How to stop cold emails from sales reps

To stop cold emails, catch them by what they are, not who sent them, because each pitch comes from a new sender. With iCloud, Gmail or Outlook, Alrighty's Filters move cold sales mail to Archive before your Inbox shows it, and Clean up lists the cold senders already there. To cut it off at the source, ask the sales databases that sell your address, such as Apollo and ZoomInfo, to delete your profile. Report the rest as spam, block a domain that won't stop, and add a cold-email blocker if you keep another mail app.

Most guides for this search are written for the people who send cold email, on how to get past your spam filter. The few written for you say "block the sender" or "unsubscribe," and neither works on mail that comes from a new address each time and has no list to leave. They also skip where the mail comes from. A sales rep found your address in a database that sells it. This page lists nine ways to stop cold emails, says what each one catches, and starts with the ways that work on a sender you've never seen.

How we checked

We read each provider's and each tool's own help, product and pricing pages on November 4, 2026, and every fact about another product links to its source. Where a page didn't say something, we say so instead of guessing. We compared whether each way catches a sender it has never seen, where it runs, and what it costs. Alrighty is our app, and it is listed first. We didn't run tests of our own. For spam in general, scams and newsletters, see how to stop spam emails.

Why do cold emails get past your spam filter?

Cold email is real mail from a real company. A sales tool sends it a few messages at a time, from a domain that passes the sender checks, and each message is written to one person. Your provider's spam filter sees little wrong with it. Leave Me Alone, which sells a cold-email blocker, puts it this way: "technically they're legitimate mail and they often sail straight through a normal spam check" (Leave Me Alone).

That rules out the usual answers. Blocking one address does nothing when the next pitch comes from another one. There is usually no unsubscribe link, because it isn't a mailing list. What works is a way that judges the mail itself, a way that stops the source, or a report that costs the sender.

Ways to stop cold emails at a glance

Way	Tools	Catches a sender you've never seen	Where it runs	Cost
Filters	Alrighty	Yes	Your computer; described filters on its server	14-day trial with no card, then Free or Pro
Clean up and Stop mail	Alrighty	Lists the ones already in your inbox	Your computer; Clean up sorting on its server	14-day trial with no card, then Free or Pro
Remove yourself from sales databases	Apollo, ZoomInfo	Yes, before they write	The database company	Free
Report as spam	Gmail, Outlook, iCloud	Teaches the filter	Your provider's servers	Free
Ask to be removed	A reply to the sender	No	The sender's tool	Free
Block the sender or domain	Gmail, Outlook.com, Apple Mail	Only on the same domain	Your provider or your Mac	Free
Rules and filters by pattern	Gmail, Outlook.com, iCloud.com, Apple Mail	Only if it matches your pattern	Your provider or your Mac	Free
A cold-email blocker or screener	Leave Me Alone, Spark, HEY, Clean Email, SaneBox	Yes	The vendor's servers	Paid plans
An alias for your address	Hide My Email, SimpleLogin, Firefox Relay	Only on the alias	The alias service	Free to paid

No single way stops all of it. A filter that judges the mail does most of the work, and getting out of the databases makes the rest smaller.

Filters in Alrighty: best for cold pitches from a new sender each time

Alrighty is a mail app for Mac, Windows and Linux that puts iCloud, Gmail and Outlook accounts in one inbox. Its Filters are built for the mail that Stop mail can't catch: a kind of mail that comes from a new sender each time, like cold sales.

• Describe it in your words. Write what you don't want, such as "cold sales pitches." When new mail arrives in your Inbox, Alrighty checks it, and mail that fits moves to Archive before the list shows it. A described filter asks an AI model through Alrighty's server, and it works only while you're signed in.
• Or set rules. A filter can also match on rules you set, such as a word in the subject. Rules match on your computer, with no server call.
• Your conversations are safe. Mail from people you wrote to, and mail in a conversation you wrote in, is never moved. A rep you replied to stays in your Inbox.
• It fails open. If the AI doesn't answer within 5 seconds, the mail stays in your Inbox. A slow check never hides a real email.

Where your mail goes. Your mail stays with iCloud, Google or Microsoft, and Alrighty keeps its copy on your computer. A described filter sends the new email it checks to Alrighty's server, which asks the model. Rules don't leave your computer.

Price. A 14-day trial with no card, then a Free plan or Pro.

What it can't do. There's no iPhone or web app, so a filter on your computer doesn't screen mail on your phone first. It takes iCloud, Gmail and Outlook accounts only, not Yahoo, AOL, Fastmail or other IMAP. It has no calendar. It's a new app with no long track record. Our AI email triage guide compares Filters with other tools that sort mail as it arrives.

Pick it if cold pitches arrive from a new sender every day.

Clean up and Stop mail in Alrighty: best for the cold senders already in your inbox

A filter handles what arrives next. Clean up handles what's already there. It lists the senders you likely don't want, including cold outreach, scams and newsletters you never open, so you can stop them all at once.

Stop mail is the action for each sender. It archives their mail and moves new mail from them out as it arrives. When a message offers a way to unsubscribe, Stop mail uses every way it offers. A cold sequence usually has none, and the archive and the move still work. That makes it the answer for one rep who follows up four times.

Where your mail goes. To sort senders, Clean up sends each sender's address, three facts the receiving server found, and up to 3 of their newest emails (2,000 characters each) to Alrighty's server, which asks an AI model. While you're signed in, Clean up sorts senders in the background.

Pick it if cold senders have already piled up and you want them gone in one pass.

Remove yourself from sales databases: best for stopping cold email at the source

A sales database lets a rep search for a job title and a company, export the matches, and load them into a sending tool. Apollo advertises access to "240M contacts & 30M companies" (Apollo). If your profile is gone, the next rep can't find you there.

• Apollo. Its removal page asks for your work email address. Apollo says "We will honor your request by removing your profile from our services," and that it keeps the address only "for purposes of storing and respecting your opt-out preference" (Apollo). The page frames this as a right under the CCPA and the GDPR.
• ZoomInfo. Use Request Removal on its privacy page. "Once processed, your profile will no longer be available in our products," and ZoomInfo may keep limited information to "help prevent your information from being re-added" (ZoomInfo).

What it can't do. There are many such databases, and removal from one doesn't reach the others. A rep who already exported your address keeps that copy. Your address can also come back from public pages, such as a company site or a conference list.

Pick it if you get pitches at your work address, especially ones that name your job title.

Report it as spam: best for sequences that won't take no

Reporting a cold email as spam moves it out and teaches your provider's filter. It also costs the sender. Google's rules for anyone who sends to personal Gmail accounts say "Keep spam rates reported in Postmaster Tools below 0.3%" (Google). Your report counts toward that rate, and a sender that goes over it has more of its mail blocked or sent to spam.

• Gmail. Select the email and click Report spam (Google).
• Outlook.com and Microsoft 365. Right-click the message and select Mark as junk.
• iCloud Mail. Click the Junk button in Mail, or move it to Junk on iCloud.com.

The full steps for each are in how to stop spam emails.

What it can't do. One report doesn't stop the next sender, and the filter for one account doesn't learn from another.

Pick it if you never had anything to do with the sender and they keep following up.

Ask to be removed: best for a real company that asked once

A short reply such as "Please remove me from your list" works on a real company. In the US, the CAN-SPAM Act covers commercial email, and the FTC says the law makes no exception for business-to-business email. A sender must tell you how to opt out, and must honor the request within 10 business days (FTC).

What it can't do. It works only on a sender who follows the rules. A reply tells the sender your address is real and read, so never reply to mail that might be a scam. It doesn't stop the next company that buys your address.

Pick it if the pitch is from a company you'd recognize, and you want that one company to stop.

Block the sender or domain: best for one company that keeps writing

Blocking sends future mail from an address, or a whole domain, to Spam or Junk. For cold email, block the domain, since the next message from that company may come from a new person. Outlook.com takes "up to 10,000 addresses or domains" in its blocked senders list (Microsoft). The steps for Gmail, Outlook and Apple Mail are in how to block a sender.

What it can't do. A sender can switch to a new domain, which walks past the block. It does nothing for the next company.

Pick it if one company keeps writing after you asked it to stop.

Rules and filters by pattern: best for a pitch you can describe in words

A rule in Gmail, Outlook.com, iCloud.com or Apple Mail acts on every message that matches, not one address. Gmail filters can "send email to a label, or archive, delete, star, or automatically forward your mail" (Google), and Outlook.com rules have conditions, actions and exceptions. For cold email, match what the pitches share: a phrase from a sales tool's footer, a word in the subject, or a domain you've blocked before. The steps for each provider are in how to stop spam emails.

What it can't do. A rule matches words, not intent. Cold pitches change their wording, so a narrow rule misses them, and a wide one catches real mail. These rules have no exception for people you've written to unless you build one. You keep a set in each account.

Pick it if the same kind of pitch keeps using the same words.

A cold-email blocker or screener: best for keeping another mail app

A third-party service connects to your mailbox from its own servers and works in any app you read mail in. Two kinds help with cold email.

• A cold-email blocker. Leave Me Alone's Spam Blocker can block "Cold emails from people or businesses trying to sell you something, if you turn this on" (Leave Me Alone). It looks for signs such as "Links to known cold-outreach and sales tools," tracking pixels, and "A subject line faking a reply." It says plainly: "Cold-email blocking is off by default and still experimental." It works with "Gmail, Outlook, Yahoo, AOL, Fastmail, iCloud, and many more" (Leave Me Alone). Its plans page didn't show the price of its yearly plans when we read it.
• A screener. Spark's Gatekeeper, HEY's Screener and Clean Email's Screener hold mail from first-time senders until you say yes. SaneBox's SaneBlackHole sends a sender you drag there to its own folder from then on. Our spam blocker guide compares them, with prices.

What it can't do. One more company has access to your mailbox. A screener asks you about every new sender, including the real ones.

Pick it if you want to keep the mail app you have, or you need it on your phone too.

An alias for your address: best for addresses you give out from now on

An alias forwards to your real address, and you can turn it off when it starts getting pitches. Hide My Email comes with iCloud+, and SimpleLogin and Firefox Relay have free plans. Our spam guide covers each.

What it can't do. Cold email mostly goes to your work address, which you can't swap for an alias, and to addresses the databases already have. An alias helps with sign-ups and public pages, not with the pitches you get today.

Pick it if your address is on a public page, such as a personal site, and you want to replace it.

How to choose

• Cold pitches from a new sender each day, on iCloud, Gmail or Outlook: Alrighty's Filters.
• Cold senders already piled up in your inbox: Alrighty's Clean up and Stop mail.
• Pitches at your work address that name your job title: ask Apollo and ZoomInfo to remove your profile.
• A sender that won't take no: report it as spam.
• A company you'd recognize: reply and ask to be removed.
• One company that keeps writing from new addresses: block its domain.
• The same pitch in the same words: a rule in Gmail, Outlook or iCloud.
• Keep your mail app, or block cold mail on your phone: Leave Me Alone's Spam Blocker or a screener.
• Your address on a public page: an alias.

Questions

Are cold emails illegal?

Not in the US, as long as they follow the CAN-SPAM Act. The FTC says the law covers business-to-business email, and a sender must give you a way to opt out and honor it within 10 business days. Laws in other countries differ.

How do sales reps get my email address?

Often from sales databases such as Apollo and ZoomInfo, which collect work contacts and sell access to them. Others are copied from a public page, such as a company site. Asking the databases to remove your profile stops new reps from finding you there.

Should I reply to cold emails to stop them?

Only to a real company you'd recognize. The law requires a US sender to honor an opt-out. Don't reply to mail that could be a scam, since a reply confirms your address is read.

Why does blocking cold emails not work?

Blocking stops one address or domain, and cold email comes from a new one each time. A filter that judges the mail itself, or a report as spam, works where a block can't.

Will a cold email filter hide real email?

It can, so check how each tool fails. Alrighty's Filters never move mail from people you wrote to or conversations you wrote in, and leave mail in your Inbox when the check is slow. Leave Me Alone says its cold-email blocking is experimental and moves mail to a folder you can check.