When was the last time you checked your spam or junk email folder?
Email service providers’ spam filters are very good but occasionally they can send legitimate emails to your spam folder.
It’s a good idea to regularly check your spam folder if you don’t want to miss important emails that may have been sent to spam by mistake.
Here are our tips:
Change your Spam folder to show (if it is hidden)
By default, the Spam folder is hidden when a Gmail or Google account is set up.
Changing your Gmail spam folder to Show makes it easier to monitor how many spam emails you receive and check your spam folder.
The easiest way to show your spam folder is to use the Gmail Settings page as follows:
1. Click on Settings
2. Click on the Labels tab.
3. Click on Show next to the Spam label
4. When you look at your menu items you should now see the Spam label above the More drop-down menu.
Regularly check your spam folder
Make it a habit to regularly check your spam folder (which, depending on the software used, may also be called the junk email folder).
Once you’ve established a habit of checking your spam folder, you’ll quickly work out how often you need to check it.
Mark any legitimate email as Not Spam
Spam filters learn by what you spam and mark it as Not Spam. Marking an email as Not Spam (or Not Junk) moves the email from the spam folder and will help prevent future emails from the same person from being marked as spam.
Here is how it is done:
1. Click on your Spam label (or Junk Email folder).
2. This reveals the emails that have been sent to spam.
3. Select the email(s) that aren’t spam by clicking on the check box next to the sender’s name. 
4. Click on Not Spam to move the email(s) back to your inbox.
5. Select all other spam emails and mark them as Read.
This makes it easier to monitor for new emails in your spam folder.
Check Spam Folders in All your email accounts
Remember to log into your original email service provider account if you forward emails to another account.
For example, I forward my Google apps account to my personal email account. Emails sent to the spam folder of my Google Apps account aren’t forwarded to my personal email account.
Filters on Educational Email Domains
If you can’t find an email you were expecting in your spam folder it’s either been sent to the wrong email address by mistake or it’s being blocked by your email domain.
Filters on educational email domains, and some parent’s business email accounts, are more likely to block or spam legitimate emails than web-based email service providers like Gmail.
Student email domains are most likely to block emails.
If emails are blocked you either need to request the sender’s email domain be whitelisted by your IT Department or use an alternative web-based email account.
Your Tips
What did we miss? What else did you want to know about dealing with missing emails? What are your email tips?
Leave a comment below to share your tips or ask a question.
yall are so helpful
How do i get to my spam folder on my cell phone
Great!
Ok thank you.I appreciate it
-Emily
I am looking to see if some of my emails have gone to spam.
Can’t get my lost e-mail. Confirmation email with an order number on it
Hi! If I send an email for the first time to someone who has a gmail account and doesn’t have my email on their list of contacts, will it go straight to the spam folder?
Hi Natalia,
It definitely shouldn’t go to their spam folder. Good luck!
How can I get my spam folder
How can I get my spam folder
Hi there,
It should be on the upper left of your Gmail screen. If the link isn’t there, click on the drop down arrow that says more.
Hope this helps!
Kathleen
I need to look in my spam folderFor a confirmation email
How can I get my spam folder
It should appear automatically in your list of folders. 🙂
How can i get my spam folder?
Hi Joyce, the spam folder should be listed with your other folders by default but you might want to search for instructions for your specific email service provider.
I need to check my spam for a code for my account
Good
Thank you for the help I understand
I need to check my spam for a code for my account
how do I create junk/spam folder
Hi there, it should be there automatically 🙂
Will my spam mail be counted in my number of gmails. For instance when i open gmail it shows number of emails. Does that number include spam mail?
Hi Jill, I’m pretty certain you’re right that the number of emails only shows emails in your main inbox. Hope this helps!
Your language settings also matter. I am Dutch and had Gmail interface set to English, causing many Dutch mails to be marked as spam. In addition add email adresses to contacts to whitelist them
That is some really good advice….
Dear Ms. Waters,
I do occasionally check my spam folder to delete irrelevant emails from unknown users. I haven’t checked it in a while, but I read this post and checked it again to find three more irrelevant emails. Also, student email accounts are likely targeted by people who pretend to be a different gender and age. Make sure to never trust these people because they can send inappropriate emails to kids, fooling them. You can block these emails by going to settings and activate block to a certain user.
Just thought i’d put a helpful tip, and I really like you’re post.
-Aukai