Keeping an email account free of spam can feel like an impossible task. Thankfully, modern spam filters in email clients like Gmail are effective at keeping spam out of your inbox. No spam filter is perfect, though, so it’s important to take extra steps to keep your inbox clean.

Why Am I Getting So Much Email Spam?

Spammers and hackers use a wide range of techniques to get a hold of your email address or even gain access to your email account. For example, they can use bots to scour the web for email addresses containing the @ symbol, or they might buy large lists of email addresses from data handlers.

1. Start Fresh With a New Email Account

It’s difficult to clean up an account that’s already getting blasted by spam. Once your email address is out there, spammers can reuse it, circulate it, or sell it, and there’s not much you can do about it.

You can still reduce the amount of spam an old account receives with the other eight tips we're discussing. However, you’ll get the best results by creating a fresh, clean account and taking these steps from day one. It’s always easier to keep an account clear of spam than clean up a dirty one.

2. Use Strict Spam Filter Settings

The easiest way to prevent spam from reaching your inbox is to use strict spam settings in your email client. For example, you can create filters in Gmail by clicking the Settings icon and See all settings > Filters and blocked addresses > Create a new filter.

a screenshot of the Filters and blocked addresses menu in Gmail settings

Here, you can create filters to prevent emails from reaching your inbox. So, if a spam email reaches your inbox, you can create a filter to block any further messages from the sender.

In Gmail, you can do this by going back to Filters and blocked addresses in settings to create a new filter. Click Create a new filter, add the email address you want to block into the From field, and click Create filter.

A screenshot of creating a spam filter in Gmail

In the next dialog box, you can choose the action you want Gmail to take when you receive an email from this sender.

A screenshot showing the list of action options for spam filters in Gmail

For spam and unwanted email, you can select Skip the inbox (Archive it) to avoid the inbox without deleting or Delete it to ensure any emails from this sender are deleted.

3. Protect Your Email Credentials

If you take no other action to protect your email account from spam, the absolute minimum you want to do is protect your email credentials. Most importantly, this means ensuring your email address doesn’t get into the wrong hands and using a strong password that nobody else can access or easily guess.

To protect your email credentials, never publish your email address publicly online and only provide it to companies you trust. Aside from this, create and learn a strong password–ideally, one that you can remember, so you don’t have to worry about storing it anywhere securely anywhere.

If you can create and remember a new, secure password every year or so, you’re drastically reducing the risk of your account being compromised. Of course, you can also use tools to make secure passwords easier to deal with, such as password managers, but understand that password managers come with their own security risks.

4. Install a Dedicated Spam Filter

You can boost the built-in spam features of your email client by installing a dedicated email spam filter. Depending on the tool you use, you’ll normally get a mix of automated features and additional filter settings to give you greater control over your inbox.

For example, some tools automatically scan email content and attachments to look for viruses, dodgy links, and other potential threats. Many providers now also use AI to analyze incoming emails and detect threatening patterns with greater accuracy.

The most advanced email spam tools are designed for businesses, but you’ll also find plenty of free and paid options for personal accounts.

5. Be Selective With Email Sign-Ups

Every time you give your email address to a company, you increase the risk of receiving spam and other email threats. Whether the company gets hacked and cyber criminals steal your data or the company itself sells your data to third parties, the best way to avoid these issues is to keep your email address well away from their databases.

Of course, this is easier said than done in an online world where you have to provide an email address for just about everything. To minimize any risk, be selective with your email signups and stick to using online services from companies you’re confident you can trust.

Instagram web on iPhone

Above all, always read the privacy policy of anything you sign up for, even if you think you can trust the company you’re dealing with. Keep an eye out for any talk of sharing your data with third parties and try to either opt out of this or avoid signing up with companies that don’t give you the option.

6. Use a Backup Account For Sign-Ups

No matter how careful you are online, you’re always going to run into instances where you want (or need) to sign up for something, even where you don’t fully trust the company in question.

The easy solution for this is to use a backup email account for signing up for anything that you don’t fully trust with your data. Obviously, you’ll want to use your main account for core services like banking, but why take the risk with a random online store or a new software product you want to try out?

7. Try a Disposable Email Address For Gated Content

Some online interactions that require an email address don’t have any verification system in place. For example, you might be trying to download some gated content on a website. In some cases, you’ll have to verify your email address or the company will send you a link via email–something that confirms you’ve sent a legit email address.

However, it’s worth trying a fake email address first, because you’ll find many companies don’t bother to implement such a system. So you might get away with typing in anything that looks like an email address, like my@email.com.

If the signup does include an email verification system, you can still get around it by using a disposable email address service. This gives you a temporary email address that you can access for the verification process and, then, go about your business. If you’re interested, take a look at these five email addresses and temporary inboxes for quick and easy access.

8. Unsubscribe From Unwanted Email Lists

To keep your email account as clean as possible, get into the habit of unsubscribing from any email lists you’re not interested in. If you find yourself instinctively deleting emails from the same sender regularly, it’s probably time to rethink your subscription.

The key thing here is that you want to have as few running subscriptions as possible. This way, it’s easier to remember which subscriptions you genuinely signed up for, which helps you identify any spam senders who keep reaching your inbox.

If possible, try not to open spam emails and never reply to them, or try to unsubscribe from emails you never signed up for.

9. Report Any Spam Email That Reaches Your Account

If a spam email reaches your inbox, don’t open it, interact with it, or delete it. You need to mark this as spam to alert your email service provider, so they’re more likely to block similar messages in the future.

In Gmail, you can mark an email as spam without opening it by right-clicking the email in your inbox and clicking the Report spam button in the menu below the search bar.

how to report spam in Gmail

This automatically moves the email to your spam folder and reports it as spam to Google for review. Google will, then, analyze the email to determine whether it’s spam and use your case to help it identify any similar emails targeting you or other users.

Deal With Email Spam the Right Way

Spammers and hackers are constantly coming up with new techniques to catch people out. While technology helps protect users against potential threats, it also makes life easier for scammers.

Make sure that you know how to spot common types of email spam so that you don't get fooled.