The fastest way to block an email in Gmail

Open the email you want to block. Click the three dots (more actions menu) in the top right corner of the message. Select "Block [sender's name]" from the dropdown. Gmail will move that sender's future emails to spam automatically, and you will not see notifications from them.

That is the complete process. Once you block someone, their emails go straight to your spam folder. You can still see them if you check spam, but they will not land in your inbox or trigger alerts on your phone.

If you cannot find the three-dot menu, you may be using Gmail on a phone. On mobile, open the email, tap the three dots at the top right, and choose "Block [sender]" from the menu that appears.

Key Takeaways

  • Blocking an email sender takes three clicks: open the message, tap the three-dot menu, and select "Block [sender's name]".
  • Blocked emails go to spam automatically, so you will not see them in your inbox or get notifications.
  • You can unblock a sender at any time by going to Settings, finding their address in the blocked list, and clicking unblock.
  • Blocking works only for that specific email address — if someone uses a different address, you will need to block that one separately.
  • Blocked senders cannot tell they have been blocked, and blocking does not delete emails already in your inbox from them.

Where blocked emails go and what you can still do with them

When you block someone, Gmail sends their future emails to your spam folder. The emails are not deleted — they stay in spam for 30 days, then Gmail removes them automatically. If you change your mind and want to read a blocked email, you can go to your spam folder and open it there.

Blocking does not touch emails that are already in your inbox from that sender. If you want to delete old messages from someone you just blocked, you need to find and delete them separately. Search for their email address in the search box, select all their messages, and delete them if you want them gone.

How to unblock someone if you change your mind

Go to Gmail Settings by clicking the gear icon in the top right corner and selecting "See all settings." Click the "Filters and Blocked Addresses" tab. Scroll down to the section labeled "Blocked addresses" and find the person you want to unblock. Click the "Unblock" button next to their name.

Once you unblock them, their emails will no longer go to spam. They will arrive in your inbox like any other sender. If you have not checked your spam folder in a while, some of their older emails may still be there — you can move them to your inbox or delete them as you prefer.

Blocking email addresses versus blocking contacts

Blocking in Gmail works on email addresses, not on people. If someone has multiple email addresses, you need to block each one separately. For example, if a person emails you from both work.email@company.com and personal.email@gmail.com, blocking one address does not block the other.

If you want to block all emails from a domain (like all emails ending in @unwanteddomain.com), Gmail does not have a built-in domain blocker. Instead, you can create a filter that sends all emails from that domain to spam. Go to Settings, click "Filters and Blocked Addresses," scroll to the bottom, and click "Create a new filter." Type the domain in the "From" field, click "Create filter," and choose "Skip the inbox (Archive it)" or "Delete it."

What blocking does not do

Blocking someone in Gmail does not prevent them from sending you emails — it only hides them from you. They can still send messages; you just will not see them arrive. Blocked senders cannot tell they have been blocked, and they will not receive a notification or bounce-back message.

Blocking is also specific to Gmail. If you block someone in Gmail, they are not blocked in other Google services like Google Meet or Google Calendar. You would need to block them separately in those services if you want to prevent them from contacting you there.

Using filters for more control than blocking

If you want more options than a straightforward block, Gmail filters let you handle emails in different ways. You can send certain emails to a label, mark them as read automatically, or delete them without sending them to spam. To create a filter, go to Settings, click "Filters and Blocked Addresses," and click "Create a new filter" at the bottom.

Type the sender's email address in the "From" field. Click "Create filter." Now you can choose what happens to their emails: send them to a specific label, mark them as read, archive them, or delete them. Filters are useful if you want to organize emails from someone rather than hide them completely, or if you want to keep a record of their messages without seeing them in your inbox.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can a blocked sender see that I blocked them?

No. When you block someone, they do not receive any notification. Their emails straightforward go to your spam folder, and they have no way to know you blocked them. They may notice you are not responding, but Gmail does not tell them they have been blocked.

What happens to emails from a blocked sender that are already in my inbox?

Blocking only affects future emails. Old messages from that sender stay in your inbox unless you delete them yourself. If you want to remove them, search for their email address and delete the messages manually, or move them to another folder.

Can I block someone on my phone the same way as on a computer?

Yes, the process is the same. Open the email on your phone, tap the three-dot menu at the top, and select "Block [sender]." The email will go to spam just as it would on a computer. You can also unblock them through Settings on your phone by going to Filters and Blocked Addresses.

If I block someone and then unblock them, will their old emails come back to my inbox?

No. Unblocking only stops future emails from going to spam. Emails that were sent to spam while they were blocked stay in your spam folder. You can move them back to your inbox manually if you want to see them, but unblocking does not restore them automatically.

Can I block an entire email domain instead of just one address?

Gmail does not have a direct domain block feature, but you can create a filter to send all emails from a domain to spam. Go to Settings, click "Filters and Blocked Addresses," and create a new filter with the domain (like @unwanteddomain.com) in the "From" field. Then choose to delete or archive those emails automatically.