Where Gmail stores your blocked senders

Gmail does not show you a separate list of blocked addresses in your main settings. Instead, blocked emails go directly to spam or are deleted without reaching your inbox, and the block itself lives in your Contacts app — not in Gmail's settings menu. This catches many people off guard: they block someone, then later wonder where to find the record of it.

The blocked sender's contact card is what holds the block. To see it, you need to open Google Contacts (contacts.google.com), not Gmail settings. That is where Gmail actually stores the information that an address is blocked.

Key Takeaways

  • Blocked senders are stored as contacts in Google Contacts, not in a Gmail settings list.
  • You can view all your blocked contacts by opening Google Contacts and filtering for blocked entries.
  • Emails from blocked addresses still arrive on Gmail's servers but skip your inbox and go to spam or are deleted.
  • Unblocking a sender removes the block from their contact card and allows their future emails to reach your inbox normally.
  • If you block someone from an email, Gmail automatically creates or updates their contact card with the block.

How to view your blocked contacts in Google Contacts

Open Google Contacts in a new browser tab or window. On the left side, you will see a menu with options like "Contacts," "Frequently contacted," and "Other contacts." Look for a section labeled "Blocked" — it appears as its own category in that left menu, usually near the bottom.

Click on "Blocked" and you will see a list of every email address you have blocked. Each entry shows the sender's name (if Gmail has one on file) and their email address. This list is the complete record of everyone whose emails you have told Gmail to stop.

If the "Blocked" section does not appear in your left menu, it means you have not blocked anyone yet, or your account is using an older version of Google Contacts. In that case, you can still find blocked addresses by opening any contact card and looking for a "Block" button — if it is grayed out or says "Unblock," that contact is already blocked.

What happens to emails from blocked senders

When you block someone in Gmail, their emails do not disappear from Google's servers. Instead, Gmail automatically sends them to your spam folder or deletes them, depending on your settings. You will not see a notification that a blocked sender tried to reach you.

If you want to check whether a blocked person has sent you anything, you can search your spam folder for their email address. Open Gmail, click the search box, type "from:blockedperson@example.com," and search. Any emails from that address will show up in spam, even if you never saw them arrive.

How to unblock an email address

Open Google Contacts and click on the "Blocked" section in the left menu. Find the address you want to unblock, click on it to open the contact card, and look for a button that says "Unblock." Click it, and the block is removed when ready.

After you unblock someone, their future emails will reach your inbox normally. Any emails they sent while they were blocked will still be in your spam folder — unblocking does not move old messages back to your inbox. If you want to see those old emails, you will need to search spam and move them manually.

Blocking someone directly from an email

The fastest way to block a sender is to open one of their emails in Gmail, click the three-dot menu icon in the top right of the message, and select "Block [sender's name]." Gmail when ready creates a contact card for that person and marks them as blocked.

You can also block someone by right-clicking their name or email address in a message and selecting "Block" from the menu that appears. Either method does the same thing: it adds them to your blocked list in Google Contacts and routes their future emails to spam.

Checking if someone is blocked

If you are not sure whether you have blocked a specific person, open Google Contacts, search for their name or email address in the search box at the top, and click on their contact card. If an "Unblock" button appears, they are currently blocked. If you see a "Block" button instead, they are not blocked.

Another way to check: open one of their emails in Gmail (if you have one in your spam folder), click the three-dot menu, and look at the options. If you see "Unblock [name]," they are blocked. If you see "Block [name]," they are not.

Why a blocked sender might still reach you

If someone you blocked is still getting emails through to your inbox, the most common reason is that they are using a different email address. Blocking works on a per-address basis — blocking john@example.com does not block john.smith@example.com or any other variation. You will need to block each address separately.

Another possibility is that the block was removed. If you or someone with access to your account unblocked the address, emails from that sender will start arriving in your inbox again. Check your blocked list in Google Contacts to confirm the address is still there.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I see a log of when I blocked someone?

Gmail does not keep a timestamp of when you blocked an address. Google Contacts shows you who is blocked now, but not when the block was created. If you need that information, you would have to check your own records or memory.

Does blocking someone in Gmail block them on other Google services?

No. Blocking in Gmail only affects email. If someone is blocked in Gmail, they can still contact you through Google Meet, Google Chat, or other Google products. You would need to block them separately in each service.

What if I block someone by mistake?

Open Google Contacts, find the person in your "Blocked" section, click their contact card, and click "Unblock." The block is removed right away, and their emails will start reaching your inbox again starting with the next message they send.

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

Gmail's block feature works only on individual email addresses, not entire domains. If you want to block all emails from a company domain, you would need to use Gmail filters instead. Create a filter with the rule "from:@companydomain.com" and set it to delete or skip the inbox.

Will a blocked sender know they are blocked?

No. Gmail does not send a notification to blocked senders. They will not receive a bounce-back message or any other indication that you have blocked them. Their emails straightforward disappear into spam without any feedback to them.