No matter how carefully you guard your email address, you will eventually end up on persistent marketing lists. While the “Spam” button in Gmail is highly effective at catching blatant malicious phishing attempts, it often struggles to permanently block relentless, daily PR pitches or aggressive newsletters that technically qualify as legitimate mail but feel like spam to you. Instead of manually deleting them every morning, you can create an automated filter in Gmail to delete them before you even see them.
How to Create a Filter from an Email
The fastest way to build an automated rule is to use an existing annoying email as the template.
- Open Gmail in your desktop web browser.
- Find and open one of the frustrating emails you want to block forever.
- Look at the top of the email itself (next to the Reply arrow), and click the icon with three vertical dots (More).
- Click on Filter messages like these.
A small search window will drop down from the top search bar. Gmail will automatically populate the “From” field with the exact email address of the sender (e.g., [email protected]).
Click the Create filter button at the bottom of this drop-down window.
Choosing the Automated Action
You are now presented with a checklist of actions. You must tell Gmail what to do the exact second a new email from this sender hits the server.
- If you never want to see it again: Check the box for Delete it. The email will bypass your inbox completely and go straight to the Trash, where it will be permanently erased after 30 days.
- If you want to keep a record, but not be bothered: Check the box for Skip the Inbox (Archive it), and also check Apply the label (and create a label like “Junk Newsletters”). The email will be silently filed away where you can search for it later if needed, but it will never trigger a notification on your phone.
Finally, look at the very bottom of the window and check the box that says “Also apply filter to matching conversations.” This tells Gmail to retroactively execute your new rule, instantly cleaning out all the old junk from that sender currently sitting in your inbox.
Click the blue Create filter button, and you will never be bothered by that sender again.