The quickest way to block an email address in Yahoo Mail

Open the email from the person you want to block. Click the three dots (more options) in the top right corner of the message. Select "Block" from the menu. Yahoo will move that sender's future emails to spam automatically, and you won't see notifications when they write to you.

If you've already deleted the email, you can block the address from your spam folder too. Open spam, find any message from that sender, click the three dots, and choose "Block". The result is the same — their messages go straight to spam from that point forward.

Blocking works one address at a time. If someone emails you from multiple addresses, you'll need to block each one separately as they arrive.

Key Takeaways

  • You can block a sender directly from their email by clicking the three dots and selecting "Block".
  • Blocked senders' messages go to your spam folder automatically, and you won't receive notifications about them.
  • Blocking one email address does not block other addresses from the same person if they use multiple accounts.
  • You can unblock someone at any time by going to Settings and finding them in your blocked senders list.

Where to find your blocked senders list

Go to Settings in Yahoo Mail — click the gear icon in the top right, then select "Settings" from the dropdown. Click "Security and privacy" on the left side. Scroll down until you see "Blocked addresses". This list shows everyone you've blocked and lets you unblock them if you change your mind.

The blocked addresses section also shows you when you blocked each person, which can be useful if you're trying to remember why you blocked someone months ago.

What happens when you block someone

When you block an address, Yahoo sends their emails to your spam folder. You won't see a notification when they message you, and they won't know they've been blocked — Yahoo doesn't send them a message saying you blocked them. Their emails stay in spam for 30 days before Yahoo deletes them automatically.

The person can still see that they sent you an email (it won't bounce back to them), but they have no way to know whether you blocked them, deleted it, or straightforward didn't read it. From their perspective, the email went through normally.

Blocking vs. reporting spam

Blocking and reporting spam are different actions. When you block someone, their future emails go to spam. When you report an email as spam, you're telling Yahoo's filters that this type of message is unwanted, which helps Yahoo improve its spam detection for all users.

If someone is sending you unwanted emails and you want to block them, you can do both — report the current email as spam and then block the address. This combination gives you when ready protection (blocking) and helps Yahoo's systems learn (reporting).

Unblocking someone if you change your mind

Go back to Settings, click "Security and privacy", and scroll to "Blocked addresses". Find the person you want to unblock and click the X next to their name. They're unblocked when ready, and their emails will no longer go to spam automatically.

Once you unblock someone, their old emails that went to spam stay in your spam folder — unblocking doesn't move them back to your inbox. If you want to see those old messages, you'll need to go to spam and move them manually.

When blocking isn't enough

If someone is harassing you through email, blocking is a good first step. But if the behavior continues — they create new email addresses to contact you, or the messages contain threats — you may want to report it to Yahoo. Click the three dots on a message and select "Report phishing" or "Report abuse" depending on what's happening.

Yahoo takes reports of harassment and threats seriously. You can also save copies of the emails (take screenshots or read them) in case you need to show them to law enforcement or your email provider later.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I block an entire domain, like all emails from company.com?

No, Yahoo Mail blocks individual email addresses only, not whole domains. If you're getting unwanted emails from multiple people at the same company, you'll need to block each address separately. Some email providers offer domain-level blocking, but Yahoo doesn't have this feature built in.

Will the person I blocked know I blocked them?

No. Yahoo doesn't notify them, and their email won't bounce back. They'll see that the email was sent successfully, but they won't know it went to your spam folder or that you blocked them. They may eventually notice you never reply, but there's no automatic notification.

What if someone I blocked sends me an email from a different address?

Yahoo only blocks the specific address you selected. If they email you from a different account, that message won't be blocked automatically. You'll see it arrive normally and can block that address too if you want.

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

Yahoo Mail's blocking feature works by sender address only. If you want to filter emails by subject or content, you can create rules in Settings under "Filters and blocked addresses" to automatically move certain messages to spam, but this is different from blocking a person.

If I unblock someone, will their old emails come back to my inbox?

No. Unblocking only stops future emails from going to spam. The emails they sent while blocked stay in your spam folder. You can move them back to your inbox manually if you want to read them, but unblocking doesn't do this automatically.