This might be the number one request we get from tech tutoring clients: How can I get less unwanted e-mail? And not all “junk” email is the same — so how do you get your inbox to work smarter so that you get more email that is valuable to you?
The “Junk” vs. “Trash” Buttons
Not all unwanted email is to be treated the same way. Sometimes you enjoy receiving alerts from certain companies and organizations, but you want to clear them out of your inbox when you’re done reading them. For these emails, clicking the “Trash” button is enough (looks like an old-fashioned metal trash can). You can also just press your delete key when the email is selected.
But for emails that you never want to receive again, you’ll have to click a different button, or you’re going to be stuck clearing out your inbox every day. Instead of the Trash button, you want to click the “Junk” button instead, which looks like a bin with an “X” over it on Apple Mail. (See screenshot below.)
BONUS TIP: UNSUBSCRIBE
If you would like to stop receiving the emails, but don’t want the organization to be blacklisted by their ISP (sometimes if too many people click “Junk,” this is the consequence), you can instead “Unsubscribe” by clicking the link that should appear at the bottom of every email that comes from a mailing list.
On certain messages, Apple makes this easy for you to unsubscribe by putting an Unsubscribe link right at the top of the email. Click on the blue word “Unsubscribe” to use this convenient feature. It should work the same as clicking the link at the bottom of the email.
In a cleaning mode? Check out this post about clearing your Mac desktop.
Want help making this change to your system? Digital Helpmates offers one-on-one tech tutoring to home and business users at affordable prices. Find out more about our dedicated tech tutoring and Jumpstart Office Teams at https://digitalhelpmates.com.
Watch this on our YouTube Channel, Tech Tips for the Technically Clueless: How Do I get Less unwanted mail? (Apple Mail)
