Most advice about email starts with "in your mail settings," and that is where it loses people. Microsoft alone ships four different Outlooks, each with its own menus. Google has Gmail in a browser and Gmail as an app. Apple has Mail on the Mac and Mail on the iPhone, and either of those can be reading a Google or Microsoft mailbox. Before any instruction can help, you need to know two things: which service holds your mail, and which app you are reading it in.
This guide helps you answer both in a couple of minutes, then shows where the two settings that matter most for unwanted mail live in each app: the report button, and the control for remote images. Both are explained in Understanding email spam. Every path below was checked against the vendor's own help page on the date at the top of this article, and each one is linked so you can confirm it against whatever version you have.
The service and the app are two different things
The service is the company that stores your mailbox and runs the filtering. For a business address that is almost always Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace. For a personal address it is Gmail, Outlook.com, iCloud, or your internet provider.
The app is the program you open to read the mail. It can come from the same company as the service or from a different one. A Microsoft 365 mailbox is often read in Apple Mail on an iPhone. A Google Workspace mailbox is often read in Outlook on a Windows PC. Both work fine, and both mean the settings you are looking for belong to the app, not the service.
One consequence worth knowing: the filtering that decides what reaches your inbox is done by the service, before any app sees the message. Changing apps does not change what gets through. The app only decides how you see it and how you report it.
Which service holds your mail
The quickest tell is the address on the login screen or in your account settings. If none of these match, or you are a Risingline client and simply want to know, ask us; we can see it from the domain in a few seconds.
Microsoft 365. Your address uses your company's domain, and signing in on the web takes you to a Microsoft page, often with your company name or logo on it. Mail on the web lives at outlook.office.com. If your company's Microsoft 365 came through GoDaddy, the sign-in page may show GoDaddy branding first and then hand you to Microsoft; that is still Microsoft 365.
Google Workspace. Your address uses your company's domain, and mail on the web lives at mail.google.com with your company name next to the Gmail logo in the top corner. Everything in this guide about Gmail applies to Workspace.
Gmail (personal). Your address ends in gmail.com. Same screens as Workspace, without the company name.
Outlook.com (personal). Your address ends in outlook.com, hotmail.com, live.com, or msn.com. Mail on the web lives at outlook.live.com. The screens look like Microsoft 365 and most of the Outlook instructions below apply.
iCloud. Your address ends in icloud.com, me.com, or mac.com.
Your internet provider. Your address ends in comcast.net, att.net, or similar. The provider's own webmail is the app, and its settings vary too much to cover here; the Apple Mail and Outlook rows below still apply if that is how you read it.
Which app you are reading it in
Work through the device you are holding.
In a web browser
Look at the address bar. outlook.office.com or outlook.live.com is Outlook on the web. mail.google.com is Gmail. Anything else is your provider's webmail.
On a Windows PC
There are two Outlooks for Windows and they look different. Microsoft's own page, What version of Outlook do I have?, gives the tells. The short version: if there is a Settings gear in the top right corner and the ribbon tabs are Home, View and Help, you have new Outlook. If there is a File tab at the left end of the ribbon and no gear, you have classic Outlook. Many classic installs also show a "Try the new Outlook" switch in the top right. If your program matches neither, it may be the old Windows Mail app or an unsupported Outlook, and the same Microsoft page explains how to check.
On a Mac
If the menu bar next to the Apple logo says Outlook, you are in Outlook for Mac. If it says Mail, you are in Apple Mail. Apple Mail is the one that comes with the Mac and the one most people use unless their company installed Outlook.
On an iPhone or iPad
Look at the icon you tap. The blue envelope that came with the phone is Apple Mail. The blue square with a white envelope and an O is Outlook. The red and white M is the Gmail app. Any of the three may be showing a Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace mailbox.
On an Android phone
The Gmail app is the default on most Android phones, and it can show Microsoft 365 mail too. The Outlook app has the same icon as on iPhone. Samsung phones also ship their own Samsung Email app, which is not covered below.
Where the two settings live in each app
Two settings matter for unwanted mail. The report button tells your service's filter that a message is junk, which teaches it for next time. Remote images are pictures a message loads from the sender's server when you open it, which can confirm to the sender that your address is live; most apps can hold them back until you choose to show them. The table gives the path for each app, with Microsoft's, Google's or Apple's page for the details.
One note on the report button. When you read a Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace mailbox in Apple Mail, the Junk button moves the message to the junk folder and trains Apple Mail's own filter. Whether it also reaches the service's filter depends on the account type, so for a report that is certain to count, use Outlook or Outlook on the web for a Microsoft mailbox, and Gmail for a Google one.
| App | Report junk or spam | Remote images |
|---|---|---|
| Gmail in a browser | Select the message, then click Report spam at the top. Google's page | Settings gear, See all settings, scroll to Images, choose Ask before displaying external images, then Save Changes. Messages then show a "Display images below" link. Google's page |
| Gmail app, iPhone or Android | Open the message, tap the More menu, then Report spam. Google's page, Android and iPhone tabs | Settings, tap your account, then the Images option, and choose to ask before showing. On Android it is under Data usage. Google's page, Android and iPhone tabs |
| Outlook on the web | Select the message, then Report above the reading pane, then Report junk or Report phishing. The same buttons sit in the toolbar. Microsoft's page | Outlook holds back images from senders it does not trust and shows a bar reading "Images and scripts have been blocked" with a Show content button. There is no setting to block images from every sender in this version at the time of writing. |
| New Outlook for Windows | Same as Outlook on the web: Report, then Report junk or Report phishing, in the toolbar or above the message. Microsoft's page | Same as Outlook on the web. Leave the blocked-images bar alone unless you know the sender. |
| Classic Outlook for Windows | Select the message, then on the Home tab choose Report, then Report junk or Report phishing. Older installs show a "Report Message" button instead, which does the same job. Microsoft's page | Pictures are blocked by default and a bar above the message offers to download them. To check the setting: File, Options, Trust Center, Trust Center Settings, Automatic Download, and keep "Don't download pictures automatically" ticked. Microsoft's page |
| Outlook for Mac | Select the message, then Report in the toolbar, then Report junk or Report phishing. Older versions have a Junk button on the Home tab instead. Microsoft's page | Outlook menu, Settings, Email, Reading, then under Download external images choose "Ask before downloading" or "My contacts, organisations and safe senders." Microsoft's page |
| Outlook app, iPhone or Android | Open the message, tap the three-dot menu at the top right, then Report Junk, then Junk or Phishing. Microsoft's page | A setting named Block External Images in the app's settings. When it is on, a banner at the top of each message offers to load pictures. Microsoft's page |
| Apple Mail on a Mac | Select the message, then click Junk in the toolbar. See the note above about which filter this teaches. Apple's page | Mail menu, Settings, Privacy. Turn on Protect Mail Activity, which hides when you open a message, or Block All Remote Content, which holds pictures back until you choose to load them. Apple's page |
| Apple Mail on an iPhone or iPad | Swipe left on the message, tap More, then Move to Junk. Same note as above. Apple's page | Settings, Apps, Mail, Privacy Protection, then turn on Protect Mail Activity. With that off, the same screen offers Block All Remote Content. Apple's page |
Vendors move these menus around. If a path above does not match what you see, the linked vendor page is kept current by them and will show the new location; tell us too and we will update this table.
If none of this matches
Some people read mail in a program not listed here, such as Thunderbird, Samsung Email, or a provider's own app, and some have more than one mailbox in the same app. If you are a Risingline client, send us a screenshot of the program with a message open and we will tell you what you have and where the settings are. It takes a minute and saves an afternoon.