Why Am I Getting Spam Emails on Gmail and Outlook

Gmail and Outlook have a spam filter to safeguard your main inbox from irrelevant emails. However, many have complained about getting spam messages regardless. Unwanted spam emails can not only take up space in your inbox but also result in missing out on important emails if not dealt with efficiently. Here’s why you are getting spam emails on Gmail and Outlook and tips for stopping the behavior.

Several factors can lead to a surge in spam emails on Gmail and Outlook. Before discussing the tips to stop the behavior, let’s talk about the factors in detail.

Why Am I Suddenly Getting a Lot of Spam Emails

Here are the possible factors that lead to excessive spam emails in your inbox.

Spam Filter Is Broken

The default Gmail and Outlook spam filters aren’t foolproof. Sometimes, the spam filter fails to work as expected, and you end up receiving unnecessary emails in your primary inbox. You have no option but to wait for Google and Microsoft to fix such issues from their end.

Until then, you can try unsubscribing or creating more barriers to restrict the influx of spam emails. (more on that later).

Your Email Address Is a Part of Security Breach

Your email address is required to sign up for apps, online services, and websites. When one such app or website faces a security breach, it exposes all user details, including names, email addresses, birth dates, and more.

Scammers and advertisers may get access to such stolen data and send everyone unnecessary emails.

You Have Shared Email on Unnecessary Platforms

As mentioned, most online apps require a user account to explore their services. When you share your email address on all such online platforms, you end up receiving promotional offers and other announcements from them.

You should use a secondary email address or create a fake one for these platforms (we will explain that later).

How to Stop Receiving Spam Emails In Gmail and Outlook

If you are tired of receiving irrelevant junk emails, use the steps below to stop the practice.

Unsubscribe From Promotional Emails

It is one of the most effective ways to stop spam emails from landing on your email inbox. You can unsubscribe from such emails manually and stop getting messages from the same marketer.  

Step 1: Open an email in Gmail or Outlook.

Step 2: Look for a tiny unsubscribe button in the email and click on it.

Step 3: Some email providers may ask for a reason. Select a relevant reason and stop receiving emails.

Make Emails as Spam

You can also mark such emails as spam and send every email from them to the Spam or Junk mailbox. Let’s take Gmail and Outlook’s web versions as examples.

Step 1: Head to Gmail on the web and open an email.

Step 2: Click the three-dot menu at the top and select Report spam.

You can also block a sender from the same menu. Outlook users can go through the steps below.

Step 1: Navigate to Outlook on the web and select a junk email.

Step 2: Click the more actions menu and expand Report. You can then mark emails as junk or phishing and remove them from your inbox.

Create Rules or Filters

Manually marking every irrelevant email as spam is inconvenient and time-consuming. Instead, you can create rules and filters to mark these emails as junk automatically. Let’s set them up.

Step 1: Select an irrelevant email in Gmail. Click the More menu and select ‘Filter messages like this.’

Step 2: You can add several conditions like email address, subject, specific words in a message, size, and attachment and hit Create filter.

Step 3: You can then choose to have said emails skip the inbox entirely or apply the ‘Delete items’ label. Once done, select Create filter.

You can also read our dedicated post to learn more about auto-deleting emails in Gmail. Having said that, if you use Outlook, follow the steps below to create restrictions for what can land in your inbox.

Step 1: Select an email in Outlook and click the More menu.

Step 2: Expand Advanced actions and select Create rule.

Step 3: Select the Archive folder from the drop-down menu. Select Ok.

Once done, Outlook will send emails from the selected sender to the Archive inbox directly.

Tips to Permanently Stop Spam Emails

Here are some of the proven tricks to stop receiving spam emails.

• Create a secondary email address for temporary online services.
• Use third-party services like Clean Email or Temp Mail to create fake email addresses on the go. iPhone users (with iCloud+ or Apple One subscription) can create the same via the Settings app, too.
• Use email separators to hide your email address.
• Avoid sharing the main email address on unknown websites. Use your mobile number or other details to complete the sign-up.
• Avoid interacting with spam emails.

Keep Your Email Inbox Clean

Receiving dozens of spam emails throughout the day can break your workflow. It may even lead to an unproductive day. Before falling prey to spam emails and their marketing tactics, follow the steps mentioned above and keep such messages away from your primary inbox.