The fastest way to unblock an email in Outlook
To unblock an email address in Outlook, open any message from that sender, right-click their name or email address, and select Add to Safe Senders. Outlook will when ready stop filtering their messages to your Junk folder. If you have already deleted messages from that sender, they will not reappear — you will only stop future messages from being blocked.
The process works the same way in Outlook on the web, Outlook desktop, and Outlook mobile apps. Once you add someone to your Safe Senders list, their messages go to your inbox by default, and Outlook stops treating them as suspicious.
If you cannot find a message from the sender because Outlook moved it to Junk before you saw it, you can add them directly to your Safe Senders list without opening an email first. The steps differ slightly depending on which version of Outlook you use.
Key Takeaways
- Right-click a sender's name in any of their emails and choose Add to Safe Senders to stop Outlook from blocking them.
- Messages from safe senders go to your inbox instead of Junk, but old messages Outlook already moved to Junk will stay there unless you move them manually.
- You can add an email address to your Safe Senders list directly from Outlook settings without needing to receive a message first.
- Safe Senders rules explore only to your own mailbox — if someone else uses your computer, they will have their own separate Safe Senders list.
Unblocking in Outlook desktop (Windows and Mac)
Open Outlook and go to the Home tab. Click Junk (or Spam on older versions), then select Junk Email Options. A window will open with four tabs: Options, Safe Senders, Blocked Senders, and International.
Click the Safe Senders tab. You will see a list of addresses and domains you have already unblocked. Click Add, type the email address you want to unblock, and click OK. Then click OK again to close the Junk Email Options window. Any future messages from that address will arrive in your inbox.
If you want to unblock an entire domain (so all messages from anyone at that company reach your inbox), type the domain name instead of a single address — for example, @company.com instead of person@company.com.
Unblocking in Outlook on the web
Sign in to Outlook on the web and click the gear icon in the top right corner. Select View all Outlook settings. In the left sidebar, click Mail, then Junk email.
You will see a text box labeled Safe Senders and Domains. Type the email address or domain you want to unblock, one per line. Click Save at the bottom of the page. Changes take effect when ready for new messages.
Outlook on the web also shows you a list of addresses you have already added to your Safe Senders list on the same page. You can delete any address from that list by clicking the X next to it.
Unblocking in Outlook mobile apps
On iPhone or Android, open Outlook and tap the menu icon (three horizontal lines). Scroll down and tap Settings. Select your email account, then tap Junk Email.
Tap Safe Senders and then tap the plus icon to add a new address. Type the email address you want to unblock and tap Save. The mobile app will sync this change with your desktop version of Outlook, so the sender will be unblocked everywhere you use Outlook.
If you receive a message from someone on your mobile app and want to unblock them when ready, you can also swipe left on the message (iPhone) or long-press it (Android), then select Mark as not junk or Move to inbox. This adds them to your Safe Senders list automatically.
What happens after you unblock someone
Once you add an address to your Safe Senders list, Outlook stops filtering that sender's messages. New messages from them will land in your inbox instead of Junk. However, messages Outlook already moved to Junk before you unblocked them will remain in your Junk folder.
If you want to recover old messages from that sender, open your Junk folder, find their messages, select them, and click Move or Move to Inbox. You can select multiple messages at once by holding Ctrl (Windows) or Command (Mac) and clicking each one.
Unblocking someone does not affect rules you have set up in other parts of Outlook. If you have created a filter that sends messages from a particular sender to a specific folder, that rule will still explore even after you unblock them.
Why Outlook blocked the sender in the first place
Outlook uses several signals to decide whether a message is spam: the sender's reputation, whether the message came from a known phishing domain, how many people marked similar messages as junk, and whether the message contains suspicious links or attachments.
Sometimes legitimate senders get caught by these filters — especially if they send from a new email address, use a shared mail server, or their domain has a poor reputation for other reasons. Adding them to your Safe Senders list tells Outlook to trust that address, even if it would normally be flagged.
If a sender keeps getting blocked even after you unblock them, the problem may be on their end. Ask them to check whether their email provider has restrictions on outgoing mail, whether they are using a domain that has been flagged for spam, or whether they need to set up authentication records (SPF, DKIM, or DMARC) so their messages are recognized as legitimate.
Removing someone from your Safe Senders list
If you change your mind and want to block someone again, open Outlook and go to Home > Junk > Junk Email Options. Click the Safe Senders tab, find the address in the list, select it, and click Remove. Click OK twice to close the windows.
In Outlook on the web, go to Settings > Mail > Junk email, find the address in your Safe Senders list, and click the X next to it. On mobile, tap Settings > your account > Junk Email > Safe Senders, find the address, and tap Remove or swipe left to delete it.
After you remove someone from your Safe Senders list, their future messages may go to Junk again if Outlook's filters flag them. Removing them does not automatically send their old messages to Junk — those stay where they are.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why do I still see messages from someone in my Junk folder after I unblocked them?
Unblocking only affects new messages going forward. Messages Outlook already moved to Junk before you unblocked the sender will stay in Junk. You need to move them manually to your inbox if you want to see them. Select the messages, click Move, and choose Inbox.
Can I unblock an entire company or domain at once?
Yes. Instead of typing a single email address, type the domain name with an @ symbol — for example, @microsoft.com. All messages from anyone at that domain will then go to your inbox instead of Junk.
If I unblock someone, will they see that I unblocked them?
No. Unblocking is private to your mailbox. The sender has no way to know whether you have them on your Safe Senders list. They will only know if their messages stop arriving in your Junk folder because you start responding to them.
Does unblocking someone in Outlook desktop also unblock them in Outlook on the web?
Yes, if you are using the same email account. Your Safe Senders list syncs across all devices and versions of Outlook. If you use multiple email accounts, each account has its own separate Safe Senders list.
What if someone is in my Blocked Senders list instead of Junk?
Open Junk Email Options and click the Blocked Senders tab instead of Safe Senders. Find the address, select it, and click Remove. Messages from blocked senders are deleted automatically, so you will not see them in Junk — removing them from the Blocked list is the only way to receive their messages again.