Gmail

1. Open your Internet browser and click the "URL" field. Type "gmail.com" and press the "Enter" key on your keyboard. Enter your user name and password, and click "Sign In."

2. Click the "Settings" link the upper right corner of the browser window, and click the "Filter" tab.

3. Enter a specific domain address in the "From" section to block junk mail from a specific domain, or enter keywords in the "Has the words" section. Click "Next Step" to proceed.

4. Check the box next to "Delete it" and click the "Create Filter" button.

Junk Mail Setup in Yahoo!

1. Open your Internet browser and click the "URL" field. Type "yahoo.com" and press the "Enter" key on your keyboard. Click the "Sign In" link and enter your user name and password. Click the "Sign In" button.

2. Click the "Yahoo! Mail" button on the left side of the browser window, and click the "Options" link on the right side of the window.

3. Select "Mail Options" from the drop-down menu, and click the "Spam" link. Check the box next to "Automatically send suspected spam to my Spam folder."

4. Type in an email address in the "Blocked Email Addresses section," and click the "Add" button to save the name to the list. Click the "Save Changes" button.

Unsubscribe from Junk Mail Directly

1. Open the junk email, and scroll down to the bottom of the letter.

2. Click the "Unsubscribe" link if it's available.

3. Enter your email address, and click the "Unsubscribe" button.

Tips & Warnings

• In Mozilla Thunderbird, specify the junk mail settings by clicking the "Tools" drop-down menu and selecting "Account Settings" and then "Junk Settings." In Outlook, click "Preferences" to get to the Junk Mail filter settings.

References

• Gmail: Using Filters
• Yahoo: Can I Block Junk Mail with Filters?
• Apple Support: Mail 4.0 Help - Changing the Junk Mail Filter