The quickest way to block someone in Yahoo Mail
Open the email from the person you want to block. Look for the three dots (⋯) in the top right corner of the message and click it. A menu will appear — select Block. Yahoo Mail will move that sender's future emails to your Spam folder automatically.
That is the entire process. Once blocked, you will not see their messages in your inbox, and they will not know you blocked them. If you change your mind later, you can unblock the address from your settings.
If you want to block someone before opening their email, you can right-click their name or address in your inbox and choose Block from the menu that appears. The result is the same.
Key Takeaways
- Blocked emails go to your Spam folder, not deleted, so you can review them later if needed.
- The block applies only to that exact email address — if someone uses a different address, those emails will still reach your inbox.
- You can unblock an address anytime by going to Settings, then Accounts and Import, then Other Yahoo Mail Settings, then Blocked addresses.
- Blocking someone in Yahoo Mail does not prevent them from sending you email — it only hides their messages from your view.
Where blocked emails actually go
When you block an address, Yahoo Mail does not delete the emails. Instead, it sends them to your Spam folder. This means you can still read a blocked person's message if you need to — you just have to go looking for it.
Check your Spam folder by clicking the folder list on the left side of your inbox and selecting Spam. Emails from blocked addresses will be mixed in with other spam. If you want to read one, click it to open it. If you want to permanently delete all messages from that sender, you can select them and click the trash icon.
Yahoo Mail keeps spam for 7 days before deleting it automatically. After that, blocked emails are gone for good.
How to unblock an email address
Click the gear icon (⚙) in the top right corner of your Yahoo Mail inbox. Select Settings from the dropdown menu. On the left side, click Accounts and Import, then scroll down and click Other Yahoo Mail Settings.
A new window will open. Look for Blocked addresses in the left menu and click it. 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. That person's emails will now go to your inbox again.
Unblocking happens when ready. The next email from that address will arrive in your inbox as usual.
What happens when you block someone
Blocking an address in Yahoo Mail is one-way. The person you block will not receive a notification that you blocked them. They can still send you emails — Yahoo Mail just hides them from you by putting them in Spam.
If the blocked person uses a different email address, those messages will still reach your inbox normally. Blocking works only on the exact address you selected. For example, if you block john@example.com, an email from john.smith@example.com will not be blocked.
Blocking does not prevent the person from seeing your replies to old emails or accessing any messages you sent them before you blocked them. It only affects new messages going forward.
Blocking email on mobile Yahoo Mail
Open the Yahoo Mail app on your phone. Find the email from the person you want to block and swipe left on it (iPhone) or long-press it (Android). A menu will appear with options including Block. Tap it to block that address.
On iPhone, you can also open the email and tap the three dots in the top right, then select Block. The process is the same as on a computer — the sender's future emails go to your Spam folder.
To unblock on mobile, open the Yahoo Mail app, go to the menu (three horizontal lines), tap Settings, select your email account, scroll to Blocked addresses, and tap Unblock next to the address you want to restore.
When blocking is not enough
If someone is sending you many emails from different addresses, blocking each one individually becomes tedious. In that case, you may want to create a filter instead. Filters can catch emails based on keywords in the subject line or message body, not just the sender's address.
To create a filter, go to Settings, then Accounts and Import, then Other Yahoo Mail Settings. Click Filters on the left. Click Add a new filter and enter the criteria — for example, you could filter any email with a certain word in the subject line. Choose what happens to matching emails (send to Spam, delete, or move to a folder).
Filters are useful when someone keeps emailing you from new addresses or when you want to automatically sort emails by topic rather than just hide them.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can someone tell if I blocked them?
No. The person you blocked will not receive any notification. Their emails will straightforward go to your Spam folder instead of your inbox. They have no way to know you blocked them unless you tell them.
What if I block someone by mistake?
Go to Settings, then Accounts and Import, then Other Yahoo Mail Settings, then Blocked addresses. Find the address you want to unblock and click the Unblock button. Their emails will go to your inbox again starting when ready.
Do blocked emails get deleted?
No. Blocked emails go to your Spam folder, where they stay for 7 days. You can read them anytime by opening Spam. After 7 days, Yahoo Mail deletes them automatically unless you move them to another folder.
Can I block an entire domain instead of one address?
Yahoo Mail does not have a built-in option to block entire domains. You can block individual addresses, or you can create a filter that catches emails from any address containing a specific domain name in the sender field.
Will blocking stop someone from seeing my old emails?
No. Blocking only affects new emails going forward. The person you block can still see any messages you sent them before you blocked them, and they can still reply to old conversations — those replies will go to your Spam folder.