Using your email address for online shopping and social media can add you to company mailing lists for marketing offers and leave your inbox piling up with spam. Learn how to unsubscribe from emails on Gmail, Outlook, and Yahoo to stop junk mail. Then install a comprehensive security app like AVG AntiVirus Free to help protect against email threats and other online scams.
The best way to unsubscribe from emails manually is to use the unsubscribe link that’s usually found at the bottom of an unwanted email subscription. Before completing the process, you may need to confirm your preferences on the company’s unsubscriber web page to opt out of future notifications and spam emails from them.
If the emails are unsolicited and you don’t recognize the sender or company they claim to be from, clicking the unsubscribe button can actually verify that your email is valid. Then, instead of getting rid of unwanted emails clogging your inbox, it can have the opposite effect. But, if you recognize the sender, you can generally use the unsubscribe link without worry.
Here’s how to unsubscribe from emails manually:
Open your email inbox and open the spam email. Scroll down to the bottom of the email and click the unsubscribe link.
In some cases, you might be prompted to sign in to the company’s website you want to unsubscribe from. Enter your email address and click Unsubscribe to confirm.
It’s bad enough that most companies put the unsubscribe button at the very bottom of promotional (often spammy) emails. But some companies may even try to hide the unsubscribe link in a font color that matches the background, behind a login, or they may even send different types of emails from multiple email addresses. These tactics are designed to make it harder for you to stop receiving unwanted emails completely.
The unsubscribe link is a good way to quickly cancel emails you recognize and know you signed up for. However, be careful when clicking links in unwanted emails because hackers can embed the malware directly into the unsubscribe link — a common ruse in phishing scams. Trusted protection like AVG AntiVirus FREE can help shield against malware infection if you accidentally click a dangerous link.
Some spam emails purposely don’t include the unsubscribe option at all, aiming to prevent you from quickly canceling email subscriptions. Use the unsubscribe button embedded into your email client to keep your email secure and prevent you from accidentally clicking malicious email links disguised as an unsubscribe link.
Gmail includes the unsubscribe option for most mailing list emails to get rid of spam quickly and block future unwanted emails. Additionally, Gmail automatically keeps your inbox organized by filtering spam emails into Social and Promotions tabs in the left-side menu. You can also report spam, suspected phishing scams and other social engineering schemes, or block the sender.
Here’s how to unsubscribe from emails on Gmail:
Go to Gmail and open the unwanted email on desktop or your mobile device.
To unsubscribe, follow the relevant steps according to your device:
Desktop: At the top of the email, click the Unsubscribe link next to the sender’s address, then click Unsubscribe again to confirm.
Android or iOS: Tap Unsubscribe next to the sender’s name, then Unsubscribe again to confirm. On some devices with smaller screens, the first Unsubscribe option is hidden in the More (three dots) menu.
If you suspect an unwanted email is a scam, open the email and click More (three dots). From there, you can block the sender, report the email as spam, or report the email as phishing (desktop only).
Similar to Gmail, Outlook allows you to unsubscribe from the top of the unwanted email. On the desktop version, more options are available by clicking Other actions (three dots). From there you can Block the sender or choose Report, then Report junk or Report phishing.
Here’s how to unsubscribe from junk mail on Outlook:
Go to Outlook and open the unwanted email. Click the Unsubscribe link at the top of the email.
Click OK to confirm.
In the mobile version of Outlook, there isn’t an unsubscribe option. If you want to remove yourself from an email list, you’ll need to open the unwanted email and use the manual option to unsubscribe.
The Mail app on iOS has the unsubscribe link at the top of emails. Unfortunately, iOS mail doesn’t have any other options for handling unwanted emails, such as reporting phishing, spam, or junk emails.
Here’s how to unsubscribe from emails on an iPhone:
In the Mail app, open the unwanted email and tap Unsubscribe at the top of the email.
To confirm that you want to unsubscribe from the email list for good, tap Unsubscribe again.
Yahoo does have a built-in unsubscriber, but it’s not available in individual emails unless you mark them as spam first. Instead, within the Yahoo app, go to the left panel and open Subscriptions. From there, you can unsubscribe from the mailing lists you’re currently subscribed to. Or, you can mark the emails as spam or block the sender from each email individually.
To unsubscribe from emails on Yahoo:
Go to Yahoo and open the unwanted email.
Follow the relevant steps according to your Yahoo version:
Desktop: Click Options (three dots), then select Block sender or click the Spam button at the top of the email to mark as spam.
Android & iOS: Tap More (three dots), then select Spam.
Once you mark an email as spam, Yahoo may prompt you to Unsubscribe from the sender instead. If the sender is legitimate, it’s best to unsubscribe at this point rather than mark it as spam. That way, Yahoo learns to filter out spam from your inbox and keep legitimate senders from being penalized.
You can use paid services to auto-unsubscribe from mass emails simultaneously. This is an ideal option if you get multiple unwanted emails daily and don’t have time to unsubscribe from each one individually. Removing yourself from mailing lists all in one go can help you reduce your digital footprint.
These unsubscriber tools can successfully help you get rid of email spam, but you need to grant them full access to search your inbox, which may not be the best for your privacy.
To auto-unsubscribe from emails, here are a few third-party services you can use:
Clean Email
Clean Email manages all your inboxes using a web interface to auto-clean multiple emails simultaneously. They even promise to not keep, sell, or analyze your data — you can read more in their Privacy Policy.
Leave Me Alone
Leave Me Alone easily allows you to unsubscribe from newsletters and subscription emails in one click. The tool works with as many email accounts and clients as you want.
Sanebox
Sanebox accurately finds important emails and automatically gets rid of junk. The unsubscriber tool works on Windows, Mac, Android, and iOS. They also encrypt your email account credentials to increase your privacy.
Unsubscribing from spam emails or potentially-harmful scam emails is just one piece of the puzzle when keeping your email inbox safe and secure. AVG AntiVirus FREE scans your incoming emails for malicious threats, alerts you about potentially infected emails attachments, and helps block malicious downloads if you accidentally click an infected link. Install AVG AntiVirus FREE to keep your device safer against viruses and other malware hiding in your emails.
The quickest way to unsubscribe from a mailing list is to click the unsubscribe link at the top of your email client or at the bottom of an unwanted email. Avoid clicking links in suspicious emails to reduce the risk of installing a virus or other malware on your device. You can block the sender or report the email as phishing to stop receiving unwanted emails.
Yes, you can use a paid service that makes it easier to bulk unsubscribe from emails. This is an easy way to avoid spam from getting to your inbox before it becomes too overwhelming to manage, and it’s especially useful if you have multiple email accounts with multiple email clients.
Block the sender if you still can’t unsubscribe from emails after trying multiple unsubscribe options. You may have run into a problem with the mailing list, or the spammy sender simply knows now that you’re a person with an active email address who likes to click buttons — in this case, they’ll just keep sending more unwanted emails.
If you originally signed up for the emails you no longer want, it’s better to unsubscribe in case you reconsider your choice later. If an email seems suspicious due to unrealistic offers, threats, or an unwarranted sense of urgency, you should block the sender to help avoid security risks.
Always be cautious when clicking links in unsolicited emails to improve email security against malicious threats. Scam emails may include a false unsubscribe link, which instead leads you to a pharming site aimed at stealing your personal information. If the email seems suspicious, comes from an unknown sender, or is for a service you don’t use, don’t click unsubscribe; instead, mark the email as spam or phishing.
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