How to Block an Email Address in Gmail and Yahoo Mail and Never Receive Emails From Them Again
Unwanted emails can be permanently stopped by blocking senders and applying filters that prevent delivery entirely. This step by step guide is clearly organized by email service so you can immediately stop messages from specific addresses or domains.
Gmail
Method 1: Block an Email Address in Gmail
Open Gmail and open an email from the sender you want to block. Click the three dot menu in the top right corner of the email. Select Block sender and confirm. All future emails from this address will be automatically sent to the Spam folder.
Method 2: Permanently Delete Emails From a Sender Using a Gmail Filter
Click the gear icon in Gmail and select See all settings. Go to Filters and blocked addresses and click Create a new filter. Enter the sender’s email address in the From field and click Create filter. Select Delete it and optionally select Also apply filter to matching conversations. Click Create filter to permanently delete all future emails from this sender.
Method 3: Block an Entire Domain in Gmail
Open Gmail settings and go to Filters and blocked addresses. Click Create a new filter and enter the domain in the From field using the format @example.com. Click Create filter, select Delete it, and save. All emails from that domain will be automatically deleted.
Method 4: Report Spam and Block in Gmail
Open the unwanted email and click the Report spam icon. This helps Gmail improve spam filtering. After reporting, open the email from the Spam folder, click the three dot menu, and select Block sender to fully stop future emails.
Yahoo Mail
Method 1: Block an Email Address Directly From an Email in Yahoo Mail
Open Yahoo Mail and open the email from the sender you want to block. Click the three dot menu and select Block sender. Choose Block all future emails and optionally delete existing messages. Confirm to permanently block the sender.
Method 2: Block an Email Address From Yahoo Mail Settings
Click the Settings icon and select More Settings. Go to Security and Privacy and click Add under Blocked addresses. Enter the email address and save. Emails from this sender will no longer reach your inbox.
Method 3: Block an Entire Domain in Yahoo Mail
In Yahoo Mail settings, go to Security and Privacy. Under Blocked addresses, enter the domain using the format @example.com and save. All emails from that domain will be blocked automatically.
Method 4: Create a Filter to Automatically Delete Emails in Yahoo Mail
Open Yahoo Mail settings and select Filters. Click Add new filters and name the filter. Set the condition to From contains the sender’s email address or domain. Set the action to Move to Trash and save. All future emails from this sender will be deleted automatically.
Method 5: Report Spam and Then Block in Yahoo Mail
Open the unwanted email and click Spam. This helps Yahoo Mail improve spam detection. After reporting, block the sender using the Block sender option to ensure the address is permanently stopped.
Block Sender vs Mark as Spam: What Is the Difference and Which Works Better
Blocking a sender and marking an email as spam do different things, even though they seem similar.
Blocking a sender tells your email provider to automatically stop emails from that specific address. Future messages from that sender are sent directly to Spam or deleted, depending on your settings. This is the fastest way to stop a known email address from hitting your inbox again.
Marking an email as spam helps train your email provider’s filtering system. It looks at patterns such as the sender’s domain, message content, and links. This helps block not only that sender, but also similar emails from related sources in the future.
If you only want to stop one specific email address, blocking the sender is more effective immediately. If you want better long term protection and fewer spam emails overall, marking the email as spam first and then blocking the sender is the best approach.