Many of us use Gmail for work, to stay in touch with friends and family, and to track online purchases. Gmail is easily accessible from a desktop PC, an Android phone, an iPhone, or a budget Chromebook. However, its ease of access also makes it a target for spammers. Gmail has a robust spam filter, but its built-in safeguards may let annoying spam through. In this guide, we show you how to manage and reduce spam emails in Gmail.

What are spam emails?

Spam emails range from innocuous newsletters promoting a product to phishing emails containing malicious links aimed at stealing your personal information.

Here's a broad categorization of spam emails you might see in your inbox:

• Newsletters or marketing emails: These emails generally promote or market a product.
• Phishing emails: These emails are online scams where the email sender impersonates legitimate organizations to get your personal information. You can learn more by referring to our in-depth guide to protecting yourself against phishing emails.
• Malware or antivirus emails: These are scam emails that get your attention by warning you about a malware infection to get you to buy their cheap software or install a program that is malware.
• Coupon codes and deals: These emails generally promote a platform by showing you deals and coupons. These emails can also hide malicious links.
• Frauds and scams: Everyone knows the famous Nigerian prince's spam email. These types of emails try to lure you by promising exponential rewards.
• An annoying friend: A spam email can be as simple as an annoying friend that sends you unsolicited emails every day.

There are different types of spam emails. Depending on the spam email you are dealing with, you can use different approaches. Gmail gives you access to several tools to deal with these spam emails. Whether you use a Windows PC or one of the top Chromebooks, you can use the methods below to reduce spam in Gmail.

But before you deal with spam emails, ensure that you stop spam emails from reaching your inbox.

How to stop emails from entering your Gmail inbox

The best way to deal with spam is to ensure you never receive them. That's why we recommend creating a second Gmail account and using it to sign up for all the apps, services, and websites. It ensures your primary email is not bombarded with newsletters and promotional emails.

Sometimes, you have to sign up on a website for a single use, like downloading an e-book or PDF file. For such cases, we recommend using a temporary email service. Did you know you can generate and use temporary emails on Android smartphones, Windows computers, and iPhones? You can also use a free email service like Temp Mail to set up a throwaway email account.

How to reduce spam emails in Gmail

Now that you know how to stop spam emails from reaching your Gmail, let's see how to deal with the spam emails in your inbox. Depending on the type of spam email, you can use different methods to deal with them.

Unsubscribe from newsletters and promotional emails

If you receive tons of newsletters and promotional emails, you signed up for those services without unchecking the box where they ask your permission to send you promotional emails. Next time you're on a sketchy website, carefully read pop-ups and uncheck the checkbox for promotional mails. Most reputable companies allow you to unsubscribe from their emails with ease.

1. Open the Gmail web app on your computer and open a newsletter you don't want to receive in the future.

   

2. Click the Unsubscribe button next to their email.

   

3. Confirm that you want to unsubscribe in the pop-up window.

   

Report emails as spam email

While most companies let you unsubscribe from their emails, some don't adhere to your request. It means you keep receiving promotional emails even if you unsubscribe from their email newsletter. You can report such emails as spam, and Gmail automatically transfers these emails to your spam filter in the future.

1. Open the email you want to mark as spam and click the three-dot menu.

   

2. Click the Report spam option.

   

3. Report this as spam, or unsubscribe and report it as spam. We recommend using the Report spam & unsubscribe option if it's available.

   

4. To report multiple emails as spam, click to select the emails in your inbox and click the spam button.

   

5. Click the Report spam or Report spam & unsubscribe button to report these emails as spam.

   

Report emails as phishing emails in Gmail

Phishing emails are dangerous, with millions of users falling prey to these scams every year. If you spot such an email, report such phishing emails so that Google can keep track of and get rid of these emails.

1. Open an email and click the three-dot menu.

   

2. Choose the Report phishing option and confirm by clicking the Report Phishing Message in the pop-up window.

   

Block annoying senders in Gmail

If someone keeps sending you annoying emails, block them and stop receiving emails from them.

1. Open an email from the sender you want to block and click the three-dot menu.

   

2. Choose the Block "their name" option.

   

3. Click the Block button in the pop-up window to confirm blocking them.

   

Automatically filter emails to reduce spam in the inbox

Gmail also lets you create and use filters and labels to filter emails to reduce spam in your inbox automatically. These can be emails you want to keep but don't want to see in your inbox. For example, you can automatically filter and archive your Uber ride receipts if you don't want to delete them and don't want them in your inbox.

1. To automatically filter an email from a sender or multiple senders, select their email, click the three-dot icon, and choose the Filter messages like these option.

   

2. Click the Create filter button.

   

3. You can perform several actions, including archiving and deleting. Turn on the option for Also apply filter to X matching conversations to ensure that all matching emails are filtered.
4. Click the Create filter button to create your filter.

   

You can also create a custom filter to flag and delete spam from a specific email address. Here's how to do it.

1. Sign in to Gmail and click the cog icon in the upper-right corner.
2. Click See all settings.

   

3. Click Filters and Blocked Addresses.

   

4. Click Create a new filter.
5. Enter the email address you want to flag as spam.
6. Click Create filter.

   

7. Choose the action for the email. Select the checkbox labeled Delete it to delete all emails that meet your search criteria.
8. Click Create filter.

   

Get rid of spam emails and clean your Gmail inbox

Nothing's more annoying than an inbox that's cluttered with spam and unnecessary promotional emails. One way to reduce spam on your primary Gmail account is to use a temporary email service for websites and promotional offers. Following the steps in this guide will help you reduce spam, but if you can't find important emails, use these advanced Gmail search filters to retrieve them in no time.