How to unsubscribe from emails in Gmail, iPhone and Outlook

To unsubscribe from an email, open it and use the Unsubscribe button your mail app shows next to the sender's name or in a banner under the header. To unsubscribe from many at once, use Gmail's Manage subscriptions, Outlook.com's Subscriptions page, or iCloud Mail Cleanup on iPhone. Skip the link inside a message from anyone you don't recognize, and report it instead.

How do you unsubscribe from emails?

Use the button your mail app adds, not the tiny link at the bottom of the email. Gmail, Apple Mail and Outlook.com each recognize mail from mailing lists and give you their own control for leaving. Microsoft, for example, says Outlook.com looks for subscription identifiers in the message header. That way you deal with your mail provider, not a web page the sender built. The link in the footer works too, but only use it for senders you know.

Here is where each app puts it, according to each company's own help pages.

App	One email	All at once
Gmail on a computer	Open the email, click Unsubscribe next to the sender's name	Left menu, More, then Manage subscriptions
Gmail app (iPhone, iPad, Android)	Open the email, tap Unsubscribe next to the sender's name	Menu at the top left, then Manage subscriptions
Apple Mail on Mac	Click Unsubscribe in the banner below the message header	For iCloud addresses, iCloud Mail Cleanup
iPhone with iCloud Mail	Use iCloud Mail Cleanup	Settings, your name, iCloud, Mail, iCloud Mail Cleanup, Unsubscribe Recommendations
Outlook.com	Use the Subscriptions list	Settings, Mail, then Subscriptions

How to unsubscribe in Gmail

From Google's Unsubscribe from an email page:

Open an email you want to stop getting.
Next to the sender's name, click or tap Unsubscribe.
In the pop-up, choose Unsubscribe, or Go to website if that is what appears.

The "Go to website" option means the sender handles unsubscribes on its own site. Google says some senders require that. It is fine for a company you know, and a reason to pause for one you don't.

Google flags a detail most people miss: unsubscribing from one email "might only unsubscribe you from a single mailing list from the sender." A store with separate lists for deals, new arrivals and surveys can keep writing to you after one click.

Unsubscribe from all of a sender's lists, or many senders at once

That is what Manage subscriptions is for. Google's Manage your subscriptions page says that when you unsubscribe there, "Gmail unsubscribes you from all active mailing lists related to the sender."

On a computer: in the left menu, click More, then Manage subscriptions. Next to each sender you see how many emails it sent recently and an Unsubscribe button.
In the Gmail app on iPhone, iPad or Android: tap Menu at the top left, then Manage subscriptions, then Unsubscribe next to the sender.

What happens next, from the same page:

It can take a few days. Mail may keep arriving while the sender processes your request.
New mail from that sender goes to Spam, with a banner explaining why. If you change your mind, click Report not spam.
Not everyone has it yet. Google says the feature "is gradually rolling out and may not be available to you yet."

Let Gmail suggest what to cut

In the Gmail app on iPhone and iPad, Google documents an extra setting. Tap Menu, then Settings, then under Inbox tap Inbox customizations, then Inbox tips, and turn on Unsubscribe tips. Gmail then suggests unsubscribing from mail you rarely read.

How to unsubscribe from emails on iPhone and Mac

On a Mac, Apple's Reduce junk mail guide describes a banner below the header of any message Mail recognizes as coming from a mailing list. Click Unsubscribe in the banner, then OK. The banner disappears once Mail has sent the request. Apple adds that to get the list again later, "you must resubscribe directly with the sender."

On an iPhone with an iCloud Mail address, Apple's bulk tool is iCloud Mail Cleanup. From the iPhone guide:

Open Settings, tap your name, then iCloud.
Below Saved to iCloud, tap Mail, then iCloud Mail Cleanup, and turn on Use iCloud Mail Cleanup.
Tap Get Recommendations under Unsubscribe Recommendations.
Select each sender you want gone, then tap Unsubscribe.

Cleanup recommends senders from your Updates and Promotions categories and moves their future messages to the Trash. Two cautions from Apple's page. If no recommendations appear, Cleanup has none at the moment. And if you later turn iCloud Mail Cleanup off, it "deletes the list of any senders you unsubscribed from and stops deleting their messages," so mail from those senders can return.

If your iPhone mail is Gmail, you can do all of this in the Gmail app using the steps above.

How to unsubscribe from emails in Outlook

Microsoft's page on managing email subscriptions in Outlook.com explains that Outlook.com looks for subscription identifiers in message headers and collects them into one list.

Select Settings.
Select Mail, then Subscriptions.
Under Your current subscriptions, find the sender and select Unsubscribe.
Select OK to confirm.

From the same screen you can block a sender instead: select the three dots next to it, then Block. Microsoft notes you may not get the option to unsubscribe from mail that has already been filtered into junk, or from senders you have blocked.

What US law makes senders do

If the sender is subject to US law, unsubscribing is not a favor they grant. The CAN-SPAM Act and the FTC's rule under it set the terms. In the words of the law:

10 business days. It is unlawful for a sender to send you commercial email covered by your request "more than 10 business days after the receipt of such request" (15 U.S.C. 7704).
The opt-out has to keep working. The unsubscribe mechanism must remain able to take requests "for no less than 30 days after the transmission of the original message."
No fee, no hoops. The FTC's rule says a sender may not make you pay, give any information "other than the recipient's electronic mail address and opt-out preferences," or take any step beyond replying by email or "visiting a single Internet Web page" (16 CFR 316.5). A page demanding that you log in or fill in a survey to unsubscribe is asking for more than the rule allows.
They can't sell you on. After you opt out, the sender may not "sell, lease, exchange, or otherwise transfer" your address, except to comply with the law.

So if a US company is still emailing you two weeks after you unsubscribed, the problem is on their side.

When not to click unsubscribe

Unsubscribing only works with senders who follow the rules. A spammer has no reason to honor your request, and a link in their message is a link they control. Apple's spam advice for iCloud Mail warns that opening junk mail "can alert spammers that an active email account opened their message."

Don't click unsubscribe, or anything else, when:

you never signed up and don't recognize the sender;
the message asks for personal or financial details, or urges you to act now, which Google's phishing page lists as warning signs;
the unsubscribe page asks for your password. Google's advice is never to enter a password after clicking a link in a message, and to go to the site directly instead.

Report those messages instead. In Gmail, select the message and click Report spam, or for phishing, open it, click More next to Reply, then Report phishing. In Outlook.com, Microsoft's phishing page says to select the message, then Report, then Report phishing. Our guide on how to stop spam emails covers reporting and blocking in more detail.

Unsubscribe, block or report spam?

They do different things, and Gmail spells out the difference.

Action	What it does	Use it for
Unsubscribe	Asks the sender to stop. In Gmail, new mail from them goes to Spam meanwhile	Real companies you signed up with
Block	Sends future mail from the sender to Spam. Google says it "doesn't automatically unsubscribe you"	Senders who ignore your unsubscribe
Report spam	Moves the message to Spam and helps Gmail catch similar mail	Mail you never asked for
Report phishing	Flags a message trying to trick you	Fake banks, fake deliveries, password requests

Cut it at the source with aliases

Unsubscribing deals with lists you are already on. The longer fix is to stop handing out your real address. Give each shop, newsletter or app its own email alias that forwards to your inbox. When one starts getting mail you don't want, delete that alias and the flow stops, with nothing to click and no sender to trust. It also shows you exactly which company shared or leaked your address. Apple makes the same suggestion in its spam advice, and our email aliases page explains how they work.

Where Secria fits

In Secria Mail you can create aliases and delete one the moment it starts attracting junk, while your main address stays private. The free plan includes 2 aliases, Mail Plus 15, and Pro unlimited. And for the newsletters you keep, tracking pixels are removed automatically and senders never see your IP address. You can sign up free with no phone number.

Frequently asked questions

How do I unsubscribe from all emails at once? In Gmail, go to More, then Manage subscriptions, and unsubscribe sender by sender from one list. In Outlook.com, use Settings, then Mail, then Subscriptions. With iCloud Mail on iPhone, use the Unsubscribe Recommendations in iCloud Mail Cleanup. No tool removes every list with one tap.

Why do I still get emails after unsubscribing? Google says it can take a few days. Under US law a sender has up to 10 business days. Also check whether you only left one of several lists. Gmail's Manage subscriptions removes you from all of a sender's active lists.

Is it safe to click unsubscribe? Using your mail app's Unsubscribe button for a sender you know is safe. Clicking a link inside a message from a stranger is not, because it can confirm your address is live or lead to a phishing page. Report those instead.

Does blocking a sender unsubscribe me? No. In Gmail, blocking sends future messages to Spam but, as Google puts it, "doesn't automatically unsubscribe you from their mailing list."

Can a company make me log in to unsubscribe? Not if US law applies. The FTC's rule says senders can only require your email address and opt-out preferences, and no more than a reply email or a single web page.

Unsubscribe from the lists you chose, report the ones you didn't, and give the next sign-up an alias. That combination keeps an inbox clean for years.