These four quick and easy hacks help you unsubscribe from all that junk email you get daily without having to pay for third party apps.
True story, I had someone DM me on Instagram and ask for a freebie that I offer on my blog to be delivered to her there instead of to her email address. Of course, I didn’t mind, but I was curious why she made that request. She told me she had 8000+ unopened emails and gets over 200 a DAY of junk email from random brands she doesn’t even shop with. 😳
She told me she’s subscribed to my email list and knew the freebie had made it there, but there’s no way she’d ever find it. One hour later we were on a call and I was coaching her on how to clean up her inbox and make some sense of it. And guess what we found? She had a $100 gift card in there that was sent to her five months ago!
If your inbox is swarming with junk that causes you to miss out freebies from your fave bloggers and free money gifts from a birthday half a year ago, listen up, because these four hacks will help you tame that beast without paying for an app or a company to do it for you.
4 Hacks For Faster And Easier Junk Email Unsubscribing
Hack #1: Don’t Use Unsubscribe Apps and Services
You may have heard of services called Unroll Me or Unsubscriber that unsubscribe you from junk email for free. Sounds too good to be true, huh? Well it IS too good to be true.
The truth is, you hand over access to your inbox to these services and permissions to use your info. AKA, your info belongs to them, who can now sell it or distribute it, resulting in MORE junk mail from MORE people! This actually happened multiple times, and I’m sure it’ll happen many more. PAAASSSSSS.
Hack #2: Your Phone And Computer Can Help Out More Than You Think
If you’ve got an iPhone, you’ve probably noticed that Unsubscribe button provided by Apple at the top of your emails. And if you have Gmail, you’ve probably noticed an unsubscribe button within the preview of your mail. Almost all phones and email providers have tried to add shortcuts to help busy mamas like you keep your inbox under control.
These buttons actually do work for the most part, but the key is following up. If you’re still seeing three emails a day from a big box store, you may need to go into your account and turn off ALL notifications. Some companies add you to multiple email lists and the unsubscribe button only takes you off ONE of them.
Hack #3: Use Your Email Search Function
This is a trick I heard on the Young House Love Podcast. I tried it and it worked perfectly! Just go into your inbox and type Unsubscribe into the search bar and it will filter to ALL emails that have an unsubscribe link text.
This hack shows you all email newsletters and promos you receive, and you can scroll through easily to decide who gets to continue popping up in your box and who gets kicked to the cyber curb. (PS: shameless plea to keep my weekly emails! They are packed with helpful tips and awkward hilarity to brighten your day)
Hack #4: Save Your Faves To Your Address Book
I know you’ve heard this from every Welcome email you’ve ever received, including the first ones you got from me, but it really is true. If the emails you WANT to receive keep ending up in your Junk Folder, and you miss out on a one hour flash sale because your Gmail thought it knew you better than YOU know you, you CAN whitelist your fave brands.
Just add the sender of the regular emails to your address book within your email provider. They’ll start popping back up in your regular box and won’t get filtered anymore. Plus the links and photos will show up without having to click that annoying “yes, show photos” button every time.
*If you get emails from multiple senders (like hello@brand.com and support@brand.com and marketing@brand.com, you’ll need to save all three of those. But you can add them as alternate emails to the one Brand you saved to your address book.
Want More Tips For Managing Your Digital Life?
This post helps you completely declutter and organize your Gmail inbox with a step-by-step game plan. And it even teaches you how to maintain it so you never end up with that disaster again.
Always forgetting usernames and passwords? Here’s three different ways you can keep them organized.
Here’s how Siri can help you be more organized, and here’s how Alexa can help out if you’re not an iPhone user.
And this post walks you through my signature Five Minute Declutter Method™ which reminds you to take five minutes a day to do small decluttering tasks like deleting or filing old emails, unsubscribing from junk, and quick home organization wins that keep your house guest-ready.
