Spam. Not the can of processed meat, but unwanted email. Strange offers of medications, watches, wallets, sportswear, bitcoins, stolen Steam keys... whatever, whenever. Some mailing lists completely ignore our unsubscribe requests, and others have a legitimate component. However, it is necessary to click on each email to confirm the request. Gmail Unsubscriber is an open-source script compatible with Google Sheets that automates the process within Gmail, tagging those unwanted emails with a simple label.
The Mailing List Unsubscribe Problem
Requesting to unsubscribe from mailing lists is a tedious procedure, and in the vast majority of cases our requests are completely discarded. The underlying problem is that there is no control whatsoever over the destination of the address. Have you bought something on eBay? That portal probably doesn't do anything nefarious, but I guarantee you that the Chinese seller has already placed your email on at least half a dozen lists. Then there are services that seem interesting at first, and a couple of months later become spam-spewing machines. Gmail's filters help us purge those emails before they touch our inbox, but if what you want is a general unsubscribe system, you might want to try Gmail Unsubscriber.
How Gmail Unsubscriber Works
Gmail Unsubscriber is an open-source script that emerged as a response to the Unroll.me incident, a dedicated service with a similar function, but which was caught selling its users' information to Uber. The idea is for the script to work without leaving Google's servers, and for that it relies on Google Sheets.
Its configuration begins by creating a copy of the script in Google Sheets through the official page, and clicking on Gmail Unsubscriber. At this point, the script requests access to the Gmail account, and creates a new label inside it, which can have any name ( "Unsubscribe" is the factory default ). Once done, all that remains is to go to Gmail, mark all unwanted emails, and assign the Unsubscribe label to them. Within the next fifteen minutes, the unsubscriptions ( whether successful or not ) will be recorded in the spreadsheet.
Gmail Unsubscriber still has some rough edges. Personally, I was never able to successfully create the Unsubscribe label, which makes me think there may be configuration issues in my account. The official page does not mention browser restrictions, and in fact indicates that it also works on third-party mobile clients, such as Outlook and Apple Mail. Don't hesitate to try it.
