How to block an email address

Spam is annoying.

And it seems there’s only more and more junk email coming.

We’re here to help you deal with that.

Here’s how to block email addresses on the most popular email platforms:

• Yahoo: Open “settings” > “more settings” > “security and privacy” > “block addresses” > click “add” > type in the email you want to block > click “save.”
• Gmail: Open a message from the sender you want to block > click the three vertical dots in the top right corner of the message panel> click “block [sender’s name].”
• Apple Mail: Open an email from the address you want to block > click on the sender’s name or email address > select “block this contact” from the menu.
• Outlook: Go to “settings” > “mail” > “junk email” > under the “blocked senders and domains,” enter the email address you want on your blocked list > click “add” > “save.”

How to stop receiving unwanted emails

There’s something you should know before moving forward.

Blocking spam email addresses is only a band-aid solution.

Sure, you’ll prevent that specific sender from harassing you.

But what about all the others?

You can block contact after contact or— 

How to block an email address in Gmail

Gmail gives you the option to block any email address (on desktop and mobile). Here’s how to do it:

1. Open an email from the sender you want to block.
2. Click “more” —the three vertical dots in the top right corner of the message panel.
3. Select “block [Sender’s Name].”
4. Confirm your choice.

You can also click “report phishing” or “report spam” to help Google’s algorithms recognize malicious addresses.

You’ll find these options in the same dropdown menu as the blocking feature.

Messages from blocked addresses won’t appear in your inbox. Instead, Gmail will automatically direct them to the spam folder.

If you want to unblock someone in Gmail:

1. Open an email from the sender you want to unblock.
2. Click the “unblock sender” button. 

How to block domains in Gmail

Sometimes, blocking a single address isn’t enough.

Gmail doesn’t allow you to block domains like it does individual senders.

However, there is a workaround.

You can set up your Gmail inbox to automatically delete emails from a particular domain.

Here’s how to block domains in Gmail:

1. Open your inbox (the general view).
2. Click on the “show search options” button to the right of the Gmail search bar.
3. In the “from” field, type the domain you want to block, preceded by an “@” symbol, like this: @spammydomain.com.
4. Click “create filter.”
5. Check the “delete it” box.
6. Confirm by clicking “create filter.”

Any future messages from that domain will be automatically deleted.

This rule can only be set up on the desktop version of Gmail, however.

If you’re a mobile user, consider using a desktop browser to set up this filter.

How to block an email address in the Apple Mail app

How to block unwanted messages in the iOS Mail app (Mac and mobile):

1. Open an email from the address you want to block.
2. Tap on the sender’s name or email address.
3. Select “block this contact” from the menu.

Changes to the blocking list in your iOS Mail app will take effect on all theApple devices that are signed in to the same iCloud account.

How to block an email address in the iCloud browser app

If you access your iCloud Mail through a browser, blocking emails is slightly more complicated.

Follow these steps:

1. Select an email from the sender you wish to block.
2. Navigate to the bottom-left corner of the inbox and click the gear icon.
3. Select “rules.”
4. Click “add a rule” in the upper-right corner of the window.
5. Under “if a message,” select “is from.”
6. Type in the email address you want to block. 
7. Under “then,” select “move to trash.”
8. Confirm by clicking “done.”

From now on, iCloud Mail will automatically move incoming emails from the blocked address to the trash folder.

How to block an email address in the new Outlook

To block senders in the new Outlook (desktop and mobile):

1. Go to “settings” (represented by the gear icon).
2. Navigate to “mail” and select “junk email.”
3. Under “blocked senders and domains,” enter the email address you want on your blocked list and click “add.”
4. Confirm your choice by clicking “save.”

To unblock someone, go to your “junk email” settings to access your blocked senders list. Click the “delete” icon (represented by a rubbish bin) next to the address you wish to unblock.

How to block domains in the new Outlook

If you wish to not only block a specific sender but also an entire domain, here’s how to do it in the New Outlook:

5. Go to “settings” (represented by the gear icon).
6. Navigate to “mail” and select “junk mail.”
7. Under “blocked senders and domains,” enter the domain name you want on your blocked list (e.g., @spammydomain.com) and click “add.”
8. Confirm your choice by clicking “save.”

These steps will help prevent you from receiving emails from any of the addresses in the specified domain.

How to block an email address in the classic Outlook

Here’s how to block unwanted senders if you’re using classic Outlook:

1. Right-click an email from the sender you want to block.
2. From the dropdown menu, navigate to “junk” and click “block sender.”

New incoming messages from blocked senders will be automatically directed to your junk email folder.

How to block domains in the classic Outlook

If you’re using the older version of Outlook, you can also block entire domains.

To block domains:

1. In the left-hand side panel, navigate to the “delete” group.
2. Select “junk” and then click “junk e-mail options.”
3. Navigate to “blocked senders” and click “add.”
4. Enter the domain you want to block (e.g., @spammydomain.com).
5. Confirm by clicking “OK.”

Doing so will prevent any incoming mail from that domain from reaching your inbox—regardless of who sends it.

How to block an email address in Yahoo Mail

Here’s how to block a sender in Yahoo Mail for desktop: 

1. Open “settings” (the gear icon).
2. Go to “more settings” and then “security and privacy.”
3. Navigate to “block addresses” and click “add.”
4. Type in the email you want to block.
5. Click “save.”

And here’s how to block unwanted emails if you’re using the Yahoo Mail mobile app:

1. Select an email from the sender you want to block. You can select multiple senders.
2. Navigate to the “more options” icon—three horizontal dots in the top-right of the inbox panel.
3. Tap “block sender” (or “block” depending on the app version).
4. Confirm your choice and decide whether to block all future emails or delete existing ones.

How to block domains in Yahoo Mail

Sometimes, one blocked sender is not enough.

Instead, you want to block spam messages from similar addresses.

In that case, Yahoo allows you to block annoying emails from a specific domain.

Here’s how to block messages from a domain in Yahoo Mail for desktop:

1. Open “settings” (the gear icon).
2. Go to “more settings” and then “security and privacy.”
3. Navigate to “block unwanted sender domains” and click “add.”
4. Enter the domain (“@” and all that follows) you want to block, e.g., @spammydomain.com.
5. Click “save.”

If you want to unblock the domain, click the “delete” icon (it looks like a trash bin).

Here’s how to block a domain in the Yahoo mobile app:

1. Tap on your profile picture.
2. Go to “settings” (the gear icon).
3. Go to “block unwanted sender domains” and click “add a domain.”
4. Type in the domain (“@” and all that follows) you want to be blocked, e.g., @spammydomain.com.
5. Confirm your choice.

If you want to unblock the domain, tap “remove” or “unblock.”

There’s a catch, however.

You can only block three domains if you’re not a Yahoo Mail Plus user.

And if you subscribe—you can block up to 500 domains.

How to block an email address through your iPhone settings

This one is pretty straightforward. Simply add the senders of spam emails to the block list through the settings of your iPhone. 

• Open your iPhone Settings and find the “Mail” option.

• Find and press the “Blocked” settings option.

• Tap “Add new” and enter the contact you want to block.

How to block an email address on AOL

The process for blocking spam emails on AOL is very similar to most other email applications. The key difference here is that AOL does not have a dedicated email app for iPhone, so you will have to access email through the AOL app on Windows.

• Press the New emails button to access your email on the AOL app.
• You’ll find an empty checkbox near all of your emails. Check the ones you want to mark as spam.
• Click “More” under the three horizontal dots in the bottom right corner of the app.
• Tap on “Mark as spam” to send the emails to the spam folder.

FAQ