Block a contact in Gmail by opening their email, clicking the three dots, and selecting "Block"
The fastest way to stop seeing emails from someone is to open any message from that person, look for the three vertical dots (called the menu button) in the top right corner of the email, and click "Block [sender's name]". Gmail will then send all future emails from that address to your spam folder automatically.
You do not need to find their contact card or go to settings. The block option lives right on the email itself. Once you block someone, you will not see their messages in your inbox, and they will not be notified that you blocked them.
Key Takeaways
- Open any email from the person you want to block, click the three-dot menu, and select "Block [name]" to send all their future messages to spam.
- Blocking someone in Gmail does not delete their old emails — they stay in your inbox unless you delete them yourself.
- If you block someone by mistake, you can unblock them by going to Settings, opening the Filters and Blocked Addresses tab, and clicking "Unblock" next to their name.
- Blocked contacts cannot tell that you blocked them, and Gmail will not send them a bounce-back message.
- Blocking works on the email address itself, so if someone uses a different email address, you will need to block that one separately.
Where to find the block button on desktop
On a computer, open Gmail in your web browser and click on any email from the person you want to block. Look at the top of the email, to the right of the sender's name and subject line. You will see a row of small icons and buttons.
Click the three vertical dots (the menu button) on the far right. A dropdown menu will appear with several options. Look for "Block [sender's name]" and click it. A confirmation message will appear asking if you are sure. Click "Block" again to confirm.
How to block someone on Gmail mobile
On your phone or tablet, open the Gmail app and tap on an email from the person you want to block. Tap the three vertical dots in the top right corner of the screen. Scroll down through the menu until you see "Block [sender's name]" and tap it.
A popup will ask you to confirm. Tap "Block" to finish. The process is the same whether you use an iPhone or Android phone.
What happens after you block someone
Once you block a contact, all emails from that address go straight to your spam folder. You will not see them in your inbox, and they will not show up in your other folders either. The person does not receive any notification that you blocked them — Gmail does not send a bounce-back message or any other alert.
Blocking only affects that specific email address. If the person sends you a message from a different email account, it will come through normally. You would need to block each address separately.
Emails from blocked contacts still exist in your inbox
Blocking someone does not erase their old emails. Any messages from them that arrived before you blocked them will stay in your inbox unless you delete them yourself. If you want to remove those old emails, you can select them and delete them, or move them to trash.
To find old emails from someone you blocked, use the search bar at the top of Gmail and type their email address or name. This will show you all messages from that person, and you can delete them in bulk if you want.
How to unblock someone if you change your mind
If you block someone by mistake or change your mind later, you can unblock them. Click the gear icon in the top right corner of Gmail and select "See all settings". Click the "Filters and Blocked Addresses" tab near the top.
Scroll down to the section labeled "Blocked addresses". You will see a list of everyone you have blocked. Find the person you want to unblock and click the "Unblock" button next to their name. Their emails will now come through to your inbox again.
The difference between blocking and muting
Gmail also has a "mute" option, which is different from blocking. When you mute someone, their emails still arrive in your inbox, but they skip past your inbox and go to a label or folder you choose. You can still read them if you want, but they do not clutter up your main inbox view.
Blocking is stronger — it sends all their emails to spam so you do not see them at all. Use mute if you want to keep the emails but hide them from your inbox. Use block if you do not want to see their messages at all.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can the person I blocked tell that I blocked them?
No. Gmail does not notify someone when you block them. They will not receive a bounce-back message or any other alert. If they send you an email, it will appear to go through normally on their end, but it will land in your spam folder instead of your inbox.
What if someone keeps emailing me from different addresses?
You will need to block each email address separately. If the same person uses multiple accounts to contact you, block each one as it arrives. You can also set up a filter in Gmail settings to automatically delete or spam emails containing certain keywords or phrases if blocking individual addresses becomes tedious.
Can I block an entire domain instead of just one person?
Gmail does not have a built-in feature to block an entire domain at once. You can only block individual email addresses. However, you can create a filter in Settings that automatically sends all emails from a specific domain to spam or deletes them.
Will blocking someone delete their old emails from my inbox?
No. Blocking only affects new emails going forward. Any old messages from that person stay in your inbox unless you delete them yourself. You can search for their address and delete old emails in bulk if you want to remove them.
What if I block someone and they send me an email from a new address?
The new email will come through normally because you only blocked the original address. Gmail treats each email address as separate, so blocking one does not block other addresses belonging to the same person. You would need to block the new address separately.