Block a sender in Hotmail's web version

Open the email from the sender you want to block. Look for the three dots (more options menu) in the top right of the message — it sits next to the trash icon. Click those three dots, then select Block from the dropdown menu.

Hotmail will move that sender's future emails straight to your Junk folder automatically. You won't see a notification when they send you something; the message just arrives in Junk instead of your inbox. If you change your mind later, you can unblock them through your Junk Email settings.

If you don't see the three dots, make sure you're viewing a single email and not a list. Click the email to open it fully, and the menu will appear.

Key Takeaways

  • Click the three dots in the top right of any email, then select Block to send that sender's future messages to Junk.
  • Blocked senders' emails arrive in your Junk folder, not your inbox, with no notification to you.
  • You can unblock a sender anytime through Settings > Mail > Junk Email > Blocked Senders.
  • Blocking only affects new emails; it does not delete messages already in your inbox from that person.
  • If the sender uses multiple email addresses, you must block each address separately.

Unblock a sender you blocked by mistake

Go to the gear icon in the top right of Hotmail and select View all Outlook settings. Click Mail in the left sidebar, then scroll down and click Junk Email.

You'll see a section called Blocked Senders with a list of every address you've blocked. Find the sender you want to unblock, click the X next to their name, and confirm. They can now send you emails that land in your inbox again.

What happens when you block someone

Blocking does three things: their emails go to Junk instead of Inbox, you won't get a notification when they send you something, and they won't know you blocked them. Hotmail sends no message to the blocked sender telling them they've been blocked.

The person can still see whether you've read their old emails if you were in a conversation thread before you blocked them. Blocking only affects new mail going forward. Any emails from them already sitting in your inbox stay there unless you delete them yourself.

Block a sender without opening their email

You don't have to open an email to block someone. Right-click on the sender's name in your inbox list, and a menu will appear. Select Block from that menu. The sender goes straight to your blocked list without you reading the message.

This is useful when you're scanning your inbox and spot a sender you recognize as unwanted. You can block them in one click without letting the email take up your attention.

Block emails by domain instead of individual address

Hotmail's block feature works on individual email addresses only — you cannot block an entire domain like @company.com all at once. If someone keeps emailing you from different addresses at the same company, you'll need to block each address separately as they arrive.

If you're getting many unwanted emails from the same domain, consider using a mail rule instead. Go to Settings > Mail > Rules, and create a rule that automatically moves all emails from that domain to Junk. This catches any address from that domain without you having to block each one.

Blocked emails still count toward your storage

When you block a sender, their emails go to Junk but they still take up space in your mailbox. If you want to free up storage, you need to delete them from Junk rather than just blocking them. Go to your Junk folder, select the emails from that sender, and delete them permanently.

Hotmail keeps deleted items in a Deleted Items folder for 30 days before removing them forever. If you delete something by mistake, you can recover it from Deleted Items within that window.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can a blocked sender tell that I blocked them?

No. Hotmail sends no notification to the blocked sender. They won't receive a bounce-back message or any indication that you blocked them. Their emails straightforward arrive in your Junk folder instead of your inbox, and they have no way to know that happened.

What if a blocked sender emails me from a different address?

Blocking only affects the specific email address you blocked. If the same person sends you mail from a different address, it will land in your inbox normally. You'll need to block that new address separately if you want to stop seeing their emails.

Can I block someone on my phone?

Yes. Open the email in the Outlook mobile app, tap the three dots in the top right, and select Block. The process is the same on iPhone and Android. The sender will be blocked across all your devices since Hotmail stores your blocked list in the cloud.

Will blocking stop spam emails?

Blocking works best for emails from people you know. For spam and marketing emails from unknown senders, Hotmail's automatic spam filter usually catches them before they reach your inbox. If spam gets through, blocking individual addresses helps, but marking emails as spam trains Hotmail's filter to catch similar messages in the future.

Can I block an email address that's already in my contacts?

Yes, you can block a contact. Blocking overrides the contact relationship — their emails will still go to Junk even though they're in your address book. If you later unblock them, they'll return to your normal inbox flow.