Add a sender to your contacts to stop Gmail filtering their mail
Whitelisting an email address in Gmail means adding that sender to your contacts so Gmail treats their messages as trusted. When you add someone to your contacts, Gmail stops filtering their mail into spam or promotions, and their messages land in your inbox instead. This works whether the sender is a person, a business, or an automated alert you need to see.
The process takes less than a minute and works the same way on desktop, phone, or tablet. Once you whitelist a sender, every future message from that address goes straight to your inbox — you do not have to do anything again.
Key Takeaways
- Open any email from the sender you want to whitelist, click the three-dot menu, and select "Add to Contacts" to add them permanently.
- If you cannot find the original email, go to your Contacts app, click "Create contact", and type in the sender's email address manually.
- Whitelisting only affects that one email address — if a sender uses multiple addresses, you need to add each one separately.
- Moving a message out of spam to your inbox does not whitelist the sender; you must add them to contacts for Gmail to stop filtering them.
- If mail from a whitelisted sender still lands in spam, check your Gmail filters and rules, which can override the contacts list.
Whitelist from an existing email
The fastest way to whitelist someone is to start with an email they already sent you. Open the message, look for the three vertical dots (the menu icon) in the top right corner of the email, and click it. A dropdown menu appears with several options.
Click "Add to Contacts". Gmail adds that sender's email address to your contacts when ready. From that moment on, messages from that address bypass Gmail's spam and promotions filters and land in your inbox. You can close the email — the whitelist is active.
If the email is in your spam folder, open it first, then add the sender to contacts. Moving the message to your inbox alone does not whitelist them; you must use the "Add to Contacts" option.
Whitelist by creating a contact manually
If you do not have an email from the sender yet, or if you want to whitelist multiple addresses at once, you can add them through your Contacts app. On desktop, click the Google apps menu (the grid of nine dots in the top right corner of Gmail), then click "Contacts".
Click the "Create contact" button (usually a plus sign or red button, depending on your device). A form opens where you type the sender's name and email address. Fill in at least the email field — the name is optional but helpful so you remember who they are. Click "Save" when you are done.
On a phone or tablet, open the Gmail app, tap the menu (three horizontal lines), scroll down to "Contacts", tap the plus icon, and enter the email address the same way. The contact saves automatically when you finish typing.
Whitelist multiple addresses from the same sender
Some organizations send mail from different addresses — a billing department, a support team, a shipping notification system. If you whitelist only one address, mail from the others still gets filtered. You need to add each address separately to your contacts.
The fastest way is to open each email from that sender, use the three-dot menu, and click "Add to Contacts" for each one. If you receive emails from multiple addresses but do not have them all yet, go to your Contacts app, create a new contact for the organization, and add all their known email addresses to that single contact card. Gmail treats all addresses on the same contact as whitelisted.
Check your filters if whitelisted mail still goes to spam
Occasionally, a whitelisted sender's mail still lands in spam or another folder. This usually means you have a Gmail filter or rule that overrides your contacts list. Filters are custom rules you set up to automatically sort, label, or delete mail based on keywords, sender address, or other criteria.
To check your filters, open Gmail on desktop, click the settings gear icon in the top right, and select "See all settings". Click the "Filters and Blocked Addresses" tab. Look for any filter that mentions the sender's address or domain. If you find one, click the dropdown arrow next to it and select "Delete" to remove it. After you delete the filter, future mail from that sender respects your contacts list.
If you do not see a filter but the mail still goes to spam, the sender's domain or IP address may be on Gmail's broader spam list. In that case, you can create a filter to force their mail to your inbox: go to "Filters and Blocked Addresses", click "Create a new filter", type the sender's address in the "From" field, click "Create filter", check "Never send it to Spam", and click "Create filter" again.
Whitelist a sender on mobile
On the Gmail app for iPhone or Android, open an email from the sender you want to whitelist. Tap the three-dot menu icon in the top right corner of the email. Scroll down and tap "Add to Contacts". The sender is now whitelisted and their future mail goes to your inbox.
If you want to add a contact without an existing email, open the Gmail app, tap the menu (three horizontal lines), tap "Contacts", tap the plus icon, and enter the email address. Save the contact, and whitelisting is complete. The process is the same on both iPhone and Android.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does whitelisting stop all future emails from that sender?
No. Whitelisting only stops Gmail from filtering their mail into spam or promotions folders. It does not prevent you from deleting their messages, unsubscribing from mailing lists, or blocking them later if you change your mind. You can still manually delete or block a whitelisted sender at any time.
What is the difference between whitelisting and unblocking?
Unblocking removes a sender from your blocked list so their mail reaches your inbox again. Whitelisting adds a sender to your contacts so Gmail treats them as trusted. If a sender is blocked, unblock them first. Then add them to contacts to whitelist them and prevent future filtering.
If I whitelist someone, will they see that I did?
No. Adding someone to your contacts is private. They do not receive a notification, and there is no way for them to know you whitelisted them. It only affects how Gmail sorts your incoming mail.
Can I whitelist an entire domain instead of one email address?
Not through the contacts method. However, you can create a filter that whitelists all mail from a domain. Go to Settings, click "Filters and Blocked Addresses", create a new filter, type the domain in the "From" field (for example, @company.com), and select "Never send it to Spam". All addresses from that domain then bypass spam filtering.
What happens if I delete a whitelisted contact?
If you delete someone from your contacts, Gmail no longer treats them as trusted, and their mail may be filtered into spam or promotions again. To keep receiving their mail in your inbox, either keep them in contacts or create a filter for their address.