How to block someone on Gmail (and actually make it stick) — 2026

Gmail’s February 2024 bulk-sender enforcement — requiring every high-volume mailer to honor one-click unsubscribe requests within two business days — tightened the rules for senders. But for individual senders who won’t stop, the block button is still your fastest lever. Three clicks and their future emails land in Spam, never in your inbox. Here is the exact sequence, what happens under the hood, and the filter trick that goes further than blocking alone.

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Block a Sender in Three Clicks

Open the email, click the three-dot menu at the top right of the message (next to the Reply arrow), and select “Block [sender name].” Gmail confirms the action and immediately redirects all future messages from that address to Spam.

The full sequence:

1. Open Gmail and open any email from the sender you want to block.
2. In the top-right corner of the message — not the browser — find the three-dot “More” icon next to the Reply button.
3. Click it. A dropdown appears. Select Block “[Sender Name]”.
4. A confirmation dialog appears. Click Block to confirm.

That is the entire process. The block is active immediately.

On mobile (Android / iOS):

1. Open the Gmail app and open the message.
2. Tap the three-dot menu in the top-right corner of the message.
3. Tap Block “[Sender Name]”.

The block applies account-wide — it is not device-specific. Blocking on mobile blocks on desktop too, and vice versa.

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What Blocking Actually Does

Blocking a sender in Gmail routes all their future messages to Spam automatically. They are not notified that they have been blocked. Spam is auto-deleted after 30 days, so blocked emails eventually disappear without any action on your part.

A few specifics worth knowing:

The sender does not know they are blocked. Their messages appear to send normally from their end. There is no bounce, no notification, no read receipt. They simply never see a reply.

Messages go to Spam, not Trash. This matters for two reasons. First, if you later want to retrieve a specific message from the blocked sender, it will be in Spam (searchable), not permanently deleted. Second, Spam auto-deletes after 30 days — so the messages eventually disappear without any cleanup effort from you.

The block survives attempts to clean it up. Per Google’s documentation, once you block a sender, even if you manually move their emails out of Spam, Gmail continues to automatically route future messages from them to Spam. The block is persistent.

The block applies to the exact address, not the domain. If someone sends from annoying@example.com and you block it, messages from annoying2@example.com still reach your inbox. For domain-level blocking, a filter is the right tool (covered in the next section).

Gmail has no limit on the number of addresses you can block. The Filters and Blocked Addresses tab in Settings stores every blocked address, and you can manage them there in bulk.

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The Filter Trick That Deletes Their Backlog

Blocking prevents future emails but leaves their past messages in your inbox. Creating a filter for the sender’s address or domain — with the action “Delete it” or “Skip the Inbox and apply a label” — cleans up existing messages and gives you options blocking alone does not: deleting instead of spamming, blocking entire domains, and applying custom labels.

Blocking handles the future. Filters handle everything else.

How to create a filter to delete a sender’s emails:

1. In Gmail, click the search bar at the top and then click the Show search options arrow (the horizontal sliders icon) at the right of the search bar.
2. In the From field, type the sender’s email address (for a specific address) or @example.com (for all emails from a domain).
3. Click Search to verify the results match what you expect. Check a few results.
4. Click Create filter at the bottom of the search panel.
5. On the next screen, check Delete it. You can also check Apply the filter to matching conversations at the bottom to apply it retroactively to existing messages.
6. Click Create filter.

The retroactive option is what clears the backlog. Every existing email matching the filter — including inbox messages from before you knew about the block option — moves to Trash immediately.

Filter vs. block — when to use which:

Situation	Use
One specific person you want to stop hearing from	Block
A newsletter or marketing sender sending from multiple addresses at the same domain	Filter on domain
You want messages to auto-delete (not linger in Spam for 30 days)	Filter with “Delete it”
You want to apply a label or route to a folder instead of deleting	Filter
You want to clean up existing emails, not just future ones	Filter with “Apply to matching conversations”

You can use both simultaneously. Block the address and create a filter. The block handles the Spam routing; the filter handles deletion and cleanup.

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How to Unblock Someone

Unblock from Settings: open Gmail Settings, go to “Filters and Blocked Addresses,” find the address, check the box, and click “Unblock selected addresses.” Or open any email from the blocked sender, click the three-dot menu, and select “Unblock [sender name].”

Method 1: From Settings (recommended for managing multiple blocks)

1. Click the gear icon at the top right in Gmail and select See all settings.
2. Click the Filters and Blocked Addresses tab.
3. Scroll to the bottom — blocked addresses are listed separately from filters.
4. Check the box next to the address you want to unblock.
5. Click Unblock selected addresses and confirm.

Method 2: From an email

If you can find an email from the blocked sender in Spam:

1. Open the email.
2. Click the three-dot menu at the top right.
3. Select Unblock “[Sender Name]”.

After unblocking, future messages from that sender go to your inbox. Previously blocked messages that were already in Spam do not automatically return to your inbox — they stay in Spam until you manually move them or until the 30-day auto-delete runs.

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When Blocking Is Not Enough

Blocking prevents future emails from a specific address but does not stop a determined sender who can create new addresses, does not remove past messages, and does not address harassment or threats. For those situations, Gmail’s reporting tools, Google’s abuse reporting, and law enforcement are the appropriate escalation path.

If someone creates new addresses to reach you: Blocking individual addresses is ineffective against someone who simply creates a new account. For this case: (1) create a filter on keywords or phrases unique to their messages, (2) enable Gmail’s “Only receive emails from people in my Contacts” mode via Filters, or (3) report to Google’s abuse team at support.google.com/mail/contact/abuse.

If you are receiving threatening or harassing messages: Google explicitly states in its support documentation to report threatening messages to local law enforcement. Do not delete the messages before reporting — they are evidence. Use Gmail’s Report phishing or Report spam options, then contact authorities with screenshots or printed copies of the messages.

For work or Google Workspace accounts: Blocking behavior may differ depending on your organization’s admin settings. Contact your IT administrator if the block option is not visible or does not behave as described here.

If the sender is impersonating someone you know (phishing): Use Report phishing from the three-dot menu, not just Block. This flags the message to Google’s security team and helps protect other users from the same sender.

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What This Guide Does Not Cover

Blocking in Gmail works for personal Gmail accounts and most Google Workspace accounts. There are cases outside this scope:

• Blocking contacts on Google Chat or Google Meet — those are separate controls inside their respective apps, not Gmail settings.
• Corporate email policies — enterprise admins can configure domain-level blocklists, DMARC/DKIM rejection policies, and quarantine rules that override individual user settings.
• Blocking on email clients other than Gmail (Outlook, Apple Mail, Mailbird) — those applications have their own blocking or filtering mechanisms.
• Preventing your own address from receiving email from Gmail servers — that requires DNS-level rules, outside the scope of individual Gmail controls.

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Sources & references

1. Google Support, “Block or unsubscribe from emails in Gmail” — steps to block a sender, what happens to blocked messages, how to unblock. support.google.com/mail/answer/8151
2. Google Support, “Block or unsubscribe from emails” — confirmed: blocked sender messages go to Spam; once blocked, emails are identified as spam even if manually moved out of Spam. support.google.com/mail/answer/1366858
3. Google Support, “Create rules to filter your emails” — filter creation steps, “Delete it” and retroactive “Apply to matching conversations” options. support.google.com/mail/answer/6579
4. Google, Email sender guidelines — February 2024 RFC 8058 bulk sender enforcement. support.google.com/mail/answer/81126
5. Google, Report abuse or Gmail policy violations. support.google.com/mail/contact/abuse

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Frequently asked questions

Does the person I blocked know I blocked them?

No. Gmail does not notify blocked senders. Their emails appear to send normally from their side — they receive no bounce, no error, and no indication that you blocked them. They simply never get a reply.

Where do blocked emails go in Gmail?

Blocked emails are routed to your Spam folder automatically. They do not appear in your inbox. Spam is auto-deleted after 30 days, so blocked messages eventually disappear without any action from you. If you need to retrieve a specific message before deletion, search in Spam.

Can I block an entire domain, not just one address?

The block button only works on specific email addresses, not domains. To block an entire domain, create a filter: click the search options arrow, type @example.com in the From field, click “Create filter,” and choose “Delete it” or “Mark as spam.” You can also check “Apply to matching conversations” to clear existing emails from that domain.

What if the blocked person emails me from a new address?

Blocking only applies to the specific address you blocked. A new address bypasses the block. In this case, a keyword-based filter (targeting phrases only they use) is more effective than address blocking. For persistent harassment, report to Google’s abuse team and contact local law enforcement — do not delete the messages before reporting.

How do I see all the addresses I have blocked in Gmail?

Go to Gmail Settings (gear icon → See all settings) → Filters and Blocked Addresses tab. Scroll past the filters section — blocked addresses are listed at the bottom. From there you can unblock individual addresses by checking the box and clicking “Unblock selected addresses.”

What is the difference between blocking and unsubscribing in Gmail?

Blocking is a Gmail-side action — it routes the sender’s emails to Spam regardless of what the sender does. Unsubscribing removes your email address from the sender’s list, which stops them from sending to you at all. For marketing emails from legitimate senders, unsubscribing is better because it actually reduces the sender’s list. For unwanted personal contacts or senders who won’t honor unsubscribe requests, blocking is more reliable because it works regardless of the sender’s compliance.

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Related: How to unsubscribe from emails that won’t stop — the 2026 guide — for when the problem is volume, not a single sender.