How to check Junk Mail in Gmail ?

Imagine you are waiting for an important email from a client, but it never arrives.

You check your inbox several times a day, but still nothing. Frustrated and confused, you wonder if the email was even sent.

But then, you remember something – the Junk Mail folder. You immediately go to your Gmail account and check the Junk Mail folder, and there it is – Your customer’s email is in the spam messages.

Don’t let this happen to you! In this post, we will guide you through the steps to check your junk mail in Gmail and make sure you never miss an important message again.

What are the steps to check Junk email in your Gmail account?

On the Web:

• Firstly, open the browser and login to your Gmail account.

• Secondly, click the Menu bar available at the left of the home screen and now, click the “More” option.

• At last, click “Spam” folder.

Now you can see all your spam mails.

Your spam messages will appear in this folder as a list of emails. From here, you can delete unwanted emails individually or delete them all at once. This will move the spam emails into the junk folder and report the sender.

Additionally, you can also mark a message as not spam so that it no longer appears in your Spam folder.

Here are some additional tips for viewing your spam folder in Gmail:

• Firstly, if you don’t see the Spam folder in your left sidebar, you may need to expand the list of folders. To do this, click the more buttons, and then choose Show all mail.

• Secondly, you can search for specific messages in your Spam folder by typing a keyword or phrase in the search bar at the top of the page to see the spam list.

How to check junk mail with Gmail mobile app ? (Android and iPhone)

Here are the steps to check junk mail on Gmail mobile app (Android and iPhone):

• Firstly, open the Gmail app on your device.

• Secondly, tap on the three lines at the top left corner to open the main menu.

• Thirdly, scroll down and tap on Spam.

• Lastly, your spam messages will appear in this folder.

You can also search for specific unwanted emails or unwanted messages in your Spam folder or junk folder by tapping the search bar at the top of the screen and typing a keyword or phrase.

To delete a message from your Spam folder, simply tap on the Delete button. To mark a message as not spam, tap the Not Spam button.

Also Check: How to delete all unread email in Gmail ?

How to move emails from Spam (Junk Mail) to inbox ?

It is not possible to move junk emails from Spam box to the primary inbox;

However, you can move a spam email under Social or Update label, to move your spam email to social or update labels follow the below guideline.

• Firstly, open spam box select mails that you want to move under social or updates label; click on “Move to” option and select the label.

• Finally, once you select a label, all emails will automatically be moved under the selected label.

How to manage your spam folder in Gmail ?  

Managing your spam folder in Gmail is important to avoid missing important emails that might have been mistakenly marked as spam. Moreover, by keeping your spam folder clean, you can save space and improve your email security.

Here are some steps you can follow to manage your spam folder and clean email in Gmail:

Find spam folder and delete spam mail

On your computer

• Firstly, open Gmail and sign in to your account.

• Secondly, in the left sidebar, under your inbox and sent folders, click More.

• Thirdly, scroll down and click Spam. This will open your spam folder.

• Next, to delete all spam messages at once, click the checkbox at the top to select all emails, then click the Delete forever icon (trash icon).

• Alternatively, to delete individual messages, select the check box next to the messages you want to delete, and then click the Delete forever icon.

In your mobile app

• First, Launch the Gmail application on your mobile device.

• Next, tap the hamburger menu (three horizontal lines) in the top left corner.

• Then, scroll down and tap Spam.

• After that, to delete all spam messages at once, tap the Empty Spam Now button at the top.

• Alternatively, to delete individual messages, touch and hold the message, then touch the Delete icon.

Show hidden spam folder

There are two ways to show the hidden spam folder in Gmail based on your search criteria:

Using the Settings Menu

• First, click the gear icon in the top right corner of your Gmail inbox.

• Next, Choose Settings from the list that appears.

• Then, click the Tags tab.

• After that, scroll down to find the Spam tag.

• Subsequently, next to the label, you’ll see the option Show, Hide, or Show if unread. Select Show.

• Finally, click Save Changes at the bottom of the page.

• As a result, the Spam folder will now be visible in the left sidebar of your Gmail inbox.

Use the search bar

• First, click the search bar at the top of your Gmail inbox.

• Next, type tag: spam in the search bar.

• Then, press Enter. As a result, this will show you all emails currently tagged as spam, even if the folder is hidden.

• After that, click the More option at the top of the results and subsequently select Create Label.

• Then, name the label “Visible Spam” and click Create.

• Consequently, you can now see all your spam emails in this new label, even if the original Spam folder is hidden.

Report Spam email

On your computer

• First, open Gmail and locate the spam email you want to report.

• Next, select the checkbox next to the email.

• Then, click the Report Spam icon (envelope with exclamation mark) located at the top. This helps Google improve its spam filters and identify spam emails in future message.

In your mobile app

• First, open the Gmail app and look for the spam email.

• Next, press and hold the email to select it.

• In last, tap the More icon (three vertical dots) and after that, select Report Spam.

Block spam email

On your computer

• First, open the spam email you want to block.

• Next, click the sender’s name or email address at the top.

• Finally, click the More icon (three vertical dots) and select Block. This will prevent future emails from that sender from reaching your inbox and sending them directly to your Spam folder.

In your mobile app

• First, open the spam email you want to block.

• Next, tap the sender’s name or email address at the top.

• Finally, tap the More icon (three vertical dots) and select Block.

Unspam in Gmail 

If you have legitimate emails in your spam folder that matches your search criteria and you believe it was classified incorrectly, you can mark it as “not spam” to return it to your inbox and prevent similar emails from being sent as spam in the future.

Furthermore, follow below mentioned methods to mark an email as no spam in Gmail:

On your computer: Open the spam email and click the “Not Spam” button (envelope with an arrow pointing) at the top of the email.

On your mobile app: Open the spam email, tap the three-dot menu, and select “Not Spam.”

Prevent future emails from a sender from being marked as spam:

If you receive emails from a specific sender or bulk senders that you want to ensure always arrive in your inbox, you can add them to your contacts or create a filter to automatically move their emails to your inbox. To do this, follow the below mentioned steps:

Add contacts

On your computer: Open the sender’s email, click their name/address, and click “Add to Contacts.”

On your mobile app: Open the sender’s email, tap their name/address, and tap “Add to Contacts.”

Create spam email filters

On your computer: Firstly, open the sender’s email, click the three-dot menu, and select “Create Filter.” Then, choose “From” and specify the sender address, then select “Never send it to spam.”

On your mobile app: Firstly, open the sender’s email, tap the three-dot menu, and select “Filter messages like this.” After that, choose “From” and specify the sender address, then tap “Create filter” and select “Never send it to spam.”

​Whitelist important emails in Gmail 

Whitelisting legitimate emails in Gmail helps ensure they never make it to your spam folder, keeping your inbox organized and accessible. Here are two effective methods to use spam filters:

Using Filters

• Firstly, open Gmail: Sign in to your Gmail account and access your inbox.

• Secondly, find Important Email: Find the email message or emails list you want to whitelist.

• Thirdly, click on the three-dot menu: Look for the three vertical dots (“…”) located in the upper right corner of the open email.

• Furthermore, select “Create Filter”: Choose the “Create Filter” option from the menu that appears.

• Next, specify the sender address: In the “From” field of the filter creation window, enter the email address of the sender you want to filter messages or whitelist. You can also use wildcards like *@domain.com to whitelist all emails from a specific domain.

• Then, choose action: Select the checkbox next to “Never send to Spam” to ensure that emails from this sender always arrive in your inbox.

• Finally, apply Filter: Click the “Create Filter” button to apply the automatic filters and whitelist the sender.

Use Contacts

• Firstly, open Email: Find the email you want to whitelist.

• Secondly, click the sender name: Click the sender name or email address displayed at the top of the email.

• Furthermore, choose the “Add to Contacts” option from the pop-up menu that appears.

• Lastly, save the contact: Follow the instructions to save the sender information as a contact.

Why is my spam folder not showing in Gmail ?

Some users may have trouble finding their spam folder in Gmail. This can happen due to customized settings in Gmail.

To enable the spam folder, follow the steps mentioned below:

• Open Gmail, click Settings, then “See all settings“.

• Click on the Labels, now find Spam and click the “Show” option.

How to Mark and Unmark Emails as Spam in Gmail ?

Here are the steps to mark and unmark an email as spam in Gmail:

To mark an email as spam:

On the web:

• To mark a message as spam in Gmail, first open the message you wish to mark.

• Click the Not Spam button at the top of the message.

On mobile app:

• To mark a Gmail message as spam, first open the message you wish to mark.

• Tap on the three dots button in the top right corner of the message.

• Tap Report spam.

To unmark an email as spam:

On the web:

• Open the Gmail message you want to unmark as spam.

• To mark a message as spam, simply click on the ‘Spam’ button located at the top of the message.

On mobile app:

• Open the Gmail message you want to unmark as spam.

• Tap on the three dots button in the top right corner of the message.

• Tap Not Spam.

Here are some additional tips for marking and unmarking email as spam in Gmail:

• If you accidentally mark a message as spam, you can unmark it by following the steps above.

• If you mark a message as spam, it will be moved to your Spam folder. You can delete spam messages from your Spam folder or move them back to your Inbox.

• If you mark a message as not spam, it will be moved back to your inbox. You can delete non-spam messages from your inbox or move them to your spam folder.

• If you find that you’re getting a lot of spam, you can adjust your spam settings to make it more difficult for spam messages to get into your inbox.

Check Also: How to mark as read all emails in Gmail ?

How to permanently delete spam emails in Gmail ?

Users can delete spam emails in Gmail by selecting the desired junk emails in the Spam folder and clicking the ‘Delete forever’ option.

If all spam messages need to be deleted, users can click the ‘Delete all spam messages now’ option.

How to permanently stop spam emails in Gmail ?

There’s no definitive way to permanently stop spam emails in Gmail. However, you can check and take some steps to reduce the amount of junk mail,spam and phishing emails you receive in Gmail.

Here are some tips you can follow to prevent future emails from being marked as spam or phishing emails in Gmail:

Mark emails as spam: If you see a spam message in your inbox, select it and click the Report as spam button. This will move the email lists to your spam folder and help Gmail learn from your preferences.

Block spam from specific senders: If you receive unwanted emails from a particular sender, you can block them by opening the email message, clicking the More button, and selecting Block [sender]. This will send all future emails from that sender to your spam folder.

Unsubscribe from Bulk Emails: If you have signed up for a mailing list that sends you spam emails, you can unsubscribe by opening the message and clicking the Unsubscribe link. This will prevent the sender from sending you more emails.

Create email spam filters to automatically delete spam emails: You can create a filter in Gmail that will automatically delete any email and email lists content that matches certain criteria, such as sender, subject, or keywords.

To create a filter, click the Settings icon, select View all settings, and then click the Filters & Blocked Addresses Tab. Click Create a new filter and enter the criteria you want to filter. Then click Create Filter and select Delete it from the action list. Click Create Filter again to confirm.

Follow email security guidelines: To prevent spam emails from compromising your personal information or online security, you should follow some email security guidelines, to stop unsolicited emails such as:

• Firstly, never open promotional emails or annoying emails, attachments or click on links from unknown or suspicious senders.

• Secondly, never respond to spam emails content or provide personal or financial information like credit card details etc.

• Next, never respond to any email content from a unknown senders.

• Furthermore, use a strong, unique password for your Gmail account and change it regularly.

• Additionally, enable two-factor authentication for your Gmail account to add an extra layer of security.

• Lastly, use reliable antivirus software and keep it up to date.

What is Spam and why does emails move to Spam box ?

Spamming is a form of phishing and hacking, that is why Gmail and other popular email services have separate spam folders to protect users from scams and promotional emails that they did not sign up for.

Reasons for Spamming emails on Gmail:-

• Firstly, receive email from flagged IP address server’s users.

• Secondly, if the user is getting an email from any suspicious source.

• Thirdly, the attachment has a malicious link and URLs.

• Fourthly, receiving email for the first time from any user.

• Emails are mark as Spam if you have low engagement rates.

• Lastly, if the sender uses Misleading subjects, then it also goes to the Spam folder as per the CAN-SPAM act.

Conclusion

Finally, it’s important to regularly check your Junk Mail folder in Gmail to make sure you don’t miss any important messages.

By following the steps and tips mentioned in this post on ‘how to check junk mail Gmail’, you can easily access and manage your junk mail on both web and mobile devices.

Additionally, we’ve provided information on how to mark and unmark email as spam, as well as how to move email messages from your Spam folder to another label.

With these tools, you’ll be able to stay on top of your email and never miss an important message again.

Always remember to be vigilant and check your Junk Mail folder regularly to avoid missing important communications.

Frequently Asked Question’s (FAQ’s)