A cluttered inbox can feel like a digital junk drawer — overflowing with things you’re meant to read, things you thought might be useful, and plenty you never wanted in the first place. Over time, it becomes harder to find what matters, and easy to feel overwhelmed or miss something important.
And if you’ve had the same address for many years, you might’ve collected thousands of messages that just aren’t useful anymore. If you haven’t already, make sure you’re using a provider with top-of-the-line spam protection, like Proton Mail.
While third-party inbox cleaning services may promise quick fixes, they often come with serious privacy risks. It’s safer to take matters into your own hands using tools that don’t require full access to your email. Here are five practical ways to help you regain control over your inbox and prevent it from becoming overwhelming again.
1. Tidy up by archiving and organizing
Start by archiving old emails to reduce visual clutter. Then take a few minutes to sort key messages into folders — like “Receipts,” “Work,” or “Family” — so they’re easy to find later.
In Proton Mail, you can create custom folders and labels to neatly separate different areas of your inbox. Plus, you can use inbox filters to set up simple rules for automatically moving or labeling recurring emails, such as sending receipts to a “Finance” folder.
2. Unsubscribe from content you no longer read
Unopened newsletters and promotional emails may not be harmful, but over time, they quietly pile up and add to the noise, making it harder to spot messages you actually care about.
But Proton Mail just unveiled its Newsletters view, a first-of-its-kind management tool. All of your mailing-list emails are automatically displayed in one place, sorted by sender, but that’s just the start. Newsletters view also tells you how often you receive each one — and how many of those you’ve never bothered to read. You can unsubscribe with one click, without spending hours hunting for tiny links and checking boxes on random websites. And you can organize the ones you still want into folders, all without leaving the view or opening a single email.
3. Keep out spam and email trackers
Most email services block known spam, but some junk may slip through — especially when your email address ends up on a marketing list or gets passed between services.
Proton Mail automatically filters spam and blocks hidden email trackers that let senders know when you’ve opened a message, often triggering even more spam. You can mark unwanted emails as spam to help improve detection, and take full control with customizable spam lists — block specific senders, filter out entire domains, and ensure trusted contacts always reach your inbox.
4. Use aliases to stay organized
If you want a clean inbox, you should keep your real email address as private as your password. When signing up for online services — like a free trial or a store account — just use an email alias, a secret stand-in that forwards messages to your main inbox without ever sharing your real address.
You can create aliases from within both Proton Mail and Proton Pass. If an alias starts receiving spam or too many unwanted emails, just disable it and move on.
5. Be careful where you share your email
The more places you share your email address, the more likely it is to end up in the hands of marketers — or worse, data brokers who trade and resell personal information. When your online behavior can be tied to single, real email, it allows these snoops to create a detailed profile of you, and it even increases the risk of identity theft. So avoid using your primary address whenever practical, letting your password manager keep track of everything for you.
With a few simple habits and the right tools, you can keep your inbox organized and focused on the emails that matter. Proton Mail gives you privacy-first features to manage it all safely. If you’re ready to switch to more secure email, our Easy Switch tool lets you bring over just the messages, contacts, and calendars you actually want — like those related to finance, healthcare, or family — and leave behind a decade’s worth of digital clutter. It’s a fresh start, on your terms.
