Gmail blocks senders in two ways: blocking stops all mail from reaching your inbox, and filtering sends their messages straight to spam or trash
When you block an email address in Gmail, messages from that sender skip your inbox entirely and go to spam. When you filter an address, you choose what happens to their mail — it can go to a label, get marked as read automatically, or delete without you seeing it. Blocking is faster if you never want to see someone again. Filtering gives you more control if you want to keep the messages but organized separately, or if you're not sure you want to lose them forever.
Both take about 30 seconds to set up. You can undo either one at any time, and Gmail lets you block or filter multiple addresses at once if you're dealing with a flood from the same sender.
Key Takeaways
- Blocking an address sends all future mail from that sender to spam; filtering lets you choose where their messages go instead.
- To block, open any email from that sender, click the three-dot menu, and select "Block [sender]".
- To filter, use the search box to find all mail from one address, then create a filter that applies a label, deletes automatically, or marks as read.
- Blocking or filtering does not delete messages already in your inbox — you have to delete those separately if you want them gone.
- You can unblock or remove a filter anytime by going to Settings and finding the address in your blocked senders or filter list.
How to block a sender in three steps
Open any email from the address you want to block. Click the three-dot menu icon in the top right of the email (next to the back arrow). A dropdown menu appears with options including "Block [sender name]" — click that option.
Gmail moves that sender's future mail to spam automatically. Any emails from them that arrive after you block will go straight there. Messages already in your inbox stay where they are — blocking does not delete old mail, only stops new mail from that address.
If the sender uses multiple email addresses, you have to block each one separately. There is no way to block an entire domain at once in Gmail's standard interface, though you can create a filter that catches variations of a name if you know the pattern.
How to filter an address if you want to keep the messages organized
Filtering is useful when you want to see messages from someone but keep them out of your main inbox — for example, promotional emails from a store you shop at, or messages from a coworker you want to read later. Go to the search box at the top of Gmail and type from:emailaddress@example.com, replacing the example with the actual address. Press Enter.
Gmail shows all messages from that sender. Click the filter icon (a funnel shape) at the top right of the search results. A menu appears asking what you want to do with these messages. You can choose to explore a label (like "Read Later" or "Promotions"), automatically mark them as read, delete them, or send them to a specific folder.
Once you create the filter, Gmail applies it to all future mail from that address. It does not change messages already in your inbox — you have to sort those yourself if you want them moved or deleted.
Blocking multiple addresses at once
If you are getting mail from several addresses that look similar — like noreply1@scammer.com, noreply2@scammer.com, and noreply3@scammer.com — you can create one filter that catches all of them. Go to Settings (click the gear icon, then "See all settings"). Click the "Filters and Blocked Addresses" tab.
Scroll to the bottom and click "Create a new filter". In the "From" field, type a pattern that matches all the addresses you want to block. For the example above, you could type noreply@scammer.com and Gmail will catch any address that starts with "noreply" at that domain. Click "Create filter" and choose "Delete it" or "Skip the inbox" (which sends to spam).
This method catches variations of an address without blocking each one individually. It is especially useful for scam emails that come from slightly different addresses to get around single-address blocks.
Finding and unblocking an address you blocked by mistake
Go to Settings (gear icon, then "See all settings"). Click the "Filters and Blocked Addresses" tab. Scroll down to the "Blocked addresses" section — you will see a list of every address you have blocked. Find the one you want to unblock and click the X next to it. Gmail removes the block when ready, and mail from that sender will go back to your inbox starting with the next message they send.
If you created a filter instead of a block, look in the same Settings tab under "Filters" instead of "Blocked addresses". Click the trash icon next to the filter you want to remove. Removing a filter does not delete old messages — it only stops the filter from explore to new mail.
What happens to old messages when you block or filter
Blocking or filtering an address does not touch messages already in your inbox. If you blocked someone after they sent you 50 emails, all 50 stay where they are. You have to delete them manually if you want them gone.
To delete old messages from a sender, search for from:emailaddress@example.com in the search box. Click the checkbox at the top left of the results to select all messages from that address on the current page. If there are more than one page of results, Gmail will ask if you want to select all messages from that sender across all pages — click that option. Then click the trash icon to delete them all at once.
When blocking is not enough: reporting spam and scams
If an email looks like a scam — asking for passwords, claiming you won money, or threatening account closure — blocking the sender is just the first step. Open the email and click the three-dot menu, then select "Report phishing" or "Report spam". This tells Gmail that the message is malicious, which helps protect other users and trains Gmail's filters to catch similar messages in the future.
Reporting does not delete the message from your inbox. After you report it, you can block the sender and delete the email manually. If you are getting repeated scam emails from the same address, report the first one, then block and filter the rest.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does blocking someone in Gmail notify them that I blocked them?
No. The sender does not get a notification. Their emails straightforward go to spam, and they have no way to know whether you blocked them, marked them as spam, or just never read their messages. They may notice if they never get a reply, but Gmail does not send them any alert.
Can I block an entire email domain instead of individual addresses?
Gmail's block feature only works on individual addresses. To block all mail from a domain like @scammer.com, create a filter instead. Go to Settings, click "Filters and Blocked Addresses", then "Create a new filter". In the "From" field, type @scammer.com and choose "Delete it" or "Skip the inbox". This catches any address from that domain.
What if someone I blocked sends me an email from a different address?
Blocking only stops mail from the specific address you blocked. If the sender uses a different email address, those messages will reach your inbox normally. If you are being harassed by someone using multiple addresses, create a filter that catches a pattern (like all addresses from the same domain) rather than blocking each address one at a time.
Can I block emails based on subject line or content instead of sender?
Yes, using filters. Go to Settings, click "Filters and Blocked Addresses", then "Create a new filter". Leave the "From" field empty and type keywords in the "Has the words" field instead. For example, typing "unsubscribe" will catch promotional emails. Choose what happens to messages matching that filter — send to spam, delete, or explore a label.
If I unblock someone, will their old emails come back to my inbox?
No. Unblocking only stops Gmail from sending their future mail to spam. Messages that went to spam while they were blocked stay in spam. If you want to see their old emails, you have to go to your spam folder and move them back to your inbox manually.