How to Stop Email Tracking
Open your iPhone's Settings., Scroll down and tap Mail., Slide the Load Remote Images switch left to the "Off" position., Open the Gmail app., Select a Gmail account., Tap ☰., Scroll down and tap Settings., Select your email account., Scroll down...
Step-by-Step Guide
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Step 1: Open your iPhone's Settings.
It's the grey gear icon on the Home Screen. , This option is about a third of the way down the Settings page., It will turn white.
Now any emails that you open in the Mail app won't load images, which will disable the majority of email tracking on your iPhone., It's the red "M" on a white background in either your App Drawer or on the Home Screen.
Gmail is the Android's default email client. , If you only have one Gmail account, your Gmail app should open to that account.
If you aren't already signed in, enter your email address and password and tap Sign In. , It's in the top left corner of the screen., It's at the bottom of the pop-out menu., You'll find this on the left side of the screen., It's at the bottom of the screen., This setting will prevent your Gmail app from loading email images until you approve them, meaning email trackers won't load as soon as you open the email., It should open to your default Gmail inbox.
If you aren't already logged into Gmail, enter your email address and password. , It's in the top right corner of the Gmail window, directly below your user profile picture., You'll find this option about halfway down the Settings gear's drop-down menu., It's the fourth section of options on this page., It's at the bottom of the screen.
Now Gmail won't load any images by default, which will prevent embedded images from recording your location or the time at which you opened the email., Doing so will open the Yahoo home page., It's in the top right corner of the screen.
If you aren't already logged into Yahoo, click Log In and enter your email address and password. , You'll find this option in the top right corner of the Yahoo page., It's near the top of the drop-down menu., This option is on the left side of the Settings window., The box will likely say "Always, except in spam filter."
You'll see this appear below the Show Images in Emails box., It's at the bottom of the screen.
Now Yahoo won't display images in emails, which will render most email tracking attempts unsuccessful., Any time you receive a promotional email from a site (e.g., Facebook or Amazon), there's a good chance that it's tracking your response.
While you may be comfortable with this on social media or other secure sites, entering your email address on an unsecure or dodgy site will almost certainly result in email tracking., Your Spam folder will likely take care of obvious junk mail, but that doesn't mean you should open emails from services, websites, or even people whom you don't know.
Similarly, don't open unnecessary emails even if you do trust the recipient (e.g., Best Buy or Tumblr). , In rare cases, email trackers will use links to indicate whether or not their recipient has opened the email.
In cases such as these, merely right-clicking the link or hovering over it with your cursor may be enough to trigger the "read" notification., Unfortunately for non-Chrome users, the only reputed tracker blockers are for Google Chrome as of February
2017.PixelBlock
- Identifies and blocks trackers in all incoming emails.
UglyEmail
- Identifies (but doesn't block) tracked email.
To install an extension on Google Chrome, click the blue Add to Chrome button in the top right corner of the extension's window. -
Step 2: Scroll down and tap Mail.
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Step 3: Slide the Load Remote Images switch left to the "Off" position.
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Step 4: Open the Gmail app.
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Step 5: Select a Gmail account.
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Step 6: Tap ☰.
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Step 7: Scroll down and tap Settings.
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Step 8: Select your email account.
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Step 9: Scroll down and tap Images.
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Step 10: Tap Ask before showing.
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Step 11: Open the Gmail website.
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Step 12: Click ⚙️.
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Step 13: Click Settings.
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Step 14: Click the Ask before displaying external images box.
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Step 15: Scroll down and click Save Changes.
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Step 16: Open the Yahoo website.
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Step 17: Click Mail.
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Step 18: Click ⚙️.
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Step 19: Click Settings.
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Step 20: Click the Security tab.
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Step 21: Click the box next to Show Images in Emails.
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Step 22: Click Never by Default.
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Step 23: Click Save.
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Step 24: Don't enter your email address on sites you don't trust.
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Step 25: Avoid opening emails from recipients you don't recognize.
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Step 26: Don't click links inside of untrustworthy emails.
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Step 27: Install a tracker-blocking extension in your Chrome browser.
Detailed Guide
It's the grey gear icon on the Home Screen. , This option is about a third of the way down the Settings page., It will turn white.
Now any emails that you open in the Mail app won't load images, which will disable the majority of email tracking on your iPhone., It's the red "M" on a white background in either your App Drawer or on the Home Screen.
Gmail is the Android's default email client. , If you only have one Gmail account, your Gmail app should open to that account.
If you aren't already signed in, enter your email address and password and tap Sign In. , It's in the top left corner of the screen., It's at the bottom of the pop-out menu., You'll find this on the left side of the screen., It's at the bottom of the screen., This setting will prevent your Gmail app from loading email images until you approve them, meaning email trackers won't load as soon as you open the email., It should open to your default Gmail inbox.
If you aren't already logged into Gmail, enter your email address and password. , It's in the top right corner of the Gmail window, directly below your user profile picture., You'll find this option about halfway down the Settings gear's drop-down menu., It's the fourth section of options on this page., It's at the bottom of the screen.
Now Gmail won't load any images by default, which will prevent embedded images from recording your location or the time at which you opened the email., Doing so will open the Yahoo home page., It's in the top right corner of the screen.
If you aren't already logged into Yahoo, click Log In and enter your email address and password. , You'll find this option in the top right corner of the Yahoo page., It's near the top of the drop-down menu., This option is on the left side of the Settings window., The box will likely say "Always, except in spam filter."
You'll see this appear below the Show Images in Emails box., It's at the bottom of the screen.
Now Yahoo won't display images in emails, which will render most email tracking attempts unsuccessful., Any time you receive a promotional email from a site (e.g., Facebook or Amazon), there's a good chance that it's tracking your response.
While you may be comfortable with this on social media or other secure sites, entering your email address on an unsecure or dodgy site will almost certainly result in email tracking., Your Spam folder will likely take care of obvious junk mail, but that doesn't mean you should open emails from services, websites, or even people whom you don't know.
Similarly, don't open unnecessary emails even if you do trust the recipient (e.g., Best Buy or Tumblr). , In rare cases, email trackers will use links to indicate whether or not their recipient has opened the email.
In cases such as these, merely right-clicking the link or hovering over it with your cursor may be enough to trigger the "read" notification., Unfortunately for non-Chrome users, the only reputed tracker blockers are for Google Chrome as of February
2017.PixelBlock
- Identifies and blocks trackers in all incoming emails.
UglyEmail
- Identifies (but doesn't block) tracked email.
To install an extension on Google Chrome, click the blue Add to Chrome button in the top right corner of the extension's window.
About the Author
Steven Green
Committed to making hobbies accessible and understandable for everyone.
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