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Stop Junk Mail is a self-funded, not-for-profit campaign group giving free and independent advice on how to stamp out junk mail. If you support our cause, or if we helped you stopping junk mail, why not make a small donation to keep us going? Any contribution helps and is much appreciated.

Guide to stamping out junk mail

This guide tells you about the most effective ways of reducing unsolicited junk mail. The 'quick guide' on this page briefly describes the various things you can do to reduce junk mail. Each section has a link to more detailed information.

There is no 'golden bullet' that will get rid off all your junk mail once and for all. There are services that claim to be able to magically reduce junk mail by "up to" 95%, sometimes in exchange for a "nominal fee". Sadly, stopping unsolicited mail is not that easy.

Junk Buster

To help you eliminating junk mail we have created Junk Buster. This smart application is a one-point-stop for opting out of unsolicited mail. In just a few clicks you can contact up to three junk mail opt-out schemes and at the same time ask Yell, Thomson Local and/or BT to skip your letterbox next time they deliver their directories.

Door-to-Door Opt-Out

Royal Mail delivers between 25 and 50 per cent of all unaddressed junk mail. To stop leaflets delivered by the postman you can register with Royal Mail's (free) Door-to-Door Opt-Out.

To register you first need to ask Royal Mail for an opt-out form. You can request the form by sending an e-mail with your name and address to optout@royalmail.com, or via Junk Buster. Until a couple of weeks ago Royal Mail used to send the form in the post (in order to verify your address) but the company has now started sending the form as a PDF attached to the standard confirmation e-mail you will receive.

Letterbox stickers

Putting a 'No Junk Mail' sign on your door is the only way to stop junk mail delivered by local businesses. You can make your own sign, of get one of the stickers shown below for £1.

Your Choice

'Your Choice' is an opt-out scheme which will stop unaddressed junk mail delivered by members of the Direct Marketing Association (DMA). To register you need to contact the DMA and ask them for an opt-out form. You can do so using Junk Buster.

Mailing Preference Service

The Mailing Preference Service (MPS) is a free service that can prevent addressed junk mail from organisations with whom you have never had any contact. You can also use the service to register a previous occupants' name at your current address. You can register online at www.mpsonline.org.uk or contact the MPS via Junk Buster.

Edited Electoral Register

When you fill out your annual electoral registration form, choose for your details not to be added to the Edited Electoral Register. There is absolutely no advantage in having your personal details on the Edited Register. The list can be bought by any person or company and may be used for any purpose, including sending junk mail. Read your registration form carefully and tick the box to ensure that your details will appear on the 'Full Register' only.

Tick boxes

Whenever you give your name and address to an organisation, for instance when you buy a product or service, look in the small print and tick the box to say that you don't want any further information about 'other products and services'.

Often a second tick box will ask you if your personal details may be shared with other 'carefully selected' companies. Never agree with this; your name and address will be added to numerous mailing lists, resulting in heaps of junk mail.

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Return to sender

Any addressed junk mail with a return address can be returned to the sender (at the sender's expense). Simply cross out your address, write 'Unsolicited mail, please return to sender' on the envelope and put it back in the post unstamped. The sender will have to pay the return postage and may remove your details from its mailing lists.

If you receive a lot of addressed junk mail and/or want to make sure the sender gets the message, do consider buying one of these pads with return to sender labels.

Contact the sender

Under the Data Protection Act 1998, any organisation based in the UK has to stop sending you (addressed) junk mail if you directly ask them to do so. Usually it is enough to phone the sender and ask them to take your details of its mailing list. However, your request will only be legally binding if it is in writing.