Blocking stops emails from a specific address from reaching your inbox
When you block an email address in Yahoo Mail, messages from that sender go straight to your spam folder instead of your inbox. You will not see notifications for blocked emails, and Yahoo will not show you a count of how many arrived. The blocked sender has no way to know they are blocked — their email straightforward disappears from your view.
Blocking is different from unsubscribing. Unsubscribe removes you from a mailing list (usually marketing emails with an unsubscribe link at the bottom). Blocking stops all mail from one specific email address, whether or not they sent you a mailing list.
Key Takeaways
- Open any email from the sender you want to block, click the three-dot menu, and select "Block".
- Blocked emails go to spam automatically; you will not see them in your inbox or get notifications.
- You can unblock a sender later by going to Settings, finding the blocked list, and removing their address.
- Blocking one email address does not block similar addresses — if someone uses multiple email accounts, you must block each one separately.
- Yahoo keeps your blocked list private; the sender cannot tell they are blocked.
How to block an email address right now
Open Yahoo Mail and find any email from the person you want to block. Click the three horizontal dots (the menu icon) in the top right corner of that email. A dropdown menu will appear with several options. Select "Block" from that menu.
Yahoo will ask you to confirm: "Block [email address]?" Click "Block" again to confirm. The email will move to spam, and any future emails from that address will go straight to spam as well. You are done — no other steps are needed.
If you do not see the three-dot menu, make sure you have opened the full email (not just the preview in your inbox list). The menu appears only when you are viewing the complete message.
Where to find your blocked senders list
To see all the email addresses you have blocked, go to Yahoo Mail Settings. Click the gear icon in the top right corner of your inbox, then select "Settings" from the dropdown menu. On the left side, click "Security and privacy".
Scroll down until you see "Blocked addresses". This section shows every email address you have blocked. If you want to unblock someone, find their address in this list and click the X or "Remove" button next to it. They will no longer be blocked, and their emails will return to your inbox (or spam, depending on other filters).
What happens to emails from blocked senders
When you block an address, Yahoo automatically sends all current and future emails from that sender to your spam folder. You will not see a notification when a blocked email arrives. The email sits in spam until you delete it or until Yahoo automatically deletes old spam (usually after 30 days).
If you ever want to read a blocked email, you can go to your spam folder and look for it there. Opening a blocked email does not unblock the sender — you must go to Settings and remove them from your blocked list to truly unblock them.
Blocking does not work across similar email addresses
If someone sends you emails from multiple addresses (for example, john.smith@yahoo.com and j.smith@yahoo.com), blocking one address does not block the others. You must block each email address separately. This is intentional — Yahoo does not assume that similar addresses belong to the same person.
If someone is harassing you from multiple addresses, block each one as it arrives. If the harassment continues from new addresses repeatedly, consider reporting the emails as spam or abuse instead of just blocking them. You can report an email by clicking the three-dot menu and selecting "Report spam" or "Report phishing".
Unblocking a sender if you change your mind
Go to Settings (gear icon, then "Settings"), click "Security and privacy" on the left, and scroll to "Blocked addresses". Find the email address you want to unblock and click the X or "Remove" button next to it. Confirm the removal if Yahoo asks you to.
Once you unblock someone, their emails will no longer go automatically to spam. However, if they sent you emails while they were blocked, those messages are still in your spam folder — unblocking does not move old blocked emails back to your inbox. You can move them manually if you want to keep them.
Blocking versus other ways to filter email
Yahoo Mail offers several ways to control which emails you see. Blocking sends all mail from one address to spam. Unsubscribing removes you from a mailing list (only works if the sender included an unsubscribe link). Filters let you create rules — for example, "send all emails from this address to a folder" or "mark them as read automatically".
For a single person sending unwanted emails, blocking is the fastest option. For marketing emails, unsubscribe is better if the option is available. For complex rules (like "send emails from my boss to a special folder"), use Filters instead. You can set up filters in Settings under "Filters and blocked addresses".
Frequently Asked Questions
Can the person I blocked tell that I blocked them?
No. When you block someone, their emails straightforward go to spam on your end. They will not receive a notification, and they cannot see that they are blocked. From their perspective, their emails are being sent normally — they have no way to know whether you received them.
What if I block someone by mistake?
Go to Settings, click "Security and privacy", find "Blocked addresses", and click the X next to their name. They are when ready unblocked. Their old emails are still in your spam folder, but new emails from them will arrive in your inbox normally.
Do I need to block someone on my phone and computer separately?
No. Your blocked list is the same across all devices. If you block someone on your phone, they are blocked on your computer too. Yahoo syncs your blocked addresses across all places you use Yahoo Mail.
Can I block an entire domain instead of one email address?
Yahoo Mail does not have a built-in feature to block all emails from a domain (like all @example.com addresses). You must block individual email addresses. If you are receiving many emails from the same domain, block each address as it arrives, or use Filters to send all mail from that domain to spam automatically.
Will blocking stop emails I already received?
No. Blocking only affects new emails going forward. Any emails from that sender that are already in your inbox will stay there. You must delete them manually if you want them gone. Future emails from the blocked address will go to spam automatically.