
Are you feeling swamped by a relentless wave of spam and junk emails that keep invading your inbox? If yes, it's high time to reclaim your digital space. This step-by-step guide provides smart strategies and practical tips that will be helpful in learning how to reduce junk email and spam in 2025.
Since each spam email you receive carries a potential threat, reducing their numbers isn’t just about convenience. Rather, it’s about safeguarding your personal information and reducing the risk of becoming a cybercrime statistic. Fortunately, a few smart tactics and one simple digital tool can make that inbox squeaky clean in a rather short time.
So, let's roll up our sleeves and get to work on minimizing those pesky junk emails.
Key Takeaways
- Adjust your spam filter and establish custom rules to manage unwanted emails efficiently.
- Keep your passwords strong and your security measures robust. You might also want to think about switching to a more secure email provider to further guard against spam emails.
- Learn to spot the usual scams and threats. Always check if the sender is who they claim to be before engaging with them.
- Utilize data removal services like Incogni to get your information (and email addresses) removed from data broker sites.
What's the difference between junk email and spam?
Although junk email and spam are terms often used interchangeably, they’re actually very different.
Junk email generally refers to unwanted promotional messages that find their way into our inboxes. Think of newsletters, offers, and advertisements that arrived without your request or that you've simply lost interest in. Legitimate businesses usually send them and, in most cases, provide an option to unsubscribe.
On the flip side, spam is the name we give to unsolicited bulk messages that come from unknown or suspicious senders and are sent to a massive number of recipients. These could include phishing attempts, scams, and messages carrying viruses, malware, and other cyber threats.
Why am I getting so many spam emails?
There are several reasons why your inbox is getting swamped:
- A spammer's database might contain your email address. This can occur if someone scraped it off the internet, a third party sold it, or it leaked in a data breach.
- You may have unwittingly signed up for services online using your email address.
- You may have responded to phishing messages.
- Sharing your email address on social media or other public platforms might have made it an easy target for spammers.
- You might have participated in an online survey or contest that required you to provide your email address, with it later being sold to third parties.
While the list isn’t exhaustive by any means, these are the most common reasons behind the annoying influx of spam emails.
Are unwanted emails dangerous?
Each of these emails you receive carries a potential threat. Phishing attacks are particularly dangerous as they aim to trick you into divulging private information. Additionally, malicious attachments are another threat that, if opened, can install malware on your device.
These unwanted emails aren't just an inconvenience. They represent a serious risk to your online security, since they can lead to identity theft, financial loss, and a whole lot of stress. So, it's not just about reclaiming your inbox from the clutches of spam and junk. It's about protecting your digital life from the harmful effects of these unwanted intruders.
11 effective strategies to reduce junk email and spam
Alright, we've covered the reasons behind the flood of spam emails and clarified the differences between junk email and spam. Now, let's delve into what you can do to halt these bothersome messages.
1. Train your email provider's spam filter
Your email provider’s spam filter, which is a part of your mail app, is your first line of defense against unwanted messages. As luck would have it, you can “train” this filter to better identify and block spam emails.
Start by marking spam messages and reporting them to your email provider. When you mark an email as spam in your mail app, the filter learns which messages should be classified as such, improving its accuracy over time.
The method of marking an email as spam can vary, depending on your mail app. For example, this process may look different in Gmail, Yahoo Mail, Outlook, and Apple Mail. Reporting spam emails not only benefits you but also contributes to improving spam filters for the wider user base.
2. Use email aliases or disposable addresses

Think of using email aliases or disposable addresses as wearing a disguise for your email. It's a clever way to keep your main email address hidden from spammers. In practice, you can employ this alternative address when signing up for a newsletter or a service, thus cutting down on the amount of spam you receive.
There are a bunch of handy tools and services out there, like the Burner Emails extension, the Screener feature from Clean Email, and the Temp Mail that offers free, self-destructing temporary emails.
3. Use a data removal service to get your information (including email) off third-party data broker sites
The best way to do away with spam email for good is to remove as much of your data from the internet. While you can do this yourself, it can be time-consuming and require a lot of patience.
In case you have a few dollars to spare and you'd rather someone else do the heavy lifting, third-party services like Incogni and DeleteMe are super effective in removing your data from data brokerage websites and people search sites.

By leveraging automation, Incogni and similar vendors can identify which data brokers have your information, and then automatically send opt-out requests on your behalf.
Even after deleting your information, the service will continue sending out requests regularly to make certain the data stays off these sites for good. It’s worth noting that data removal services are relatively affordable. This table, breaking down Incogni’s pricing, will provide a better idea of just how cheap we’re talking about:
Duration | Standard | Unlimited | Family | Family Unlimited |
---|---|---|---|---|
1-year | $7.99/month | $14.99/month | $15.99/month | $22.99/month |
1-month | $15.98/month | N/A* | $31.98/month | N/A* |
Want to learn more? Check out our rundown of the best data removal services.
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