Easy Ways to Unsubscribe from Email Lists

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11 January, 2017

If one of your goals in 2017 is an emptier email inbox, we know a way to help. There is a simple way to end subscriptions to email lists that can send multiple messages every day.

Unwanted emails from these sources can fill your inbox quickly and waste your time. But there are tools available to block such mail forever.

Unsubscribing Using the Unsubscribe Link

You can simply unsubscribe from emails by clicking the "unsubscribe" link. Many emails come with this link at the bottom of the message. Often it is difficult to find. It might be hidden in small print or a light color.

Unroll.me

Unroll.me is a free website that lets users unsubscribe from email lists easily. Sign up for an account and link your email address. You will need to give Unroll.me permission to view and manage your emails and your contacts.

Unroll.me works with Outlook.com (including Hotmail, MSN, & Windows Live), Gmail, Google Apps, Yahoo! Mail, AOL Mail, and iCloud.

Unroll.me will find subscription emails in your inbox and list them at their website. You can click which ones you no longer wish to receive and unsubscribe from them.

Unroll.me Digest

If you want an emptier inbox but still want to receive some subscription emails, Unroll.me can help. Subscriptions can be added to an Unroll.me digest called a "rollup." It will be emailed to you daily. This digest arrives in your email inbox once a day and is filled with the subscription notices you have received within the past day.

For example, instead of receiving 29 email messages in a day, you could receive one, the rollup from Unroll.me with 29 notices in the message.

Click on any of the notices to read the full subscription email message. Daily rollup digests are also available at the Unroll.me website, where they can be organized by subject like shopping, travel, news, etc.

Unroll.me App

Unroll.me also has an app for iPhone and iPad to unsubscribe and view and manage your Rollup.

Unroll.me app for iPhone and iPad

Gmail Unsubscribe

Google has added a feature to Gmail to make unsubscribing easier. Now, instead of having to hunt for the Unsubscribe link, you can find it at the top of Gmail messages.

When Gmail finds an Unsubscribe link in an email message, it adds the link to the top of the message so you can find it more easily. Click on Unsubscribe and a confirmation message will appear.

Confirm that you want to unsubscribe.You will then be taken to the Unsubscribe page of the sender or receive a notice from Gmail that you should be unsubscribed.

Mail App on iPhone and iPad

The operating system for iPhone and iPad, iOS 10, has added a feature to the Mail app that makes unsubscribing from email lists easier. When the Mail app finds an email message is from a subscription service, the message will show a notice that says, "This message is from a mailing list." An unsubscribe link will be added to the top of the email message.

Tap unsubscribe to remove your email address from the subscription list. You can also tap the "X" on the right side of the notification to remove it.

I'm Caty Weaver.

Carolyn Nicander Mohr wrote this report for VOA Learning English. Caty Weaver was the editor.

Is one of your New Year goals to have an emptier inbox? Have you used any of these ways to unsubscribe from emails?

Share your thoughts in the Comments Section below or on Facebook page.

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Words in This Story

subscription - n. an agreement that you make with a company to get a publication or service regularly

multiple - adj. more than one

account - n. an arrangement in which a person uses the Internet or e-mail services of a particular company

manage - v. to control the movements or actions of something

digest - n. information or a piece of writing that has been made shorter

feature - n. an interesting or important part, quality, ability, etc.