This article has been just updated:
Are you still faithful to your trusty Hotmail email address (which is now accessible via Outlook.com)? Then you most likely have your fair share of experience with spam. According to recent email statistics, about 14.5 billion spam emails are sent every single day, which accounts for 45 percent of all emails sent. That’s a huge problem, which is made even worse by the fact that a significant number of spam emails end up in the inboxes of Hotmail users.
But fear not because we know how you can put a stop to your Hotmail spam problems and reclaim the control over your inbox.
1.Train Your Inbox
Outlook.com does a decent job at filtering spam emails, but it’s far from perfect. You can help it be more efficient by explicitly training it to always accept emails from certain senders and always discard emails from others.
To tell Hotmail which email addresses it should always accept:
1. Go to: Outlook.com.
2. Click the settings gear icon located in the top-right corner of the site.
3. Select “View all Outlook settings” from the pop-out menu.
4. Go to “Mail” and click “Junk email.”
5. Type an email address into the text box in the “Safe senders” area.
6. Click “Add.”
7. Save.
To report a spam email in Outlook.com:
1. Go to: Outlook.com.
2. Select the message you want to mark as spam or a phishing scam.
3. Select “Junk” on the command bar.
• Alternatively, you can mark a message as a phishing scam by going to the “Junk Email folder,” selecting the message, and choosing “Phishing” under “Not junk” on the command bar.
To accept emails only from known senders:
1. Go to: Outlook.com.
2. Click the settings gear icon located in the top-right corner of the site.3. Select “View all Outlook settings” from the pop-out menu.
4. Go to “Mail” and click “Junk email.”
5. Select “Junk E-Mail Options” in the menu that opens.
6. Click the “Safe Senders” tab.
7. Add emails to the “Safe Senders” tab.
8. You also can choose Filter “Only trust email from addresses in my Safe Senders list”
2. Don’t Respond to Spam
- The first rule of spam is: you never respond to spam.
- The second rule of spam is: you never click on any links in spam emails.
- The third rule of spam is: you just ignore spam or mark it appropriately.
When you respond to spam emails, you basically tell the spammers that they have a valid email address, which will only encourage them to bombard you with more spam emails. Don’t waste your time asking the spammers to stop sending you emails—they won’t comply, and you’ll only make everything worse for yourself.
3. Unsubscribe from Email Lists
Most websites that ask for your email address automatically add you to an email list so they can send you various promotional offers and other advertisement. If you often shop online, you might be surprised by how many email lists your Hotmail email address is on.
Fortunately, there are many free services, including Unroll.me, that allow you to unsubscribe from multiple email lists with just a few clicks. To unsubscribe from email lists with Unroll.me:
- Go to: https://www.unroll.me.
- Click the “Get started now” button.
- Sign in with Outlook.
- Allow Unroll to access your Outlook inbox.
- Wait for Unroll.me to analyze your inbox.
- Press “Let’s do it“ button.
- Click the “Unsubscribe” button next to each email list from which you would like to unsubscribe.
4. Use a Third-Party Spam Filter
Outlook.com and most other email services employ sophisticated spam filters to keep spam emails under control. You may, however, take things into your own hands and install an internet security suite with a built-in spam filter such as Norton Internet Security.
Apart from stopping spam dead in its tracks, Norton Internet Security can also alert you when you’re about to download a malicious attachment and warn you about social media scams and suspicious content.
5. Keep Your Email Address Private
If you’re not keen on receiving unsolicited emails, you should keep your email address private. Give it only to people who actually need to have it and ask them not to publish it anywhere. When a website asks you for your email address, think hard before you give it to them. It’s probably okay for your bank to have, but does your local grocery store really need it? Probably not. When in doubt, we recommend you use a temporary email address instead, as explained in the next section.
6. Create a Temporary Email Address
It’s a good idea to use a temporary email address when registering for sites offering discussion groups, bulletin boards, chat rooms, online shopping, file hosting, and other services. You can obtain a temporary email address from Temp Mail, Guerrilla Mail, Nada, and many other providers of disposable email addresses. Some disposable email providers let you turn a temporary email address into a permanent email address, which can be useful when you sign up for a site that turns out to be worth coming back to.
How to create a temporary email address:
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- Go to: https://temp-mail.org/en/.
- Cope the email address at the top of the site and use it instead of your Hotmail address.
- You can click the “Refresh” button on the left to manually refresh the inbox.
- You can obtain a new temporary email address using the “Change” button.
- All email addresses are valid until they are manually deleted using the “Delete” button.
7. Get a New Email Address
If you still feel overwhelmed by spam despite all the advice we’ve given you in this article, then it might be the right time to create a new Hotmail email address and start from scratch. While you might not be able to register your dream email address anymore, you should still be able to find one that’s pretty enough even for business use.
How to create a new Hotmail email address:
1. Go to: https://outlook.live.com/owa/.
2. Click “Create free account.”
3. Enter your email address and use the drop-down menu on the right to select “hotmail.com” as your domain name.
4. Create a password.
5. Enter your personal information.
6. Enjoy your new Hotmail email address.
Make sure to protect your email address and never post it online. Use a different email address for ordering things online and signing up for various services. When you receive a spam email, deal with it as soon as possible to keep your inbox clean and organized. You can always change your email settings to accept emails only from known senders, which makes it impossible for spammers to target you.
