Is It Safe to Click Unsubscribe?
This is the most common question, and the answer depends on where the email came from.
- Safe to unsubscribe: emails from companies you recognize and have done business with — retailers, newsletters you signed up for, services you use. These are legitimate businesses required by law to honor unsubscribe requests.
- Be cautious: emails from companies you do not recognize at all, especially if the email looks suspicious or the unsubscribe link goes to an unfamiliar website.
- Do not click anything: emails that look like spam or phishing — poor grammar, urgent warnings, requests for personal information. For these, mark as spam instead of clicking unsubscribe.
Tip: If you are not sure whether an email is legitimate, hover over the unsubscribe link (without clicking) to see where it goes. If the URL looks suspicious or unrelated to the company, do not click it.
How to Unsubscribe from a Legitimate Email
Legitimate marketing emails are required by law (the CAN-SPAM Act) to include an unsubscribe link.
- 1Open the email.
- 2Scroll to the very bottom of the email.
- 3Look for a small link that says Unsubscribe, Manage Preferences, or Opt Out.
- 4Click the link.
- 5You may be taken to a webpage where you confirm the unsubscribe. Click Confirm or Unsubscribe.
- 6Allow up to 10 business days for the emails to stop — this is the legal requirement.
Using Gmail's Built-In Unsubscribe Feature
Gmail makes unsubscribing even easier with a built-in button that appears at the top of marketing emails.
- 1Open a marketing email in Gmail.
- 2Look for an Unsubscribe link next to the sender's name at the top of the email (not at the bottom).
- 3Click it. Gmail will ask you to confirm.
- 4Click Unsubscribe to confirm.
- 5Gmail may also offer to move future emails from this sender to spam.
Tip: Gmail's built-in unsubscribe button is safer than clicking links in the email body because Gmail verifies the unsubscribe mechanism before showing the button.
Using Outlook's Unsubscribe Feature
Outlook also has a built-in unsubscribe option for marketing emails.
- 1Open the email in Outlook.
- 2Look for an Unsubscribe button in the toolbar at the top of the email.
- 3Click it and confirm.
- 4Outlook will send an unsubscribe request on your behalf.
How to Block a Sender
If unsubscribing does not work or you want to stop emails from a sender immediately, blocking them prevents any future emails from reaching your inbox.
- 1In Gmail: open an email from the sender, click the three-dot menu in the top right of the email, and select Block [sender name].
- 2In Outlook: right-click the email, select Junk → Block Sender.
- 3In Apple Mail: open the email, click the sender's name, and select Block Contact.
Warning: Blocking a sender is permanent until you unblock them. Use it for senders you never want to hear from again. For senders you might want to hear from occasionally, unsubscribing is a better choice.
How to Deal with a Truly Overwhelming Inbox
If your inbox has thousands of unread emails, a targeted cleanup approach works better than unsubscribing one by one.
- In Gmail: search for "unsubscribe" in the search bar. This shows all marketing emails that contain an unsubscribe link. Select all and delete them, or go through them to unsubscribe from the ones you want to stop.
- Use the Promotions tab: Gmail automatically sorts marketing emails into a Promotions tab. You can select all emails in this tab and delete them without affecting your main inbox.
- In Outlook: use the Focused Inbox feature, which separates important emails from newsletters and promotions.
Preventing Future Inbox Clutter
A few habits can keep your inbox from getting cluttered again.
- Use a separate email address for online shopping and newsletter signups. Keep your main email address for important communications.
- Unsubscribe immediately when you receive a newsletter you did not want — do not let it accumulate.
- Be selective about giving out your email address when signing up for things online.