I have found out that clicking on the “unsubscribe” link is a mistake and can get you more spam, because some of the “unsubscribe” links are illegitimate. A better option, if your email provider has this option, is to mark it as spam. If it is a legitimate site, rather than a telemarketer of dubious integrity, your email provider will then ask if you want to unsubscribe. You can then do so. If the source is not legitimate, your email provider will simply move it and another future emails from that source to your spam folder. Clicking the “unsubscribe” link on an illegitimate email will only get you more illegitimate emails.
I have found out that clicking on the “unsubscribe” link is a mistake...
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This is true.
Unless you are getting an email from a legitimate entity, the unsubscribe button does nothing of the sort. By hitting unsubscribe, you are actually pinging back to them that there is a living, breathing target on the other side of that email address, and they will simply double down on their efforts to solicit from you.
Like another responder said in this thread, drag the bad emails to your junk folder. Many email services learn from you flagging mail as junk and will be more likely to automatically junk it for you in the future