The fastest way to block an email address
Open the email from the person you want to block. Look for the three vertical dots (called the menu icon) in the top right corner of the email. Click it, then select Block "[sender's name]" from the dropdown menu. Gmail will when ready send that sender's future emails to your spam folder.
That is the entire process. Once blocked, you will not see their emails in your inbox, and they will not receive a notification that you blocked them. If you change your mind later, you can unblock them from your settings.
Key Takeaways
- The block button is in the three-dot menu at the top right of any email, and blocking takes one click.
- Blocked emails go to spam automatically, but the sender does not know they are blocked.
- You can unblock someone at any time through your Gmail settings under Filters and Blocked Addresses.
- Blocking only affects email — it does not block someone from seeing your Google Calendar, Drive files, or other Google services if they already have access.
- If someone is harassing you, blocking is a first step, but you may also want to report the email as spam or phishing depending on what they are sending.
Where the block button appears in Gmail
The block option lives in the email menu, not in your settings. You must have the email open in front of you. Click the three dots in the upper right corner of the message itself — not the three dots next to the sender's name, which opens a different menu.
When you click the correct three dots, a small menu appears with options like Reply, Forward, Mark as spam, and Block. Select Block. A confirmation message will appear saying the sender has been blocked and their future emails will go to spam.
What happens after you block someone
All future emails from that address will land in your spam folder instead of your inbox. You will not see notifications for them, and they will not clutter your inbox. The sender will not receive any message telling them they are blocked — from their perspective, they straightforward will not know whether you are reading their emails.
Any emails from that sender that are already in your inbox will stay there. Blocking only affects new messages going forward. If you want to remove old emails from that person, you can search for their address, select all their messages, and delete them manually.
How to unblock an email address
Go to your Gmail settings by clicking the gear icon in the top right corner of Gmail, then select See all settings. Click the Filters and Blocked Addresses tab. Scroll down to the section labeled "Blocked addresses" and you will see a list of everyone you have blocked.
Find the person you want to unblock and click the Unblock button next to their address. Their emails will no longer go to spam and will arrive in your inbox normally again. You can block and unblock the same person as many times as you need to.
Blocking versus reporting spam or phishing
Blocking is the right choice when someone you know is sending unwanted emails but is not breaking any laws — an ex-partner, a persistent salesperson, or someone whose messages you straightforward do not want to see. Blocking removes them from your inbox without any other action.
If someone is sending you phishing emails (messages designed to steal your password or personal information), report the email as phishing instead of just blocking it. Click the three dots, select Report phishing, and Gmail will investigate and potentially take action against the sender's account. If someone is sending threats, harassment, or spam at scale, report it as spam using the same menu. Blocking alone does not alert Gmail to dangerous behavior, but reporting does.
Important limits of blocking in Gmail
Blocking someone's email address only blocks their email. It does not block them from accessing Google Drive files you have shared with them, seeing your Google Calendar if you have shared it, or viewing documents you have shared. If you have given someone access to other Google services and want to revoke it, you must do that separately in each service.
If the person creates a new email address, that new address is not automatically blocked — you would need to block each address individually. Blocking is also specific to your Gmail account. If you use Gmail for work and Gmail for personal use, blocking someone in one account does not block them in the other.
Frequently Asked Questions
Will the person know I blocked them?
No. Gmail does not send a notification to blocked senders. They will not receive a bounce-back message or any indication that you blocked them. From their perspective, they straightforward will not know if you are reading their emails.
Can I block multiple people at once?
No. You must block each email address individually by opening an email from that person and clicking the block button. There is no bulk-block feature in Gmail. If you receive many unwanted emails from different senders, you can create filters to send them to spam automatically, which is faster than blocking each one.
What if someone keeps emailing me from different addresses?
Block each address as it appears. If the harassment is ongoing and the person is creating new addresses to contact you, take a screenshot of the messages and report them to your email provider or to law enforcement if the content is threatening. Blocking is a tool for unwanted contact, not a solution for coordinated harassment.
Can I block emails by subject line or content instead of by sender?
Blocking is address-based only. If you want to automatically send emails with certain words or phrases to spam, use Gmail's filter feature instead. Go to Settings, Filters and Blocked Addresses, and click Create a new filter. You can then set rules based on subject, content, or sender.
If I unblock someone, will I see their old emails again?
No. Unblocking only stops new emails from going to spam. Any emails from that person that were sent while they were blocked will still be in your spam folder. You can move them back to your inbox manually if you want to see them, but unblocking does not automatically restore them.