The fastest way to unblock someone on iPhone Mail
Open the Mail app and go to your Mailbox list. Tap Edit in the top left corner, then scroll down and tap VIP. Find the person you want to unblock in your VIP list, swipe left on their name, and tap Remove. This removes them from VIP status but does not fully unblock them in the way most people mean.
To actually unblock an email address so messages arrive in your inbox again, you need to go to Settings instead. Tap Settings, scroll down to Mail, then tap Blocking. You will see a list of blocked senders. Find the address you want to unblock, swipe left, and tap Unblock. Messages from that sender will now arrive normally in your inbox.
The difference matters: VIP is a priority list that makes certain emails stand out. Blocking is what stops emails from reaching you at all. If you blocked someone by mistake, the Blocking menu is where you fix it.
Key Takeaways
- Blocked email addresses live in Settings > Mail > Blocking, not in the Mail app itself.
- To unblock someone, open Settings, find Mail, tap Blocking, swipe left on the address, and tap Unblock.
- VIP is a separate feature that highlights certain senders — removing someone from VIP does not unblock their emails.
- After you unblock an address, new messages from that sender will arrive in your inbox, but old blocked messages do not reappear.
Where blocked addresses actually live on your phone
Many people look for blocked senders in the Mail app itself and cannot find them. Apple stores the block list in Settings, not in Mail. This is by design — the block list is a system-wide setting that affects Mail, Messages, FaceTime, and other apps all at once.
When you block someone in Mail, you are blocking their email address across multiple Apple services. That is why the unblock option is not in Mail: it is a deeper setting that requires you to go to the phone's main Settings menu. If you unblock an address in Settings, that person can reach you through Mail, Messages, FaceTime, and any other Apple service that respects the block list.
Step-by-step: unblocking an email address
Start at your home screen. Tap the Settings app (the gray gear icon). Scroll down the list until you see Mail — it usually appears after Messages and before Maps. Tap Mail.
Inside Mail settings, look for an option called Blocking. Tap it. You will see a list of every email address, phone number, and contact you have blocked. Find the sender you want to unblock by scrolling through the list or searching if the list is long.
Once you find the address, swipe from right to left across it. A red Unblock button will appear on the right side. Tap Unblock. The address is now removed from your block list, and messages from that sender will arrive in your inbox starting when ready.
What happens after you unblock someone
New emails from the unblocked address arrive in your inbox like any other message. Old emails that were blocked before you unblocked the sender do not automatically reappear — they were deleted or moved to trash when they were blocked, depending on your settings.
If you want to see old messages from that sender, check your Trash folder. Tap Mailboxes at the bottom of the Mail app, then look for Trash or All Mail. You can move old messages back to your inbox if you find them there.
The unblock takes effect right away. You do not need to restart Mail or your phone. If you are worried about blocking the person again by accident, you can add them to your Contacts so their name appears instead of just an email address.
How to block someone in the first place (and why you might want to)
If you want to block a sender before they send you anything, you can do it from Settings the same way. Go to Settings > Mail > Blocking and tap Add. Type in the email address you want to block. From that point on, any message from that address goes straight to trash.
Most people block someone after receiving unwanted email. Open the message, tap the sender's name or address at the top, then tap Block This Contact. A confirmation appears — tap Block Contact again. The sender is now blocked, and their future emails will not reach your inbox.
Blocking is different from marking email as spam. When you mark something as spam, you are telling Apple's mail system that the sender is a spammer, which helps train the filter for everyone. When you block someone, you are saying you do not want to hear from that specific person, ever. Use blocking for people you know; use spam for unsolicited bulk mail.
Unblocking on other Apple devices
If you use Mail on an iPad or Mac, the block list syncs across your devices through iCloud. When you unblock an address on your iPhone, it is automatically unblocked on your iPad and Mac as well. You do not have to unblock the same person on each device separately.
The same is true in reverse: if you block someone on your Mac, they are blocked on your iPhone and iPad. This is helpful if you want a consistent experience across all your devices, but it also means you cannot block someone on one device and leave them unblocked on another.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I unblock someone without going to Settings?
No. The Mail app does not have a built-in unblock option. You must go to Settings > Mail > Blocking to see your block list and unblock addresses. Apple designed it this way to keep blocking centralized in one place across all your apps.
What if I do not see the Blocking option in Mail settings?
Make sure you are running the latest version of iOS. Older versions of iOS may not have a dedicated Blocking menu in Mail settings. Update your phone by going to Settings > General > Software Update. After updating, the Blocking option should appear in Mail settings.
Will the person know I unblocked them?
No. Unblocking someone does not send them a notification. They will not know you unblocked them unless you tell them or they send you an email and see it delivered. There is no read receipt or alert on their end.
Can I block someone from a specific domain, like all emails from a company?
No. iPhone Mail only blocks individual email addresses, not entire domains. If you want to block all emails from a company domain, you would need to block each address separately, or use mail filtering rules on a computer or through your email provider's web interface.
Do blocked emails go to trash or a separate folder?
Blocked emails are deleted when ready and go to your Trash folder. They do not sit in a separate "blocked" folder. If you want to see what was blocked, check Trash. After 30 days, messages in Trash are permanently deleted.