Do Not Delete Spam Emails… Here’s Why
Spam emails flood your inbox, doing nothing but wasting your time.
Naturally, most users tend to delete them as soon as they spot them.
However, according to IT experts, keeping them might actually work in your favor, as they can serve an unexpected purpose.
Email Filtering
Email providers such as Microsoft, Outlook, Yahoo, and Gmail use filters that continuously adapt and evolve to better recognize spam emails.
To achieve this, they need data to learn from. Instead of immediately deleting a spam email, you should mark it as spam or junk mail.
This improves the filtering system so that similar emails are automatically directed to the spam folder in the future.
Over time, the more spam emails you categorize, the better the system becomes at filtering unwanted messages, meaning less spam for you.
If you check your emails through a browser like Gmail or Yahoo, you can use the “Report Spam” option to help classify future messages.
By doing this regularly, you also help blacklist spammers faster, making it harder for them to reach other users.
So, if you work in an office or a shared email server environment, you might be saving your colleagues from receiving the same annoying scam emails.
Beware of Unsubscribing
Fortunately, spam emails do not take up much storage space, as most email providers automatically delete them after 30 days if they remain in the spam folder.
If not, or if you just prefer keeping things tidy, you should manually clear your spam folder once a month.
It’s also important to note that, while unsubscribing from spam emails may seem like a good idea, it can actually backfire.
Many spammers send emails to random addresses without knowing whether they are reaching real accounts.
The moment you click “Unsubscribe”, you confirm that your email address is real and active.
Instead of removing you from their list, they often do the opposite—bombarding you with more spam or, worse, selling your email address to other shady operators.
Suspicious Emails
To avoid falling for spam traps and to stay safe online, never click on links or open attachments from unknown senders, and avoid engaging with suspicious messages.
Finally, make it a habit to mark spam emails as junk regularly to train your inbox to filter them more effectively in the future.
