How To Block An Email Address In 2023

If you’re tired of all the spam that reaches your inbox, here’s how to block an email address from specific senders if you use Gmail, Yahoo, Outlook, or another email provider. You’ll also find out how Clean Email, a modern inbox cleaner, can help you manage your mailbox.

How to Block Emails on Gmail

Gmail does a good job of sorting your incoming mail and placing them in the right places, including moving spam messages to the Spam folder. Still, some spam and unwanted emails can get through and clutter your Inbox.

Probably the easiest way to stop seeing unwanted emails is to block a message so that Gmail automatically delivers messages from the sender’s address to the Spam folder. We have a quick video tutorial that shows how to block unwanted emails so that you won’t see them in your Gmail inbox:


To block someone on Gmail using the Gmail web app and to block emails on Android phones using the Gmail mobile app, follow these steps:

  1. Open a message from the sender you would like to stop.
  2. Click More (the three vertical dots next to the Reply button) and select Block [sender’s name].
  3. How to block someone on Gmail
  4. A pop-up window will appear and ask you if you want to Block the sender’s address and move all future messages from it to the Spam folder. Click Block to confirm.
  5. How to block emails on Gmail
  6. A confirmation message appears, telling you that you’ve successfully blocked the sender.

Should you ever decide to unblock the sender, open any message you’ve received from it, click More and select Unblock [sender’s name]. If you can’t find any message from the sender, click Settings (the gear icon) and select the See all settings. Go to Filters and Blocked Addresses, find the address you would like to unblock, and select the unblock link to the right of it.

The problem with spammers is that they often keep randomly generating new addresses, forcing users to block each new spam message individually. It probably won’t surprise you much to learn that many people simply give up after a while and live with an inbox full of spam emails.

The good news is that Gmail makes it easy to create rules to block an entire domain name. Here’s how to block unwanted emails in a single step:

  1. Click Show search options (located on the right side of the search bar).
  2. Show search options
  3. Type the desired email address under From. Keep in mind that you don’t have to type the entire address and can enter only the domain name.
  4. Type the desired email address
  5. Click Create filter, which is located in the lower-right corner and may be greyed out.
  6. Click Create filter
  7. In the dialog box that appears, select Delete it to automatically delete all emails from the desired address.
  8. Select Delete it to automatically delete all emails
  9. Click Create filter.
  10. Click Create filter

How to Block Emails on Yahoo

Yahoo gives you the option to block as many as 500 addresses. When you block an address on Yahoo, all messages from it get automatically moved to the Spam folder, leaving you with a clean inbox.

Here’s how to block emails on Yahoo:

  1. Log in to your Yahoo account.
  2. Hover the mouse cursor over the Settings icon and select More Settings from the pop-up menu.
  3. How to block emails on Yahoo
  4. Choose Security and privacy from the left pane.
  5. Next to Blocked addresses, select Add.
  6. Choose Security and privacy
  7. Under Add an email address to block, type the address you would like to block.
  8. Click Save.
  9. Next to Blocked addresses, select Add

To unblock an email address on Yahoo, you simply navigate to the Blocked Addresses category again and choose which sender you want to unblock.

If you use the Yahoo Mail app on your mobile device, follow these steps:

  1. Open the Inbox folder and choose the message you want to be blocked. Alternatively, use the Search icon on the top of the screen to type in the mail address of the unwelcome sender.
  2. How to block emails on Yahoo mobile app
  3. Mark the empty checkbox by the chosen message and click More on the actions bar at the bottom of the screen.
  4. Choose Mark as spam option.
  5. Tap Done when you’re finished
  6. The messages from this sender are blocked now and sent to the Spam folder automatically.

How to Block an Email Address in Outlook

Here’s how to block emails on Outlook:

  1. Go to your inbox.
  2. Select any message from a sender you would like to stop.
  3. How to block an email address in Outlook
  4. Hover over the top toolbar and select Junk or Spam. Then select Block.
  5. Select Junk or Spam
  6. Confirm your choice by clicking OK.

The Outlook mobile app doesn’t have an option to block senders. Instead, send emails that you don’t want to hit your inbox to Spam by marking those messages as spam (tap the three vertical dots and select Move to Spam button).

If you would like to have more control over how Outlook.com handles incoming messages, open the Settings menu by clicking the Settings icon and selecting View full settings. There, you can create complex rules to tell Outlook how to handle incoming messages. For example, you can block all emails coming from a certain domain, or you can automatically move all marketing emails to a separate folder to separate them from important personal and business emails.

How to Block an Email Address in ProtonMail

Even though one of the most secure providers ProtonMail uses a smart spam detection system to automatically block spam messages, sometimes junk emails get through anyway. When that happens, the best defense is to block the sender.

Here’s how to stop receiving emails using ProtonMail’s filters:

  1. Go to your ProtonMail inbox and click Settings, located in the upper-right corner.
  2. How to block an email address in ProtonMail
  3. From the menu on the left, select Filters → search for the Block List option in the Spam filters section → click Add.
  4. How to block emails address in ProtonMail
  5. Choose whether to add an individual email or a domain to the block list.
  6. Enter the sender's address or the domain you would like to stop.
  7. Click Save.

You can quickly move email addresses from the Block list to the Allowed list using the Switch button, which is located next to the Delete button on the email address listing.

How to Block Emails in iCloud Mail

Is your iCloud Mail address attracting spam email messages? If you use iCloud on your Mac computer, you can block emails on Mac by following these steps:

  1. Open the Mail app and select a message from the sender you want to block.
  2. Place the mouse pointer over the name in the message header.
  3. Select Block Contact. A blocked icon appears next to that sender’s name.
  4. How to block emails in Mac Mail

If you use iCloud mail on the web, you’ll block malicious senders using email filters, automatically filtering incoming messages to avoid having to do so manually later.

Here’s how to block emails on iCloud by setting up rules:

  1. Go to the iCloud website.
  2. Log in to your iCloud Mail inbox.
  3. Click Settings (the gear icon in the sidebar) and choose Rules.
  4. How to block emails on iCloud
  5. Go to the Rules tab and click Add a Rule.
  6. How to block emails in iCloud Mail
  7. Select If a message and choose is from.
  8. Choose is from
  9. Enter the mail address of the person you want to block.
  10. Select Then and choose Move to Trash.
  11. Choose Move to Trash
  12. When you’re finished, click Done to activate the rule.

If you use iCloud from your iPhone, you’ll need to unsubscribe from unwanted emails. You won’t find a way to send unwanted messages to your Spam or Trash folders.

Here’s how to block an email on iPhone:

  1. Open the Mail app.
  2. Tap an email.
  3. Tap the blue link labeled as Unsubscribe.
  4. Tap Unsubscribe to confirm that you want to unsubscribe from the mailing list.
  5. Tap Unsubscribe to confirm that you want to unsubscribe

You can also block an email address in iCloud Mail by forwarding it to Apple’s spam department:

  1. Log in to your iCloud Mail inbox.
  2. Open the spam message.
  3. Forward it to spam@icloud.com.

How to Block Emails in AOL

To protect your account, AOL automatically scans and filters incoming messages, but any automatic anti-spam solution is guaranteed to make a mistake from time to time.

If you're getting overwhelmed by spam messages, take spam filtering into your own hands and proactively block emails on AOL in a web browser by following the steps below:

  1. Log in to your AOL Mail account.
  2. Select an email from the sender you want to block.
  3. Select Mark as spam button on the top bar.
  4. How to block emails in AOL

If you use the AOL mobile app, follow these steps:

  1. Tap an email.
  2. Tap the menu (the three horizontal lines in the lower-right corner).
  3. Select Mark as Spam.
  4. How to block emails in AOL mobile app

To remove a blocked email address, hover the mouse cursor over it and click the X icon.

Alternatively, you can also manage incoming emails using filters. AOL Mail lets you create up to 1,000 filters, and you can use them to automatically delete emails from certain senders, mark messages as read, and so on.

To update your filter settings for blocking senders:

  1. Log in to your AOL Mail account.
  2. Click the Settings gear on the top right and choose More Settings.
  3. How to block emails in AOL provider
  4. Got to Security and privacy section → Blocked addresses → click Add.
  5. Blocked Senders in AOL
  6. Enter the mail address you want to be blocked.
  7. Click Save to activate the filter.
  8. Enter the mail address you want to be blocked

How to Block an Email Address in Zoho Mail

You can use email filters in Zoho Mail to block an email address and automatically delete all emails sent from it. Additionally, filters can help you automate certain email management tasks, such as labeling or forwarding emails.

To create a filter in Zoho Mail that adds an email address or domain to a block list:

  1. Log in to your Zoho Mail account.
  2. Click the Settings gear on the top.
  3. How to block an email address in Zoho Mail
  4. Choose the Anti-Spam Lists block and select the Email Address tab.
  5. Select Anti-Spam List
  6. Select Allowlist/Blocklist Emails.
  7. To add an email, click in the Add new Blocklist email field and enter the email address. To add a domain, click in the Add new Blocklist domain field (under the Domain tab) and enter the domain address.
  8. Select Allowlist/Blocklist Emails
  9. Press Enter when you’re finished.

How to Block Emails in GMX

GMX has an effective spam filter that protects users from annoying and potentially dangerous spam messages. Users can also block any mail account they want to stop receiving emails from it. We recommend you take advantage of this option to block clever spammers that have managed to get around the GMX spam filter.

Here’s how to block an email address in GMX:

  1. Sign in to your GMX account.
  2. Click Settings (the gear icon).
  3. Select Blacklist.
  4. How to block emails in GMX
  5. Enter the email address or domain name that you want to be blocked.
  6. Click Save.

How to Block Emails in Mail.com

You can block any email address in Mail.com using the blacklist. All addresses added to it are automatically moved to the Spam folder. The Mail.com blacklist supports not only complete addresses (example@domain.com), but also domain names (domain.com). When you add a domain name to the blacklist, Mail.com automatically blocks all email addresses associated with it.

Here’s how to block someone on email by managing your Mail.com blacklist:

  1. Log in to your Mail.com inbox.
  2. Click Settings.
  3. Select Blacklist.
  4. How to block emails in Mail.com
  5. Enter the sender's address or domain name.
  6. Click Save to add it to your blocked list.

Unsubscribing vs. Blocking

You have options for how to stop unwanted emails from being delivered to your inbox. You can unsubscribe from emails if you want to be deleted from the sender’s mailing list. To do this, you’ll need to find out how to unsubscribe from emails from that sender. In many cases, the sender provides an unsubscribe link in the email message.

When you block emails, the sender will still send those unwanted emails because your address hasn’t been removed from their mailing list. Blocking is a task performed by your email provider. Blocking involves setting up a filter in your email program that moves those unwanted messages to a spam folder.

Can you block emails instead of unsubscribe from emails? Either method will stop those emails from cluttering your inbox. It’s a matter of whether you want the block to be permanent or whether you want to stop seeing those messages for a limited period. If you think you want to read those messages again in the future, choose to block the sender’s address. When you aren’t interested in those emails any more, choose to unsubscribe from the sender’s mailings.

Use Clean Email to Block and Unsubscribe From Unwanted Emails

The major email service providers give you a range of options how to block email addresses and stop spam. However, some services don’t offer the same range of options as Gmail, Outlook, Yahoo, and ProtonMail.

So, if you want a way easily block unwanted emails, you can apply any action to new emails coming to your mailbox without any manual work with Clean Email’s automation features. For example, you can automatically delete all marketing emails, move notifications from Twitter to a separate folder, or mark all new messages from a certain sender as read.

Auto Clean rules in Clean Email to block emailsAuto Clean rules in Clean Email to block emails

Clean Email works with any email provider with IMAP and gives you a uniform way to deal with unwanted emails to make the process simpler for you to manage. After you set up your email account with Clean Email and tell the app which emails you want to block, the rest is done automatically.

When you specify the addresses or domains you want to block, messages from those senders are sent to the trash.

Here’s how to block an unwelcome sender in Clean Email:

  1. Go to the Inbox or the All Mail folder.
  2. Click the sender's email that you want to be blocked.
  3. Select Block under the Senders Settings at the top (in case you choose a subscription, you will see the Unsubscribe button instead of the Block option.)
Block emails in Clean EmailBlock emails in Clean Email

Instead of blocking messages, you can unsubscribe from mailing lists using the Clean Email Unsubscriber.

To see a full list of the newsletters or other mailings you get, click the Unsubscriber tab on the left panel. Then, you’ll have one place where you can decide if you want to automatically remove yourself from each list, instead of visiting each mailing list’s website to unsubscribe.

Unsubscribe from emails with Clean EmailUnsubscribe from emails with Clean Email

Along with its blocking and unsubscribe services, Clean Email offers a list of other features that organize and filter messages so that related emails are grouped together. When you take advantage of these email management features, your inbox will only be filled with the messages you want to read.

Smart Views bundles in Clean EmailSmart Views bundles in Clean Email

Plus, the app’s Privacy Monitor will check if your email credentials were compromised during any know email data breach or security incident. If found, you will be advised to change your password, enable multi-factor authentication, or apply any other security actions.

Privacy Guard feature in Clean EmailPrivacy Guard feature in Clean Email

You’ll never have to worry about your information when it’s stored in your Clean Email account. Your data is encrypted and will never be shared, sold, or used. When the app checks your emails, it only looks at the header information, such as the subject line, sender, recipient, size, and date. The body of the message and any attachments are never downloaded or accessed.

To learn more about Clean Email and all the different ways how it can help you organize, group, remove, label, and archive your emails, visit its Help section and sign up for free. Clean Email has a web version, and apps for iPhone, Android, and Mac.

Conclusion

Most major email services make it possible to block unwanted messages and prevent them from reaching your inbox, with some services making email blocking easier than others. But regardless of what service you use, you can always organize all your emails with a few clicks and apply complex automation rules just as easily with Clean Email.


How To Block An Email Address – FAQs

Can you block someone’s email address?

Yes, you can do it! The process of blocking an address is different depending on what type of email you have. Read the above sections to learn how to block email addresses in Gmail, Yahoo, Outlook, ProtonMail, iCloud Mail, AOL, Zoho Mail, GMX, and Mail.com.

Why do I still get emails from a blocked sender?

Sometimes spammers use multiple addresses to send spam to your folder. You might stop one sender but have not yet blocked the others. Finding and blocking the root email address should cut off all communication with a specific sender.

Do blocked emails bounce back to sender?

Though blocking an email does not necessarily bounce it back to the sender, that is a possibility depending on the mail service you use.

How do you let a sender know they are blocked?

If you add a sender to your blocked senders list, they will not be notified that you blocked them. However, if you would like to notify them, the most common way to do this is to send a message to the sender describing that you plan to stop getting messages from them and why.

How do I block someone from emailing me?

As previously described, blocking senders varies depending on the email service you use. Read the sections above to learn how to block someone through your specific email inbox.

Where do blocked emails go?

When you block emails from a specified address, those emails are still delivered to your account. However, those messages don’t go to your inbox. Instead, blocked messages go to your spam or junk folder. You can go to the spam folder to review and delete those messages. If you don’t delete those emails, those messages will be deleted automatically by the mail app.

What happens when you block an email?

When you block emails, you are creating a filter in the email app that sends all messages from that email address to a spam or junk folder. You’ll still receive messages from blocked senders in your mailbox. However, the message sender is never notified that they’ve been blocked and that you don’t read their email.

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