Since Google brought end-to-end encryption to Gmail on Android and iOS in April 2026, more people than ever are tidying up their mobile mailboxes — and discovering they blocked a sender months ago and now need them back. Unblocking is quick once you know where Gmail hides the list. I blocked then unblocked a sender on a test account across desktop, the Android app, and from inside a message — here is each route, where the blocked-addresses list actually lives, and how to fix mail that keeps landing in spam even after you unblock.
Where the Blocked List Lives
Gmail keeps every sender you have blocked in one place on desktop: Settings → See all settings → the Filters and Blocked Addresses tab, in a section near the bottom headed “The following email addresses are blocked.” The mobile apps cannot display this list.
The blocked-addresses list is not in the Spam folder, the Contacts app, or a privacy menu — it sits inside Gmail’s settings on the web. Per Google’s Gmail Help on blocking addresses, the path is Settings gear → See all settings → Filters and Blocked Addresses, then scroll past your filters to the block list at the bottom.
That single screen is the master record. Every address you have ever blocked, on any device, shows up there with a checkbox and an Unblock link. If you blocked someone on your phone six months ago and forgot, this is where you confirm it and reverse it. The mobile Gmail apps deliberately do not surface the full list, which is why so many people think the block is permanent — it is not, it is just web-only to manage in bulk.
Unblock on Desktop
On a computer, open Gmail, click the Settings gear, choose See all settings, open the Filters and Blocked Addresses tab, tick the box next to the sender, and click “Unblock selected addresses.” Future mail from that address returns to the inbox immediately.
Step by step, following Google’s documented procedure:
- Open Gmail at mail.google.com in a desktop browser.
- Click the Settings gear at the top right.
- Click See all settings.
- Open the Filters and Blocked Addresses tab.
- Scroll to The following email addresses are blocked.
- Tick the checkbox next to each sender you want back, then click Unblock selected addresses.
- Confirm in the dialog.
No Save Changes step is needed — the unblock applies the moment you confirm. You can select several addresses at once and clear them in a single action, which is the fastest way to undo an over-zealous blocking spree. If the list runs to dozens of entries, that is usually a sign the real problem is bulk mail you should be cutting at the source rather than blocking one address at a time.
Unblock From Inside a Message
If you can still see any message from the blocked sender, open it, click the three-dot More menu next to Reply at the top right, and choose Unblock sender. This skips Settings entirely and works on desktop and mobile alike.
This is the route most people actually use because it needs no settings spelunking. Open a message from the sender — including one sitting in Spam — click the More (three-dot) menu at the top right of the open message, and select Unblock “sender.” Gmail confirms inline and future mail flows to the inbox.
The catch is obvious: it only works if a message from that sender still exists somewhere in your account. If you blocked them and then deleted everything they sent, there is nothing to open, and you fall back to the desktop Filters and Blocked Addresses route above.
Often the reason someone got blocked is sheer volume — a retailer or newsletter that emails daily. Blocking one address of theirs rarely helps, because bulk senders rotate addresses and subdomains. If that is your situation, the cleaner fix is to leave the list entirely: a tool like Leave Me Alone mass-unsubscribes you from the senders you never read in one pass, so you never have to block, unblock, or babysit a blocked list again. For the manual decision of when to block versus when to walk away, our guide on the difference between unsubscribing and blocking breaks down which tool fits which sender.
Unblock in the Mobile App
In the Gmail app for Android or iOS, open a message from the blocked sender, tap the three-dot menu at the top right of that message, and tap Unblock sender. The app has no blocked-list screen, so mobile unblocking only works from inside an existing message.
The mobile flow mirrors the in-message desktop route because it is the only option the app offers:
- Open the Gmail app and find a message from the sender (check the Spam folder if your inbox has none).
- Open the message.
- Tap the three-dot menu at the top right of the message.
- Tap Unblock sender.
There is no Filters and Blocked Addresses tab in the mobile app — Google keeps bulk block management on the web. So if you cannot find a single message from the person on your phone, do not keep hunting; open Gmail in a mobile or desktop browser and use the settings route. Power users who live in the app often pair this with Gmail’s search-by-sender operators to surface a buried message fast, since from: search reaches into Spam too.
What Blocking Actually Does
Blocking a sender does not reject or bounce their mail — Gmail routes every future message from that address to your Spam folder, where it auto-deletes after 30 days. Unblocking reverses the routing for new mail but does not pull old messages back out of spam.
It helps to know the mechanism, because it explains every quirk of unblocking. Per Google’s Gmail Help, blocking is a routing rule, not a wall: the sender’s mail still arrives at Google, it is simply diverted to Spam instead of the inbox. Like all spam, those messages are removed automatically after 30 days.
That has two consequences. First, the sender is never notified that you blocked them — there is no bounce. Second, when you unblock, only future mail is affected; anything that piled up in Spam during the block stays there until you move it or the 30-day clock deletes it. This is the same underlying spam routing that the report-spam action feeds into, which is why a heavily reported address can stay sticky in Spam even after the explicit block is gone.
Blocked vs Filtered vs Unsubscribed
Blocking sends one sender’s mail to spam. Filtering applies a rule you define to matching messages. Unsubscribing removes you from a mailing list at the source. Blocking and filtering still receive the mail and hide it; only unsubscribing stops it being sent.
These three get conflated constantly, and choosing the wrong one is why people end up with bloated block lists:
- Block — diverts a specific sender to Spam. Best for an individual or address you never want to hear from. The mail still arrives; Gmail just hides it.
- Filter — a rule you build under Filters and Blocked Addresses that can label, archive, mark as read, star, or force-keep-out-of-spam any message matching your criteria. Best for shaping mail you still want but want handled automatically; see how to create a filter in Gmail for the full setup.
- Unsubscribe — uses the sender’s own opt-out link so they stop emailing you at all. Best for legitimate newsletters and marketing lists, because it cuts the mail off at the source instead of catching it after the fact.
The rule of thumb: block a person, filter a pattern, unsubscribe from a list. Blocking a daily newsletter is the classic mistake — it keeps arriving in Spam, keeps generating clutter, and keeps needing maintenance, when one unsubscribe would have ended it.
Mail Still in Spam After Unblocking
Unblocking removes the block rule, but Gmail’s spam classifier still scores each message on its own. To force a sender into the inbox: open Spam, click Not spam, then create a filter for that address with “Never send it to Spam” ticked.
Unblocking is not always the end of it. Gmail runs two separate systems: your explicit block rule, and an independent spam classifier that judges every message on sender reputation, content, and authentication. Remove the block and the classifier can still flag the sender if its reputation is poor.
The reliable fix, per Google’s Gmail Help on valid emails in spam, is a three-part move:
- Open the Spam folder, tick the message, and click Not spam at the top — this returns it to the inbox and teaches the classifier.
- Create a filter for the sender’s address with Never send it to Spam ticked, so future mail bypasses the classifier entirely.
- Add the sender to Google Contacts, which signals Gmail that the address is trusted.
If mail from a sender you want keeps slipping into Spam despite all three, the deeper diagnosis is in our walkthrough of why Gmail spam still gets through — usually it is an authentication or reputation problem on the sender’s side, not something your settings can fully override.
Verdict
Unblocking a sender in Gmail takes seconds: from inside any message use the three-dot menu, or on desktop go to Filters and Blocked Addresses and clear the checkbox. If mail still lands in spam afterward, a “Never send it to Spam” filter is the durable fix.
Best for: anyone who blocked a contact, colleague, or service they now need to hear from — the in-message Unblock sender route is the fastest, and the desktop Filters and Blocked Addresses tab is the place to audit and clear the whole list at once.
Skip if: what you actually blocked was a high-volume newsletter or retailer — unblocking and re-blocking is a treadmill, and unsubscribing at the source ends the mail for good with no list to maintain.
Find the list under Filters and Blocked Addresses on the web, use the three-dot Unblock sender for one-offs, and add a Never-send-to-Spam filter when reputation keeps a wanted sender buried. That covers every case Gmail throws at you.
Alexis Dollé, email expert for 10+ years. Founder of Email Tools. I test every email client and utility myself, then write about them the way I’d explain them to a friend — no marketing fluff, no sponsored rankings, every claim sourced.
LinkedInSources & references
- Google Gmail Help, “Block or unblock an email address in Gmail” — location of the blocked-addresses list under Filters and Blocked Addresses, unblocking from settings and from inside a message, blocking routes mail to Spam. Accessed 2026-06-14. support.google.com/mail/answer/8151
- Google Gmail Help, “Fix issues with valid emails in Spam” — Not spam, the Never send it to Spam filter, adding senders to Google Contacts. Accessed 2026-06-14. support.google.com/mail/answer/16457426
- Google Workspace Updates, Gmail label — client-side / end-to-end encryption on Gmail for Android and iOS, April 9, 2026 (freshness reference). Accessed 2026-06-14. workspaceupdates.googleblog.com
- Google Gmail Help, “Mark or unmark Spam in Gmail” — moving a message out of the Spam folder with Not spam. Accessed 2026-06-14. support.google.com/mail/answer/1366858
Frequently Asked Questions
Where is the blocked senders list in Gmail?
On desktop, the blocked list lives under Settings, See all settings, the Filters and Blocked Addresses tab, in a section near the bottom headed The following email addresses are blocked. Every sender you have ever blocked appears there with an Unblock link. The Gmail mobile apps cannot show this list, so you have to use a browser to see the full set.
How do I unblock a sender in the Gmail mobile app?
Open a message from the blocked sender in the Gmail app for Android or iOS, tap the three-dot menu at the top right of the message, and tap Unblock sender. The app has no settings screen for the blocked-addresses list, so unblocking on mobile only works from inside an existing message. If you deleted every message from that sender, switch to a desktop browser and use Filters and Blocked Addresses.
What actually happens when you block a sender in Gmail?
Blocking a sender does not bounce or reject their mail. Google routes every future message from that address straight to your Spam folder instead of the inbox, and the mail is deleted automatically after 30 days like any other spam. Unblocking reverses this, so new mail lands in the inbox again, but it does not pull old messages back out of spam — you move those manually with Not spam.
Why does mail still go to spam after I unblock a sender?
Unblocking only stops the explicit block rule. Gmail’s spam classifier still scores each message independently, so a sender with poor sending reputation can keep landing in spam. Open the message in Spam, click Not spam, then create a filter for that address with Never send it to Spam ticked. Adding the sender to Google Contacts further signals Gmail that the address is trusted.
What is the difference between blocking, filtering, and unsubscribing in Gmail?
Blocking sends a specific sender’s mail to spam. Filtering applies a rule you define — label, archive, mark as read, or never-send-to-spam — to messages matching criteria you set. Unsubscribing removes you from a legitimate mailing list at the source so the sender stops emailing at all. Blocking and filtering still receive the mail and just hide it; unsubscribing stops it being sent.
Does unblocking a sender restore their old emails?
No. Unblocking only changes where future mail goes. Messages that were already routed to Spam while the sender was blocked stay in the Spam folder until you move them. Open Spam, select the relevant messages, and click Not spam to return them to the inbox before Gmail’s 30-day auto-delete removes them.
Related: How to block someone on Gmail — the inverse, with what blocking does and does not stop. Difference between unsubscribing and blocking — pick the right tool per sender. Why Gmail spam still gets through — when an unblocked sender keeps landing in spam.