Block an email sender in Gmail, Outlook, or Apple Mail

The fastest way to stop seeing emails from one sender is to block them directly from your inbox. In Gmail, open any email from that sender, click the three dots in the top right, and select "Block [sender name]". Future emails from that address go straight to spam. In Outlook (both web and desktop), right-click the email, choose "Junk", then "Block Sender". In Apple Mail on Mac or iPhone, swipe left on the email (or right-click it), tap "Mark as Junk", and the sender is blocked.

Blocked senders do not disappear from your inbox retroactively — you are only stopping new emails from arriving. If you want to delete old emails from that sender, you will need to search for their address and delete those messages separately. The block itself is permanent unless you manually unblock the sender later.

Key Takeaways

  • Every major email service has a built-in block feature accessible directly from an email or the sender's contact card.
  • Blocking a sender sends their future emails to spam automatically, but does not delete emails already in your inbox.
  • If you block someone by mistake, you can unblock them through your email settings — the process takes less than a minute.
  • Blocking works on individual email addresses, so if a sender uses multiple addresses, you may need to block each one separately.
  • For mass unwanted email (newsletters, promotions), unsubscribe links are often faster than blocking, because they remove you from the sender's list entirely.

Unblock a sender if you blocked them by mistake

In Gmail, go to Settings (the gear icon), click "See all settings", then the "Filters and Blocked Addresses" tab. You will see a list of blocked senders at the bottom. Click "Unblock" next to the address you want to restore. In Outlook on the web, go to Settings, then "Mail" > "Junk email", and you will see a "Blocked Senders" list. Click the X next to any address to unblock it. On Outlook desktop, go to File > Options > Trust Center > Junk Email, then the "Blocked Senders" tab.

In Apple Mail, blocking is handled differently — there is no central blocked list. Instead, you unblock by going to your email settings, finding the sender in your contacts, and removing any "block" designation you added. On iPhone, open the Mail app, go to Settings > Mail > VIP, and check whether the sender is listed there (which would filter them); remove them if so.

Block email addresses that are not in your contacts

You do not need someone's contact information to block them. When you open an email from an unknown sender, the block option appears in the same place — the three-dot menu in Gmail, the Junk button in Outlook, or the swipe-left action in Apple Mail. The email service blocks the address itself, not a contact card, so it works whether or not you have ever saved their name.

If you receive emails from a sender using slightly different addresses (like noreply@company.com and support@company.com), you will need to block each address separately. Some email services let you block an entire domain (all addresses ending in @company.com), but this is less common and usually requires going into advanced settings.

Use filters to handle bulk unwanted email

If you receive many emails from the same sender or domain, a filter is often more powerful than a straightforward block. Filters let you automatically send emails to spam, delete them, or move them to a folder based on the sender's address or keywords in the subject line. In Gmail, open an email from the sender, click the three dots, select "Filter messages like these", and choose what to do with future emails from that address.

In Outlook, go to Settings > Mail > Rules, then "Add new rule". You can set conditions (like "from [sender address]") and actions (like "move to junk" or "delete"). In Apple Mail on Mac, go to Mail > Preferences > Rules, then "Add Rule". Filters are useful when you want to keep emails from a sender but organize them automatically, or when you want to delete emails without sending them to spam first.

Distinguish between blocking and unsubscribing

Blocking and unsubscribing are different actions with different outcomes. Blocking stops all emails from one address and sends them to spam. Unsubscribing removes you from a mailing list — the sender stops sending you emails because you asked to be removed, not because you blocked them. Most newsletters, promotional emails, and marketing messages have an "Unsubscribe" link at the bottom of the email.

Unsubscribe is the right choice for legitimate mailing lists you no longer want to receive (newsletters you signed up for, store promotions, event updates). Blocking is better for unsolicited emails, spam, or senders you do not recognize. If you unsubscribe from a legitimate sender and they keep emailing you, then block them — that is a sign they are not respecting the unsubscribe request.

Report spam and phishing emails before blocking

If an email looks like a scam or phishing attempt (asking for passwords, claiming to be from your bank, or offering something too good to be true), report it to your email service before blocking. In Gmail, click the three dots and select "Report phishing" or "Report spam". In Outlook, click the "Junk" button and choose "Phishing" or "Spam". In Apple Mail, you can forward the email to Apple's phishing report address (reportphishing@apple.com).

Reporting helps your email service identify patterns and protect other users. After you report, you can then block the sender. If you block without reporting, the email service does not learn about the threat, and other people may continue receiving similar scams.

Frequently Asked Questions

If I block someone, can they tell that I blocked them?

No. When you block a sender, their emails go to your spam folder silently. They will not receive a notification, and they have no way to know you blocked them unless you tell them. If they email you from a different address, you will not see those emails either — you would need to unblock the original address to receive anything from them again.

What happens to emails I already received from a blocked sender?

Blocking only affects new emails. Old emails from that sender stay in your inbox unless you manually delete them. If you want to clean up old emails from someone you just blocked, search for their address in your email and delete those messages separately. Some email services let you delete all emails from a sender in one action through the search results.

Can I block an entire company or domain?

Most email services block individual addresses, not entire domains. However, you can create a filter that catches all emails from a domain (like @spamcompany.com) and sends them to spam automatically. In Gmail, use the filter feature and set the condition to "from:@domain.com". This is more effective than blocking multiple addresses one at a time if you are receiving emails from many addresses within the same company.

Will blocking stop emails from group addresses or mailing lists?

Blocking works on the email address you specify. If you block noreply@newsletter.com, you will stop receiving emails from that specific address. However, if the same organization sends emails from multiple addresses, you will need to block each one. For mailing lists, unsubscribing is usually more effective because it removes you from the list at the source rather than just filtering incoming mail.