How many times have you opened your e-mail account to find that you have been bombarded with spam and other frivolous e-mails taking up precious space? One way to avoid this problem is by blocking all senders except for those who are in your contact list. This way instead of filtering unwanted spam by content, you can be allowed to only get e-mails from senders you know and trust. There are a few different ways to block these unwanted senders.

Filter as Spam

In order for this blocking to be effective, you must always keep your contacts up to date. Make sure to remove any unwanted senders from your contacts. The next step is to actually block those pesky senders. One way to do this is by setting all unknown senders as spam, automatically filtering them into the spam folder. This works well with AOL users. Yahoo Mail also offers a spam protection program. By carefully filling out the questionnaire, you will be able to set the type of protection you desire.

Set Passwords

Other programs will permit you to set secret passwords for those contacts that you want or know. For instance, if someone sends you an e-mail who does not have a password, the program will notify you the sender that he/she is blocked and must either contact you by other means so you can allow their traffic or give them a password. All senders without a password will remain blocked until you decided to allow them.

Mail Rules

Setting up a "mail rule" is another way to keep those irritating spammers out of your inbox. Mail rules pertain to Outlook and can be managed using the Rules Wizard. Using this utility, you can assure that all contacts in your address book will be shuffled to your Inbox, while the remaining contacts or senders will be handled in the manner you select.

Identify Individually

No matter what e-mail provider you are using, unwanted messages can still creep into your Inbox. Spammers rarely use the same e-mail address, and not all blocking systems are foolproof. Another way to help unwanted mail from bombarding your account is to always identify individual e-mails as spam. With most providers, this will also automatically block the sender.

E-mail Management

Blocking all senders other than those in your address book or contact list is a good way to keep your e-mail management to a minimum. Still, the best defense is to stay on top your Inbox and keep up with the spam protection advancements. Keeping a clean Inbox is sort of like keeping a clean house. Sometimes it requires a little effort.

Source:

Windows Live