# Does Gmail have a junk folder? — Adinand Email Cleaner

Last reviewed: October 22, 2026. HTML version: https://adinandemail.com/answers/does-gmail-have-junk-mail

**Yes. Gmail's junk folder is the one labelled Spam; Gmail itself has no folder called Junk.** Google's help page uses "Spam" as the folder's name throughout and describes it as the place where "Emails you report as spam are added" ([*Report spam in Gmail*](https://support.google.com/mail/answer/1366858), read 22 October 2026). The other word turns up on that page once, in passing, in a warning that "if your Inbox is full of junk mail, you might miss the bank’s alert." So if you are hunting for Junk in Gmail, open Spam.

## Where to find it <ul> <li>**On a computer:** it is folded away in the left-hand list. Google's path is "In the main menu, on the left, click More and then Spam", so click More if you cannot see it.</li> <li>**In the Android app:** "At the top left, tap Menu and then Spam" ([*Report spam in Gmail (Android)*](https://support.google.com/mail/answer/1366858?co=GENIE.Platform%3DAndroid), read 22 October 2026).</li> <li>**In the iPhone and iPad app:** the identical route, Menu and then Spam ([*Report spam in Gmail (iPhone & iPad)*](https://support.google.com/mail/answer/1366858?co=GENIE.Platform%3DiOS), read 22 October 2026).</li> </ul> <p>The folder holds two kinds of mail, by Google's description: "suspicious emails that Gmail automatically identified as spam" and "emails that you identify as spam", each with a warning at the top explaining why it is there (the *Report spam in Gmail* page above). It is not a permanent store. Google's page on missing mail puts Spam on the same 30-day clock as Trash ([*Gmail messages are missing*](https://support.google.com/mail/answer/7015314), read 22 October 2026), so something that went astray months ago will not be waiting there. What the folder does with that mail, and how to rescue a good message from it, is on [the Gmail spam folder page](https://adinandemail.com/answers/gmail-spam-folder).</p>

## Why another mail app says "Junk" <p>The word usually comes from the app you read Gmail in, not from Gmail. Apple's Mail app has its own Junk folder: Apple's help tells you to "drag the message to the Junk folder in the sidebar" on a Mac, and notes that "Email messages in the Junk folder automatically delete after 30 days" ([*Report and reduce spam in iCloud Mail*](https://support.apple.com/102376), read 22 October 2026). That page is written for iCloud Mail and does not mention Gmail accounts, so it does not say whether Apple's app shows a Gmail account's Spam under the Junk name.</p> <p>Microsoft's page for its phone apps uses Gmail's own name. Outlook for Android and iOS "requires that Gmail and G Suite accounts enable the All Mail, Drafts, Sent Mail, Spam, and Trash folders over IMAP" ([*How do I enable the All Mail, Drafts, Sent Mail, Spam, and Trash folders in Gmail or G Suite IMAP?*](https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/outlook/how-do-i-enable-the-all-mail-drafts-sent-mail-spam-and-trash-folders-in-gmail-or-g-suite-imap), read 22 October 2026). It does not say what the folder is called once it appears in Outlook. If Spam is missing from a mail app altogether, that IMAP setting is the likely reason; [showing Gmail folders in IMAP](https://adinandemail.com/answers/gmail-labels-show-in-imap) covers where it lives.</p>

## Two junk filters at once <p>Here is the part that catches people out. Google's settings page for reading Gmail in other programs asks you to leave their filters off: "Don't turn on your client's junk mail filters. Gmail automatically sorts spam and malware before it reaches your client." For Thunderbird it names the box to clear, "Enable adaptive junk mail controls for this account", and for Apple Mail it points to the program's Junk Mail menu ([*Choose your IMAP email client settings for Gmail*](https://support.google.com/mail/answer/78892), read 22 October 2026).</p> <p>Our reading of that advice: if a message lands in a Junk folder in another app while Gmail on the web shows it in the inbox, the other app's filter probably moved it, and the fix is in that app's settings. If it is in Spam on the web too, Gmail made the call, and [how Gmail decides an email is spam](https://adinandemail.com/answers/how-gmail-decides-an-email-is-spam) explains the warnings it shows. Setup for Apple's app is on [reading Gmail in Apple Mail](https://adinandemail.com/answers/sync-gmail-to-apple-mail).</p>

Related: [What the Spam folder does](https://adinandemail.com/answers/gmail-spam-folder) · [Stopping spam](https://adinandemail.com/answers/stop-spam-emails) · [How Gmail decides what is spam](https://adinandemail.com/answers/how-gmail-decides-an-email-is-spam) · [Gmail in Apple Mail](https://adinandemail.com/answers/sync-gmail-to-apple-mail)