How to Send Spam to the Spam Folder in Yahoo Mail

Even Yahoo Mail's strong spam filter doesn't catch everything

How to send a lot of emails to spam Yahoo

Lucian Novosel / Unsplash

by Heinz Tschabitscher
An independent writer who has reviewed hundreds of email programs and services since 1997.
Updated June 17, 2019

If you can hardly see your regular email because your Yahoo Mail Inbox is flooded with unsolicited bulk mail, it's time to do something about that. Yahoo Mail has an effective filtering system in place that is aimed at sorting out the majority of unsolicited bulk emails before you receive them at your Yahoo Mail account, but some will make it through.

How to Send a Lot of Emails to Spam: Yahoo Mail

You should manually mark any spam that makes it to your inbox. This moves the offending email to a separate folder and gives Yahoo information it can use to fine-tune its filtering system for future emails. With the email open:

  1. Log in to your Yahoo Mail account and go to the inbox.

  2. Select the checkboxes next to all of the email messages you want to send to spam.

    Screenshot of selected emails in Yahoo Mail

  3. Select the Spam button in the toolbar at the top of the inbox.

    Screenshot of Spam button

  4. The email messages will be moved to the Spam folder and the senders will be noted as spammers. In addition, the contents of the email messages you mark as spam will help Yahoo Mail filter more junk mail out of your inbox in the future.

  5. If you change your mind or inadvertently mark email from a trusted sender as spam, go to the Spam folder, select the checkbox next to the email message and select the Not Spam button on the toolbar.

If the email is particularly spammy or you've manually marked it as spam in the past but you are still receiving it, open the email and click Spam in the row of action icons above the email field. Select Report Spam from the menu that opens. The email is moved to the Spam folder, and Yahoo Mail is notified. No other action is necessary. 

How to Avoid Spam

Despite Yahoo's best efforts, spam can sneak through. There are a few things you can do to reduce the amount of spam you receive.

  • Don't reply to senders you don't know.

  • Don't freely give out your personal email.

  • Don't reply to spammy emails asking to be removed. That just tells the sender a real person opened the email. 

  • Use an email alias when online shopping, so you can easily identify retail spam when it arrives.