How2 Stop Spam and Clean Up Your E-Mail:

from Kim Komando Show Electronic Newsletter - Feb. 28, 2009

Betty in Lincoln, NE never misses a show on KLIN 1400 AM. She wrote in to say that she's fed up! She's getting way too much spam.

So, Betty would like to limit her e-mail to messages from friends and family. She would like to know how to do this in Outlook.

You want to set up an approved senders list, Betty. Only mail from your approved senders will make it to your inbox. All other messages will be moved to the Junk folder. It can be cleared with a single mouse click.

Setting up an approved senders list is easy in Outlook 2003 and 2007. Just click Actions>>Junk E-mail>>Junk E-mail Options.

On the Options tab, select "Safe Lists Only." This is the first step to limiting the mail in your inbox.

Next, you need to add safe senders. So, click the Safe Senders Tab. Click Add and enter an e-mail address. Repeat for each safe sender.

Make sure you get the addresses right! Otherwise, you won't be seeing any more messages from certain senders. I'm sure your son in Florida never has anything interesting to say!

To be on the safe side, there are a couple of other steps to take. Select "Automatically add people I e-mail to the Safe Senders List." Additionally, select "Also trust e-mail from my Contacts."

That way, you probably won't overlook anyone. And, you don't need to worry so much about mistyped e-mail addresses. Of course, you can add more senders at any time. When you're done, click Apply and OK.

You may have forgotten to add someone. So, I recommend watching the Junk folder for a while.

You also need to worry about shopping online. You want to make sure you receive notifications from stores.

These notifications will likely go to the Junk folder. So, I recommend creating a separate e-mail account for online shopping. Also, use that account when registering with Web sites.

An approved senders list is great for home use. But I don't recommend it for businesses. They can't be sure who will be sending them e-mail. So, businesses need more advanced spam-filtering tools. I have links to several good, free spam filters on my site:

• xTerminator
• Spamato
• Mailwasher