Block a sender in Yahoo Mail directly from your inbox

Open the email from the sender you want to block. Click the three dots (more options) in the top right corner of the message. Select Block sender from the menu. Yahoo will move that sender's future emails to spam automatically.

If you have already deleted the email, you can still block the address. Go to your Contacts, find the person's name or email address, click the three dots next to their entry, and choose Block contact. Any new messages from that address will go straight to spam.

Blocked senders cannot see that you have blocked them. They will not receive a notification, and their emails will straightforward fail to reach your inbox — they will land in your spam folder instead.

Key Takeaways

  • Blocking a sender takes one click from any email they sent you, and future messages go to spam automatically.
  • You can block an address even after you have deleted the original email by finding it in your Contacts.
  • Blocked senders do not know they are blocked — their emails just disappear into your spam folder.
  • Unblocking a sender is just as straightforward: go to Contacts, find their name, and click Unblock contact.
  • Blocking works for individual email addresses, so if a scammer uses multiple addresses, you may need to block each one separately.

Where blocked emails go and how to check them

When you block someone, their emails do not disappear entirely — they go to your Spam folder. Yahoo keeps them there for 30 days before deleting them permanently. If you block someone by mistake, you can recover their emails during that 30-day window.

Check your Spam folder regularly, especially if you are blocking many senders. Open the Spam folder from the left sidebar, and you will see all the blocked messages grouped by sender. If you recognize a legitimate sender you blocked by accident, click on their message and select Not spam to move it back to your inbox and unblock them at the same time.

Unblock a sender if you change your mind

Open your Contacts by clicking the icon in the top left corner of Yahoo Mail. Search for the person's name or email address. Click the three dots next to their entry and select Unblock contact. Their emails will no longer go to spam.

Once you unblock someone, their old blocked emails stay in your Spam folder — unblocking only stops future emails from being filtered. If you want to see their old messages, go to Spam and move them back to your inbox manually, or click Not spam on individual messages.

Block multiple addresses from the same scammer

Scammers and spammers often use many email addresses to get around blocks. If you keep receiving similar messages from different addresses, block each one as it arrives. This is slower than blocking a domain, but Yahoo Mail does not have a built-in way to block all emails from a domain at once.

If the emails are coming from addresses that all end in the same domain (for example, scammer@fakebank.com and support@fakebank.com), you can set up a filter instead. Go to Settings, click Filters and Blocked Addresses, and create a new filter that sends all mail from that domain to spam. This catches new addresses from the same sender without you having to block each one individually.

Use filters for more control than blocking

Filters let you do more than just block — you can send certain emails to a folder, mark them as read automatically, or delete them without seeing them at all. Go to Settings, click Filters and Blocked Addresses, and select Add new filter.

Create a rule by typing the sender's address or a keyword in the "From" field. Then choose what happens to matching emails: send to a specific folder, mark as spam, delete, or mark as read. Filters work on emails that arrive after you create them, so they will not affect messages already in your inbox.

Filters are useful for newsletters you no longer want to read but do not consider spam, or for emails from a particular project or client that you want to organize automatically. Blocking is simpler for unwanted senders; filters are better when you want to sort legitimate mail.

Difference between blocking and reporting spam

Blocking stops one sender's emails from reaching your inbox. Reporting spam does the same thing and tells Yahoo that the sender is a spammer, which helps protect other users. If you receive a phishing email or a clear scam, report it instead of just blocking it.

To report spam, open the email and click the three dots. Select Report phishing or Report spam depending on what the email is. Yahoo will move it to spam and use your report to improve their filters. Blocking is fine for unwanted but legitimate mail — newsletters you did not sign up for, or emails from someone you straightforward do not want to hear from.

What happens if a blocked sender uses a different email address

Blocking only works for the specific email address you blocked. If the same person sends you a message from a different address, it will reach your inbox normally. This is why scammers can be hard to stop completely — they can create new email addresses faster than you can block them.

If you are being harassed by someone who keeps changing addresses, or if you are receiving waves of similar scam emails from different senders, consider using a filter instead. A filter can catch emails based on keywords in the subject line or body, not just the sender's address. For example, you could filter out all emails with "Congratulations, you have won" in the subject, which would catch many lottery scams regardless of who sends them.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I block an email address if I have already deleted the message?

Yes. Go to your Contacts, search for the email address or name, and click the three dots next to it. Select Block contact. You do not need the original email to block someone.

Will a blocked sender know I blocked them?

No. Blocked senders receive no notification. Their emails straightforward fail to reach your inbox and land in spam instead. They have no way to know whether you blocked them, deleted them, or never received them.

How long does Yahoo keep emails in the Spam folder?

Yahoo keeps spam emails for 30 days before deleting them permanently. If you block someone by mistake, you have 30 days to unblock them and recover their messages. After 30 days, those emails are gone.

Can I block an entire email domain instead of individual addresses?

Yahoo Mail does not have a direct block-by-domain feature, but you can create a filter that catches all emails from a domain. Go to Settings, click Filters and Blocked Addresses, and set up a filter with the domain in the "From" field (for example, @fakebank.com). All future emails from that domain will go to spam.

What is the difference between blocking and filtering?

Blocking is simpler and faster — one click stops a sender. Filters are more powerful and let you sort emails by keyword, sender domain, or subject line, and you can choose where they go (spam, a folder, or deleted). Use blocking for unwanted senders and filters for organizing mail or catching patterns.