Automatically Delete Spam from Gmail

April 30, 2007 | 5 Comments |

Gmail’s spam filter is pretty good. I get roughly one or two false positives a year. However, I think spam notification in Gmail should be redesigned. Currently, when new spam arrives, the folder link turns bold and displays a mail count. This grabs my attention.

That’s annoying. I don’t want it to grab my attention, I just want it to delete my spam. Smart, legitimate people will do everything they can to contact me in other ways if I don’t respond to their email so there’s no reason for me to scan the list of senders and subject lines.

With that in mind, and with a quick Google search, I stumbled upon this nifty filter trick that will automatically delete spam from Gmail’s spam folder and send it to the trash.

  1. Create a filter
  2. Has the words: “is:spam” (without quotes)
  3. Next step
  4. Say OK to the warning message
  5. Check “Delete it”
  6. Create Filter

Now all of my spam is sent directly to the trash. Trashed items are automatically deleted after 30 days so I don’t have to manage it. And if someone calls asking why I didn’t respond, I can search the trash folder for the missing email.

| Tags: Email, Google

5 Comments

  1. Steve Love spake saying:

    Makes sense to me. Thanks for the tip.

    May 3rd, 2007 at 8:17 pm
  2. Harry Love spake saying:

    You’re welcome, Steve.

    May 4th, 2007 at 8:59 am
  3. brandon spake saying:

    Seems to work, Harry. Gmail complained aobut using the word “is” but without that word it gives false positives. Thanks for the suggestion.

    May 10th, 2007 at 12:02 pm
  4. Joel Farris spake saying:

    tada!

    Thank you! I’ve always wanted to do this, and the answer used to be plainly unavailable on the web.
    I’ve emailed this tip to my friends and family.

    March 3rd, 2008 at 5:52 am
  5. Traci spake saying:

    You seriously rock. THANK YOU.

    April 15th, 2008 at 9:02 am