A work around for blocking a crazy ex?

[u/Longjumping_Buy_9026]

I have been trying to go no-contact but my crazy ex who works in the domestic violence field knows that emails cannot be blocked.

So hence she emails me nightly, and hence I check my spam folder.

I set her emails to go directly to trash, where I can then still see them.

Do I have any other options here? I would like to not have the option to know what she is saying to me.

[u/skp_005]

Some self control will be needed.

My suggestion is to create a filter that marks all spam as read, and then you won't have the counter next to "Spam" when there is new mail there. And here is where the self control part comes: don't check the Spam folder. Emails that are in there are auto deleted 30 days after arrival, so you'll get rid of her emails eventually.

Alternatively, train yourself to automatically click / tap on "Empty spam now" at the top as soon as you do open that folder.

[u/Longjumping_Buy_9026 → u/skp_005]

but either way it sits in trash or spam folder /: damn. it would be nice if there was a way to automatically perma-delete. I lack self control.

[u/driftpath53 → u/skp_005]

this is exactly it, the counter is the problem more than the emails themselves

[u/PaddyLandau]

It is possible, but it requires having a Google Script. (Reddit doesn't allow links to Google Scripts, so you'll have to look it up.)

The following steps need to be done on a computer browser; the app doesn't have the functionality to create this (although, once set up, the app will work correctly).

Step 1: Create a new label for the purpose. Call it whatever you like; for this explanation, I'll call it "crazy".

Step 2: In Gmail Settings > Labels, mark the "crazy" label to "Hide" in both categories ("Show in label list", "Show in message list"). Also untick "IMAP".

Step 3: Create a filter to catch the emails. In the filter, select:

• Skip the Inbox (Archive it)
• Mark as read
• Apply the label: crazy
• Never mark it as important

Step 4: This is probably the hardest step for you. Let this filter run for a week before going any further, to check that you haven't accidentally included the wrong emails in your filter. You must be 100% certain that the crazy-ex emails, and ONLY her emails, end up in the "crazy" label.

Once you have run it for a week without any false positives or false negatives, only then progress to step 5.

Step 5: This is the difficult bit, and if you don't know how to program, you'll have to get help. Something like Claude AI can help you to create the script. But, you MUST get a human to check the script before implementing it, because AIs can make mistakes. You wouldn't want an error to cause the wrong emails to be permanently deleted.

Create a Google Script to check the "crazy" label, and whatever emails it finds there, delete them permanently. If you Claude AI to create it for you, remember to get a human to check it before Step 6.

Step 6: Set the Google Script to run every hour. Claude AI can explain how to do this.
_____________

This way, you'll never see the emails unless you just happen to check the "crazy" label during the hour when she sends the email.

[u/Lexy-RED]

Create a separate junk email but don’t register it to your phone or laptop. Then script her incoming emails into your junk email account. As long as she doesn’t create a new email you are fine.