Keep spam email from reaching the inbox via Gmail

Aug 21, '06 07:30:02AM

Contributed by: HairyPotter

While this is not a specific hint for MacOS systems, it may be of interest of MacOS users, so here it is. The problem with most anti-spam systems is that you have to download all messages to your computer, including spam, in order to filter them. But what if you could download just the non-spam messages?

If you have a Gmail account, you can! Here's how:

  1. Configure your Gmail account to allow reading/sending emails using POP/SMTP.
  2. Configure Mail.app (or other mail application you may use) to read your Gmail account.
Since your Gmail Inbox is filtered against spam, you will be reading just valid (mostly) emails. All spam will be held in Gmail's Spam box, far from your computer.

[robg adds: A simple hint, but worth consideration if you don't mind using the @gmail.com address as your main point of contact. Obviously, this will work with any online mail service that moves spam out of your inbox via automated filters.]

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Mac OS X Hints
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