Blocking a sender stops their messages from reaching your inbox

When you block someone on Gmail, their emails go straight to spam and you won't see notifications for them. You can block a sender from an open email in seconds, and Gmail keeps a list of everyone you've blocked so you can unblock them later if you change your mind.

Blocking is different from unsubscribing. Unsubscribe removes you from a mailing list; blocking prevents one specific person from contacting you at all. If someone is harassing you, blocking stops new messages immediately, though it does not delete emails they've already sent.

Key Takeaways

  • Open any email from the person you want to block, click the three-dot menu, and select "Block [sender name]" to send their future messages to spam.
  • Blocked senders' emails arrive in your spam folder automatically, and you won't receive notifications when they write to you.
  • Gmail stores your blocked list in Settings under Filters and Blocked Addresses, where you can unblock someone at any time.
  • Blocking someone does not delete their past emails — those remain in your inbox unless you delete them manually.
  • If someone is using multiple email addresses to contact you, you must block each address separately.

The fastest way: block from an open email

Open any email from the person you want to block. In the top right corner of the email, click the three vertical dots (the menu icon). A dropdown menu appears with several options.

Click "Block [sender name]" — Gmail shows you the exact name it will block. Confirm the action if a popup appears. That's it. From that moment on, any email from that address goes to spam automatically, and Gmail will not notify you when they send something.

Blocking someone who hasn't emailed you yet

If you want to block someone before they've sent you anything, you'll need to go through Settings instead. Click the gear icon in the top right of Gmail, then select "See all settings."

Go to the "Filters and Blocked Addresses" tab. Scroll to the bottom and click "Create a new filter." Type the email address you want to block in the "From" field. Click "Create filter" at the bottom right. On the next screen, check the box next to "Delete it" or "Skip the inbox (Archive it)" — either option keeps their messages out of your inbox. Click "Create filter" to finish.

This method is less common because most people block someone only after they've already received an unwanted email. But it works if you know in advance that you don't want to hear from a specific address.

Where to find your blocked list and unblock someone

Gmail keeps track of everyone you've blocked. To see the list or unblock someone, click the gear icon and select "See all settings." Go to "Filters and Blocked Addresses" and scroll down to the "Blocked addresses" section.

Your blocked senders appear in a list. Next to each one, click "Unblock" to remove them from the blocked list. Once you unblock someone, their emails will no longer go to spam automatically — they'll arrive in your inbox like any other message.

What happens to old emails from someone you block

Blocking someone does not delete or hide the emails they've already sent you. Those messages stay in your inbox (or wherever you've filed them) unless you delete them yourself. Blocking only affects new messages going forward.

If you want to remove their old emails, select them and delete them manually, or use Gmail's search to find all messages from that sender and delete them in bulk. Search for "from:emailaddress@example.com" and then select all results to delete them at once.

Blocking multiple addresses from the same person

If someone is contacting you from different email addresses, you'll need to block each one separately. Gmail treats each address as a different sender, so blocking one address does not block the others.

Open an email from each address and block it using the three-dot menu. If you know all the addresses in advance, you can create multiple filters in Settings instead — go to "Filters and Blocked Addresses," create a new filter for each address, and apply the same action to all of them.

When blocking isn't enough

Blocking stops emails from reaching your inbox, but it doesn't prevent someone from knowing you've blocked them — they'll simply see that their messages aren't getting through. If someone is threatening you or harassing you, blocking is a good first step, but you may also want to report the emails to Gmail.

Open an email from the sender, click the three-dot menu, and select "Report phishing" or "Report spam" depending on what the email contains. This helps Gmail identify patterns of abuse and may prevent the sender from contacting other users. If the harassment is serious, you can also report it to law enforcement.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can someone tell if I've blocked them on Gmail?

They won't receive a notification that you've blocked them, but they may figure it out if their emails stop arriving and they don't see a bounce-back message. Gmail doesn't send a "you've been blocked" alert the way some other platforms do.

If I block someone, can they still see my emails?

No. If they try to reply to an old email from you, their reply will go to spam. But blocking only affects messages they send to you going forward — it doesn't change anything about emails you've already sent them.

What's the difference between blocking and muting a conversation?

Muting hides a conversation from your inbox but doesn't stop the sender from contacting you. Blocking sends all their future messages to spam. Use mute for conversations you don't want to see but might want to check later; use block for people you don't want to hear from at all.

Can I block an entire domain instead of just one email address?

Gmail doesn't have a built-in option to block all addresses from a domain at once. You can create a filter that catches addresses matching a pattern — for example, "from:*@example.com" — but you'll need to set this up manually in Filters and Blocked Addresses.

If I unblock someone, will their old emails come back to my inbox?

No. Unblocking only stops new messages from going to spam. Old emails that went to spam stay in your spam folder unless you move them back to your inbox manually.