Gmail users rejoice – there’s something new waiting for you the next time you log into your account. Spam now comes with an explanation.
What? Did you even remember that there is a Spam folder? If you’re anything like me, the answer is probably no, but that doesn’t mean that this update is not important. If nothing else, let this article serve as a reminder that your Spam folder is not to be ignored. Take a few minutes to review and test it out.
How Did This Email Get in My Spam Folder?
Now, each of the messages moved into your Spam folder is labeled with a small box just under the sender information. As explained in the official blog post from Gmail, simply look at any message and “now you can find out why it was put there and learn about any potentially harmful content within the message.”
I took a few minutes to check out my Gmail account and found a few messages with detailed explanations, like the one below. As you can see by arrow #1, this particular message came with a red box, indicating that similar messages were used to steal people’s personal information. Helpful information for anyone worried about identity theft.
Other warnings found throughout your spam folder can include verbiage like “It might contain a virus or a malicious link”, “You previously marked messages from _________ as spam” or “It’s similar to messages that were detected by our spam filters.”
Wait a Minute – That’s Not Spam
As I was testing out this new feature in Gmail I found quite a few messages that were being erroneously moved from my Inbox to the Spam folder. I honestly forgot that this could happen, as I never really make it down to that folder.
Every so often you should take the time to check your Spam folder to see if any of your incoming mail has been placed there accidentally. It probably happens more often than you think.
If you do find a message that really should not have been moved there, take the time to click on the icon just to the right of the email subject (labeled with arrow #2 in the image above). The Spam label will then be removed from the conversation and the email moved to the Inbox.
Conversely, any message in your Inbox can be moved to the Spam folder with one simple click. If you find a message from a sender that you don’t want and you aren’t interested in receiving any further messages from that company/preson, just click on the Spam button in the toolbar found above your emails (just below the search bar).
Hope you found this information helpful. Don’t forget that this might be important to friends and family who use Gmail often, so share this blog post with them by using the share toolbar below. It’s FREE and easy to use!
Tags: email, Gmail, identity theft, messages, spam, spam folder
