Freebie: Stop Spam & Manage Your Email with Mailwasher
I actually shared this tool recently in my FAQ on How do you manage your email, but wanted to bring it back and give you more details on how Mailwasher is an incredible time and sanity saving tool .
From the Sweetie FAQ:
This great piece of desktop software helps you quickly sort your email with minimal fuss. It allows you to preview the email on your server, WITHOUT ever having to download unwanted messages to your computer. You can create blacklists, friends lists, etc…allowing you to sort your email in a flash.
I’ve been using the Pro version of Mailwasher for several years and wouldn’t have it any other way. I also always get my virtual assistants using it because I know it saves tons of time. Once they try it, they’re hooked and use it for all their clients.
You can download a free version and use it for as long as you want. The only catch is that it only works for one email address. If you want to use it for more than one email address, you’ve got to cough up a bit of cash, but it’s well worth it.”
I think words can’t do this tool justice and when I see people complain about spam, I can’t seem to express how it works and how much time it saves. So, I thought I’d give you a visual rundown of this handy software.
I open up the software and it checks all my emails. Hundreds of emails are previewed in the software within seconds and you can view the full text (no html for your protection) of any email in the preview pane at the bottom. Here’s an idea of what it looks like (I’ve removed the “from” field in the software for privacy reasons):
You’ll notice that some email senders are marked as “friend”, “blacklisted” and “origin blacklisted by spamcop”. The “friend” and “blacklisted” are set by me and that info is stored by Mailwasher. The “origin blacklisted by spamcop” is through the Spamcop database. Now, I don’t necessarily think Spamcop is the greatest thing, but I have to say these results prove to be quite accurate for my email.
Once email is loaded into the software (again it’s fast), you can easily sort by Date, Status, From…or whatever you want. In the example below, I’ve simply clicked the word “Sent” and it sorts by sent date. You can click any of the titles in the tabs at the top and sort according to that. Often, I sort by “Status” to put all the blacklisted senders to the bottom.
To update the status of any user, simply right click on the email in question. A pop-up will appear allowing you to add the specific email address to the blacklist or the whole domain to the blacklist. Or you put the specific address or the whole domain on your friends list.
To get your email ready for processing, you can go through each email and click the delete box to the far left (blacklisted emails are automatically set to delete) or if you have a lot of emails to delete, it might save more time to just choose the option of “Mark All Emails for Deletion” as shown below. I use this feature a lot, so I can just get rid of email that is FYI-type stuff and doesn’t require any action on my part. It keeps my Outlook inbox really (err…well pretty) clean:
Then, if you use that feature, you simply uncheck the emails you want to keep.
Once the you’ve marked all the emails that need to be deleted from your server (Remember – NOTHING has been downloaded to your computer, you’re just quickly previewing email off the server), you can process it. Just click “Process” and all the emails for deletion will be removed from your server.
Once the email has been deleted, you can open up your usual email program or have Mailwasher automatically open it for you and download the email you ACTUALLY want.
Voila!
There are other features you might want to explore, but that’s the basics. If looking at this process, it seems cumbersome to you – I promise it’s not. This process is quick and it’s a snap.
Again, you can download it free (for one email address) or pay the $39.95 for the Pro version (more than well worth it).
About: Alice Seba
Alice Seba earns a full-time online income as an entrepreneur and loves to help others achieve the same. With a focus on using content to create relationships, loyalty and results from the written word, she co-owns both a ghostwriting service and a private label content business. To get more tips for your content marketing, visit Contentrix.com - your free resource with plenty of tips and strategies.Freebies
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Carrie Lauth
ok but do you do the process you just described only once, or every time you open your email program? I am not understanding how that would work with Gmail, which I use for two email accounts.
Thanks..
Alice
The blacklisted stuff gets done once because you’re deleting those emails every time.
The friend email, you have to sort based on whether you want to download it or not. For example, if I’m on your friends list you’ll ALWAYS want to download and keep that email (he he he), whereas if you got an email from Joe Guru, you’d have to make that decision each time an email came in.
I don’t use Gmail, but I imagine it might not be as necessary for web-based email because you don’t have to sit through that download process (like you do with Outlook). But if Gmail doesn’t have these sorting abilities, it might be worthwhile IF Gmail is compatible with the software (I am unsure, but if Gmail is pop3, it probably is).
I know that Hotmail, Yahoo & MSN do work with Mailwasher, but Hotmail & MSN you have to have a pro account.
Lynette Chandler
Yes, you can do it with Gmail POP. It deletes email directly from the server. I use MailWasher daily as well and I open it before I open my email reader. But I don’t use it with Gmail because I have had good luck with Gmail spam filters. But if you want to you can certainly use it with Gmail.
Kit Singleton
Oh, man! I don’t know how I ever survived without Mailwasher. I’m still very cautious about signing up for things but having this tool has saved me loads of time. Thanks, Alice!
Carrie Lauth
I have noticed that too Lynette – I get maybe two spams a day with Gmail. When I open Outlook, whoa – hold on to your spam hat! I’ve been very pleased.
If it gets bad in the future though I will certainly consider this. Thanks for sharing the resource Alice. I had no idea there was a free version.
Alice
With Gmail, do you get to see what they filter? Is there a bulk or junk folder?
Lynette Chandler
Yes there is a junk/spam folder and I’ve noticed some emails from some companies almost always don’t come through to my Gmail.
Beth Dargis
I’ve used MailWasher for years as well. Saved me tons of time. I’ve been using Gmail for the past year for all my email though and their spam filter is really good so I haven’t needed MailWasher. But, if you are using another mail program I highly recommend it.