Check Your Spam Folder Once a Month

January 2024 — Tip of the Month

It's now 2024, and spam remains an unfortunate reality of the Internet. Thankfully, most email platforms now include advanced spam/junk mail filtering, so the unwanted messages don't clutter your inbox. But the algorithms aren't perfect. Chances are you've had legitimate messages marked as spam more than once.

Because spam filters are not 100% accurate, it's essential to check your spam/junk folder at least once a month. Why that frequently? Because most mail platforms, including Gmail, iCloud, etc, automatically delete spam messages after 30 days.

I learned this the hard way in December when iCloud deleted about 400 messages in my Junk folder. I know some of them were legit — I just hadn't moved them to my inbox or other folders yet. Now, they are completely gone, unretrievable, relegated to the landfill of cyberspace.

It's a good idea to check your spam folder regularly — maybe every Monday — to see if you've missed any important messages. But make sure to review your spam folder at least once a month to save those legitimate messages from being deleted forever.

- Per Christensson