Block a sender in AOL Mail

To block an email address in AOL Mail, open the message from the sender you want to block, click the three-dot menu icon in the top right of the email, and select "Block sender." AOL will move that sender's future emails to your spam folder automatically. You do not need to delete the current message first — blocking works on the address itself, not the individual email.

If you have already deleted the message, you can still block the sender. Go to your Spam folder, find an email from that address if one exists, and use the same three-dot menu to block. If nothing from that sender is in your Spam folder, you will need to use the filter method described in the next section instead.

Blocked senders cannot tell they have been blocked, and AOL does not send them a notification. The block applies only to your account — if you share a computer with someone else who uses AOL Mail, their account will not be affected.

Key Takeaways

  • The fastest way to block is to open an email from that sender, click the three-dot menu, and select "Block sender."
  • Blocked emails go to your spam folder, not deleted, so you can review them later if needed.
  • If you have already deleted all emails from a sender, you can create a filter rule to block future messages from that address.
  • Blocking works on the exact email address — if a sender uses a different address, that new address will not be blocked automatically.
  • You can unblock a sender at any time by going to your mail settings and removing them from your blocked list.

Use filters to block addresses you no longer have emails from

If you deleted all messages from a sender and want to block them without waiting for a new email, create a filter rule instead. Click the gear icon in the top right of AOL Mail, select "Settings," then choose "Filters" from the left menu.

Click "Add a new filter" and type the sender's email address in the "From" field. Under "Then," choose "Move to Spam." Name the filter something you will recognize, like the sender's name or company, then click "Save." Any email from that address will now go straight to spam, even if it is the first message you receive from them.

Filters are useful when you know you want to block someone but have not received a recent email from them, or when you want to block an entire domain (for example, all emails ending in @unwanteddomain.com). To block a whole domain, type @unwanteddomain.com in the "From" field instead of a single address.

Check your blocked senders list

AOL keeps a record of everyone you have blocked. To see this list, click the gear icon, select "Settings," then go to "Blocked addresses" in the left menu. You will see every address you have blocked on this account.

From this page, you can unblock any sender by clicking the X next to their address. Unblocking restores their emails to your inbox — they will no longer go to spam. You can block and unblock the same address as many times as you need.

What happens to emails from blocked senders

When you block someone, their emails do not disappear. Instead, AOL automatically moves them to your Spam folder. You can still read them if you go to Spam and look for their address, but they will not show up in your inbox or trigger notifications on your phone or other devices.

If a blocked sender sends you an attachment or a message with urgent-looking subject lines, it will still go to spam — blocking does not make exceptions. This is intentional: the point of blocking is to remove that sender from your daily view entirely.

Emails in your Spam folder are usually deleted after 30 days automatically, though you can delete them sooner if you want. If you think you might need to review a blocked sender's messages later, you can move them to a folder before they expire.

Block emails by subject line or content

If you are getting unwanted emails from many different addresses but they all have something in common — the same subject line, the same company name in the body, or the same link — you can block based on that pattern instead of blocking each address individually.

Go to Settings, then Filters. Click "Add a new filter" and leave the "From" field blank. Instead, fill in the "Subject" field with a word or phrase that appears in all the unwanted emails. For example, if you keep getting emails with "WINNER" in the subject line, type that word. Then set the action to "Move to Spam" and save.

Content-based filters are less precise than address-based ones — a filter for the word "sale" might catch legitimate emails you actually want. Test a new content filter by checking your spam folder for a few days to make sure nothing important is being caught by mistake.

Unblock a sender

To unblock someone, go to Settings, select "Blocked addresses," find the sender in the list, and click the X next to their name. Their emails will no longer go to spam automatically — new messages from them will arrive in your inbox like any other email.

Unblocking does not restore old emails that were already moved to spam. If you need to read a message from someone you previously blocked, go to your Spam folder and search for their address before you unblock them. Once you unblock, those old messages will still be in Spam, but you will know where to find them.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I block an email address if I have never received a message from them?

Not through the block sender option — that only works on emails you have already received. Instead, create a filter rule by going to Settings, selecting Filters, and typing the address in the "From" field with the action set to "Move to Spam." This blocks them before their first email arrives.

What if someone is sending me emails from multiple addresses?

Block each address individually using the three-dot menu, or create a single filter that blocks the entire domain if all the addresses end with the same company name. For example, if someone is using john@company.com, jane@company.com, and support@company.com, you can block @company.com to catch all of them at once.

Will a blocked sender know I blocked them?

No. AOL does not notify senders when they are blocked, and there is no way for them to know their emails are going to your spam folder. From their perspective, their messages are being sent normally.

Can I block emails on my phone?

Yes. In the AOL Mail app on iOS or Android, open an email from the sender, tap the three-dot menu, and select "Block sender." The process is the same as on a computer. Filters created on your phone will also work on your computer and vice versa.

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

No. Unblocking only stops future emails from going to spam. Messages that were already moved to spam stay in the Spam folder. You can move them back to your inbox manually if you want to read them again.