Block a sender directly from your inbox

The fastest way to block an email address in Yahoo Mail is to open the message from that sender, click the three-dot menu icon in the top right corner of the email, and select Block. Yahoo will then move all future messages from that address to your spam folder automatically.

If you have already deleted the message, you can still block the sender. Go to your Spam folder, find any message from that address, open it, click the three-dot menu, and choose Block. The sender will be added to your blocked list even though the original message is gone.

Once you block someone, Yahoo Mail will not delete their messages — it sends them straight to spam. You can still see blocked messages if you check your spam folder, but they will not appear in your inbox or trigger notifications.

Key Takeaways

  • Open any email from the sender you want to block, click the three-dot menu, and select Block to send all their future messages to spam.
  • Blocked messages go to your spam folder, not deleted, so you can review them later if needed.
  • You can block addresses from your spam folder even if you have already deleted the original message from your inbox.
  • To unblock a sender, go to your account settings under Security and Privacy, find the blocked list, and remove the address.

Block an address from your settings

If you want to block someone without opening their email, you can add them to your blocked list through your account settings. Click the gear icon in the top right corner of Yahoo Mail and select Settings.

In the Settings menu, click Security and Privacy on the left side. Scroll down to Blocked addresses and click Add email address. Type the email address you want to block and click Add. From that point forward, messages from that address will go to spam.

This method is useful if someone has not emailed you yet but you know you want to block them, or if you want to block multiple addresses at once without waiting for their messages to arrive.

Manage your blocked list

Yahoo Mail keeps a record of every address you have blocked. To see your full blocked list, go to Settings, click Security and Privacy, and look for Blocked addresses. The list shows every email address currently blocked.

If you change your mind about blocking someone, click the trash icon next to their address to remove them from the blocked list. Once you unblock them, their messages will no longer go automatically to spam — they will arrive in your inbox like any other sender.

You can add or remove addresses from your blocked list at any time. There is no limit to how many people you can block, and blocking one address does not affect your other email settings or filters.

Difference between blocking and marking as spam

Blocking and marking as spam work differently in Yahoo Mail. When you block an address, all future messages from that sender go to spam automatically. When you mark a single message as spam, you are telling Yahoo that one particular email is unwanted, but the sender is not added to your blocked list.

If you mark one message as spam but do not block the sender, their next email might still arrive in your inbox. Blocking is permanent until you unblock them; marking as spam is a one-time action on a single message.

For persistent unwanted senders, blocking is the better choice because it stops all their messages at once. For a one-off spam message from an address you will never hear from again, marking as spam is enough.

What happens to blocked messages

When you block an email address, Yahoo Mail sends all messages from that sender to your spam folder. The messages are not deleted from Yahoo's servers — they are just hidden from your inbox and do not trigger new message notifications.

You can still read blocked messages if you go to your spam folder and open them. This is useful if you block someone by mistake or if you need to review what they sent before you blocked them. Simply opening a blocked message does not unblock the sender.

Blocked messages stay in your spam folder for 30 days by default before Yahoo Mail deletes them permanently. If you want to keep a message from a blocked sender, you can move it to a different folder before the 30 days are up.

Block addresses that use slight variations

Some senders use email addresses that are almost identical to confuse filters. For example, someone might send from both sender@example.com and sender.name@example.com. Blocking one address does not block the other — you have to block each variation separately.

If you notice a sender is using multiple addresses, add each one to your blocked list individually. Go to Settings, Security and Privacy, and Blocked addresses, then add each variation you want to stop.

Yahoo Mail does not have a wildcard blocking feature that lets you block all addresses from a domain at once. You can only block specific email addresses, so you will need to add each variation the sender uses.

Frequently Asked Questions

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

No, Yahoo Mail only lets you block individual email addresses, not entire domains. If you want to block all messages from a company or domain, you will need to add each address separately as you receive messages from them.

Will the blocked sender know I blocked them?

No, the sender will not receive any notification that you blocked them. Their messages will simply go to spam on your end, and they will have no way of knowing unless they check your spam folder themselves, which they cannot do.

Can I block someone on my phone or mobile app?

Yes, you can block addresses in the Yahoo Mail app on your phone. Open an email from the sender, tap the three-dot menu, and select Block. The process is the same on iPhone and Android.

What if I accidentally blocked someone I want to hear from?

Go to Settings, Security and Privacy, find the address in your Blocked addresses list, and click the trash icon to unblock them. Their future messages will then arrive in your inbox normally.

Do blocked messages count toward my storage limit?

Yes, blocked messages in your spam folder still count toward your Yahoo Mail storage. If you want to free up space, you can delete them from spam, or Yahoo will delete them automatically after 30 days.