The fastest way to block someone in Outlook

Open the email from the person you want to block. Right-click on their name or email address at the top of the message, then select Block Sender from the menu. Outlook will move that sender's future emails to your Junk folder automatically.

If you are using Outlook on the web (outlook.com or outlook.office.com), open the email, click the three dots in the top right corner, and select Block. The sender will be added to your blocked list when ready.

Once someone is blocked, you will not see their emails in your inbox — they go straight to Junk. You can still find them there if you need to, but Outlook stops notifying you about them.

Key Takeaways

  • Right-click the sender's name in any email and choose Block Sender to send their future messages to Junk automatically.
  • Blocked emails still arrive in your Junk folder, so you can review them later if needed — they are not deleted.
  • You can block someone even if you have not received an email from them yet by adding their address directly to your blocked list.
  • Unblocking someone is just as straightforward: go to your blocked senders list and remove their name.

Blocking someone you have not heard from yet

You do not have to wait for an email to arrive before blocking someone. If you know an address you want to block, you can add it to your blocked list in advance.

In Outlook on the web, click the gear icon in the top right, then select View all Outlook settings. Go to Mail > Junk email. Under Blocked senders, type the email address you want to block and click the plus sign to add it.

In Outlook for Windows or Mac, go to File > Options (Windows) or Outlook > Preferences (Mac). Select Trust Center, then Junk Email. Click Blocked Senders and add the address you want to block.

What happens when you block someone

Blocking does not delete old emails from that sender — they stay in your inbox unless you delete them yourself. Only new messages go to Junk. If you want to remove the old emails, you can select them and delete them manually.

The sender does not receive a notification that you blocked them. Their emails straightforward fail to reach your inbox. If they send you a message, it will appear in your Junk folder, and you will not get a notification about it.

Blocked senders can still see your replies if you have already exchanged emails with them. Blocking only affects incoming mail from that point forward.

Unblocking an email address

If you change your mind about blocking someone, you can remove them from your blocked list at any time.

In Outlook on the web, go to Settings > Mail > Junk email > Blocked senders. Find the address you want to unblock and click the trash icon next to it.

In Outlook for Windows or Mac, go to File > Options (or Preferences on Mac) > Trust Center > Junk Email > Blocked Senders. Select the address and click Remove.

The difference between blocking and other options

Blocking sends all future emails from someone to Junk. Unsubscribing removes you from a mailing list — use this for newsletters or marketing emails where there is an unsubscribe link at the bottom. Reporting as spam tells Outlook the sender is malicious and helps train the system to catch similar emails.

If someone is harassing you, blocking is the right first step. If you are getting unwanted marketing emails, look for an unsubscribe link first. If you believe an email is a scam or phishing attempt, report it as spam instead of just blocking it.

Blocking domains instead of individual addresses

If you want to block all emails from an entire domain (like all messages from @example.com), you can add the domain to your blocked senders list instead of individual addresses.

In Outlook on the web, go to Settings > Mail > Junk email > Blocked senders and type the domain with an asterisk: *@example.com. This blocks every address from that domain.

In Outlook for Windows or Mac, use the same format in your Blocked Senders list. Be careful with this option — if you block a domain, you will not receive emails from anyone using that domain, including people you may want to hear from.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I block someone if I have already deleted their email?

Yes. You do not need the original email to block someone. Go to your blocked senders list in Settings and type their email address directly. This works whether or not you have received a message from them before.

Will the blocked person know I blocked them?

No. Outlook does not send a notification to blocked senders. Their emails straightforward go to your Junk folder, and they have no way to know you blocked them unless you tell them.

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

Outlook does not have a built-in way to block by subject or content. You can only block by sender email address or domain. If you want to filter emails by keywords, you can create a rule to move them to a folder automatically instead.

What if someone is using a different email address to contact me?

You will need to block each address separately. If the same person keeps creating new email addresses to contact you, consider reporting the emails as spam or phishing so Outlook learns to catch them automatically.

Does blocking on Outlook.com also block them on Outlook for Windows?

If you use the same Microsoft account on both, your blocked list syncs between them. However, if you use different accounts or different email services, you will need to block the address in each one separately.