There’s nothing more annoying than opening up your email and finding an inbox stuffed with spam. All those sweepstakes and lottery winner notifications, coupons from stores you’ve never shopped at, offers to sell medication for low prices, and offers to share bank accounts with foreign royalty, they’re all a massive headache to email users. Unfortunately there is not a single solution or magical trick that will rid your inbox of this time wasting spam, but there are some things you can do to help reduce the quantity.

1 , Email Filters

Email filters work by guessing which emails are spam and which are legitimate emails. The filters stick all the spam e-mails into a folder or never let them enter your inbox at all.

The problem with email filters is that you’re allowing a computer to determine whether or not your emails are real or spam. Sometimes the filter guesses wrong and important emails wind up never making it to your inbox. This is a huge problem for business or personal addresses in which you’re expecting valuable information to be sent to your email. You do not want to risk missing a deadline or losing an e-card from a relative because of your spam filter.

Email filters which place a folder of suspected spam in your inbox can be useful, but is sometimes unreliable. A benefit of this style of email filter is that you can check the folder to ensure that you haven’t missed any valuable emails. The downside to this type of filter is that you may spend the same amount of time cleaning out your spam folder as you would read through an inbox full of spam.

Most professional email filters have customizable options which can help the important messages make it to your inbox. Generally, you can make your spam filter as strict or as loose as you want. It is possible to customize some spam filters to block keywords or domain names. You have to be careful when blocking words or domains because it will block any email which contains those words. If you block “lottery” from your inbox and your aunt emails you to tell you she won the lottery, you will not receive the email.

It will also help to add important contacts to your address book. Spam filters will not prevent contacts in your address book from being sent to your inbox. Email filters will be the most effective if you know all the people who may be contacting you and can add them to your address book.

2, Separate Emails

Spam emails usually come from a company or website selling your email address. By having two or more email addresses, you reduce the risk of losing important emails.

Designate one of your email addresses to work related emails only. Give this email address out to your business partners and no one else. Don’t use it to sign up to websites, newsletters, or coupon deals.

Use your secondary address for fun stuff. Use it to sign up to newsletters, websites, or anywhere else that might ask for your email address. By having two separate addresses you significantly reduce the chance of having spam interrupt your ability to check your email efficiently.

3, Never Open Spam Emails

Opening spam emails can send notifications back to the sender that your address is active and that you will view the spam. This can flood your inbox with more spam from the same or different sources. If you don’t know who is sending you an email, don’t open it. This will help cut down on the amount of spam you receive.