Gmail: Reduce Spam Emails

This article goes over two options for you to reduce spam messages in your UMN inbox.

In this article:

Option One: Labeling an Email as Spam

Select the checkbox on the left of your Gmail message in your Inbox (mail.umn.edu)
Select the Report spam button towards the top of the Gmail web interface
Choose Report spam or Report spam & unsubscribe
- The Report spam feature helps train Google's artificial intelligence to label similar messages as spam
- The Report spam & unsubscribe feature labels all messages from a sender as Spam, and unsubscribes you from a mailing list if the sender accepts those requests
If you suspect a phishing attempt, forward the email to [email protected]
- For more information about phishing attempts, review Recognize and Report Email Scams

Open an email from an unwanted sender in your Inbox (mail.umn.edu)
Select the More (three vertical dots) menu button near the top of the Gmail web interface
Choose Filter messages like these
Select Create filter
- IMPORTANT: Be careful not to create a filter that is too broad, as that may send legitimate emails to spam
  - Check your spam often to return legitimate emails to your inbox and adjust your filter if necessary
Select the checkbox Delete it
- To delete existing emails from the same sender, select the checkbox Also apply filter to matching conversations
Select Create filter; this sender is now blocked
Repeat this process for each spam sender
If you suspect a phishing attempt, forward the email to [email protected]
- For more information about phishing attempts, review Recognize and Report Email Scams