Block a sender in Gmail on desktop

Open the email from the sender you want to block. Look for the three vertical dots (more options menu) in the top right corner of the email and click it. A dropdown menu will appear with several choices — select Block "[sender's name]". Gmail will when ready move that sender's future emails to spam and will not notify you when they arrive.

If you want to block someone without opening their email first, you can right-click on their name in your inbox list. The same block option will appear in the context menu. Once you block an address, you can unblock it later by going to Settings, then Filters and Blocked Addresses, finding the blocked sender, and clicking Unblock next to their name.

Block a sender on Gmail mobile app

Open the email from the person you want to block. Tap the three vertical dots in the top right corner of the screen. Scroll down in the menu that appears and tap Block "[sender's name]". The app will ask you to confirm — tap Block again. From that point forward, emails from that address go straight to spam.

On mobile, you cannot unblock someone from within the email itself. Instead, open Gmail settings by tapping your profile picture in the top left, then Settings, then the account you use. Scroll to Blocked Senders and tap Manage Blocked Senders. Find the address you want to unblock and tap Unblock.

Key Takeaways

  • Blocking a sender in Gmail sends all their future emails to your spam folder automatically, and you will not receive notifications about them.
  • On desktop, click the three-dot menu in an email and select Block, or right-click the sender's name in your inbox list.
  • On mobile, open the email, tap the three-dot menu, and select Block from the dropdown options.
  • You can unblock a sender at any time through Settings by going to Filters and Blocked Addresses on desktop or Manage Blocked Senders on mobile.
  • Blocking only affects emails from that exact address — if someone uses a different email account, those messages will not be blocked automatically.

What happens when you block someone

When you block an email address in Gmail, that sender's messages skip your inbox and go directly to spam. You will not see a notification when they send you something, and Gmail will not alert you that a blocked sender tried to reach you. The blocked sender does not receive any notification that you blocked them — from their perspective, they straightforward will not know whether you read their emails or not.

Blocking is permanent until you choose to unblock the address. If the person sends you an email from a different address, that new address is not automatically blocked — you would need to block each address separately. This matters if someone is harassing you from multiple accounts, because you may need to block several addresses over time.

Unblock an email address you previously blocked

On desktop, click the gear icon in the top right of Gmail and select See all settings. Click the Filters and Blocked Addresses tab. Scroll down to the Blocked Addresses section and you will see a list of every address you have blocked. Find the one you want to unblock and click the Unblock button next to it. The address will be unblocked when ready, and their emails will no longer go to spam.

On mobile, tap your profile picture, then Settings, then select your Gmail account. Scroll down and tap Manage Blocked Senders. You will see the full list of blocked addresses. Tap Unblock next to the address you want to restore. That sender's emails will now arrive in your inbox like any other message.

Block an entire domain instead of one address

If you want to block all emails from a company or organization — not just one person — you can block the entire domain. Open any email from that domain, click the three-dot menu, and select Block. Gmail will ask whether you want to block just that sender or the entire domain. Choose Block entire domain. Every email address ending with that domain name will now go to spam.

Blocking a domain is useful when you receive repeated unwanted emails from a large organization or when someone keeps creating new accounts at the same company to contact you. Be careful with this option, though — if you block a domain, you will not receive emails from anyone at that organization, including people you may want to hear from. You can unblock a domain the same way you unblock a single address, through Settings and Blocked Addresses.

When blocking does not work the way you expect

Blocking stops emails from reaching your inbox, but it does not prevent someone from sending you messages. If someone is harassing you and keeps creating new email addresses to contact you, blocking each address individually will become tedious. In that case, consider using Gmail's Report phishing or abuse feature instead — click the three-dot menu and select Report phishing. This tells Google about the behavior and may result in action against the sender's account.

If you are receiving a large volume of unwanted emails from many different addresses, blocking individual senders is not the best solution. Instead, create a filter to automatically delete or archive messages based on keywords, subject lines, or sender patterns. Go to Settings, Filters and Blocked Addresses, and click Create a new filter. This gives you more control over how Gmail handles unwanted mail at scale.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does the person I blocked know that I blocked them?

No. When you block someone, they receive no notification from Gmail. They will not know whether you read their emails, deleted them, or blocked them. From their perspective, they straightforward will not get a response from you.

Can a blocked sender see my out-of-office message?

No. Blocked senders do not receive your out-of-office auto-reply. Their emails go to spam without triggering any automatic response from your account.

What if I block someone by mistake?

You can unblock them when ready through Settings. Go to Filters and Blocked Addresses on desktop or Manage Blocked Senders on mobile, find their address, and click Unblock. Once unblocked, their future emails will arrive in your inbox normally.

If I block someone, will old emails from them disappear?

No. Blocking only affects new emails going forward. Any emails you already received from that sender will remain in your inbox or archive unless you manually delete them. Blocking does not change your email history.

Can I block emails based on subject line or content instead of sender?

Blocking works by sender address only. If you want to filter based on subject lines, keywords, or content, create a filter instead. Go to Settings, Filters and Blocked Addresses, and click Create a new filter to set up rules for how Gmail handles messages with specific words or phrases.