How to Block an Email Address in Outlook (and What to Do When It Doesn’t Work)

Blocking someone in Outlook only takes a few clicks. The awkward part is that there are four different versions of Outlook, and the clicks are in a different place in each one.

In this guide I’ll show you how to block an email address, or a whole domain, in the new Outlook app, classic Outlook, Outlook.com and the Outlook app on your phone. I’ll also show you how to unblock someone you’ve blocked by mistake, and how to stop emails you do want from ending up in Junk.

And I’ll cover the part that most guides leave out, which is what to do when you’ve blocked a sender and their emails still keep arriving.

How to Block a Sender in Outlook Desktop (Classic and New)

There are two Outlook apps for Windows, and at first glance they look alike.

• New Outlook is the free app that comes with Windows 11. It has a Settings cog in the top right corner.
• Classic Outlook is the one that comes with Microsoft Office. It has no Settings cog.

If you’re not sure which one you have, look for the cog. If it’s there, you’re using new Outlook.

Block a Sender in New Outlook

1. Right-click the email from the sender you want to block.
2. Point to Block, then click Block sender.
3. A confirmation message appears. Click OK.

All future emails from that address now go straight to your Junk Email folder.

Block a Sender in Classic Outlook

1. Right-click the email from the sender you want to block.
2. Point to Junk, then click Block Sender. In the newest version of classic Outlook the menu is called Block instead of Junk.
3. A confirmation message appears. Click OK.

The sender can still email you. But anything from that address is moved to Junk Email as soon as it arrives.

How to Block Emails on Outlook.com (Web Version)

Outlook.com is the version you use in a web browser, such as Edge or Chrome.

If your address ends in @hotmail.com, @live.com or @msn.com, this is the one for you as well. Hotmail and Live Mail became Outlook.com years ago, so the way to block emails on Hotmail is exactly the same.

1. Sign in at Outlook.com and open the email from the sender you want to block.
2. Click the three dots in the top right corner of the message.
3. Point to Block, then click Block followed by the sender’s name. For an email from Bitdefender, for example, it reads Block Bitdefender.
4. Click OK to confirm.

How to Block an Email Address in the Outlook Mobile App

The Outlook app for iPhone and Android can block senders too.

1. Open the Outlook app and tap the email from the sender you want to block.
2. Tap the three dots at the top right of the screen.
3. Tap Report junk, then tap Block sender.

The wording can vary a little between iPhone and Android, and from one version of the app to the next. If you can’t see Report junk, look for Report message instead.

How to Block an Entire Domain in Outlook

Sometimes blocking one email address isn’t enough, because the sender uses lots of different addresses from the same company.

In that case you can block the domain, which is the part of the address after the @ sign. Block example.com, for instance, and every address ending in @example.com is blocked in one go.

For Outlook.com and New Outlook

The settings are almost identical in the web version and the new Outlook app.

1. Click the Settings cog in the top right corner.
2. Click Email, then Junk email. If your Outlook is set to US English, Email is called Mail.
3. Under Senders, click the Blocked senders and domains tab, then click Add blocked sender.
4. Type the domain, for example example.com, and click OK. A single email address is added in exactly the same way.
5. Click Save.

For Outlook Classic

1. On the Home tab, click Junk (called Block in the newest version). If you can’t see it, click the three dots at the right-hand end of the toolbar.
2. Click Junk E-mail Options.
3. Click the Blocked Senders tab, then click Add.
4. Type the domain, for example example.com, and click OK.
5. Click OK again to close the options window.

Block Emails from a Whole Country in Classic Outlook

Classic Outlook has one blocking tool that the other versions don’t. It can block every address that ends in a particular country code, such as .ru or .cn.

1. Open Junk E-mail Options as above.
2. Click the International tab, then click Blocked Top-Level Domain List.
3. Tick the country codes you want to block.
4. Click OK, then OK again.

It only looks at the end of the address, so it won’t stop foreign junk that’s sent from a .com address. But it’s worth a few seconds if most of yours comes from one or two places.

What Happens When You Block Someone in Outlook?

It helps to know what blocking does and doesn’t do, because it isn’t quite what most people expect.

• The sender isn’t told. Nothing bounces back to them, and they have no way of knowing they’ve been blocked.
• Their emails aren’t deleted. They’re moved to your Junk Email folder instead of your inbox.
• Junk empties itself. Outlook.com permanently deletes anything that has been in the Junk Email folder for 30 days.
• They can still send to you. Blocking doesn’t stop the email being sent, it only changes where it lands.
• There is a limit. Microsoft says the blocked list holds up to 10,000 addresses or domains.

If you’d rather a sender’s emails were deleted without going anywhere near your Junk folder, you need a rule. I’ll show you how to make one further down.

How to Unblock an Email Address in Outlook

If you’ve blocked someone by mistake, or an email you were expecting never turned up, the place to look is your blocked senders list.

Unblock a Sender on Outlook.com and New Outlook

1. Click the Settings cog, then Email, then Junk email.
2. Click the Blocked senders and domains tab.
3. Find the address or domain and click the bin icon beside it.
4. Click Save.

The pencil icon next to the bin lets you correct an address without removing it.

Unblock a Sender in Classic Outlook

1. On the Home tab, click Junk, then Junk E-mail Options.
2. Click the Blocked Senders tab.
3. Click the address you want to unblock, then click Remove.
4. Click OK.

How to Stop Emails Going to Junk in Outlook (Safe Senders List)

The safe senders list is the opposite of the blocked list. Outlook never treats an email as junk if it comes from an address or domain on it.

It’s the fix when emails you want keep landing in your Junk Email folder, whether that’s someone you’ve just unblocked or a sender you’ve never blocked at all.

Add a Safe Sender on Outlook.com and New Outlook

1. Click the Settings cog, then Email, then Junk email.
2. On the Safe senders and domains tab, click Add safe sender.
3. Type the email address, or a whole domain, and click OK.
4. Click Save.

While you’re on that page, tick Trust email from my contacts. Then nobody in your contacts list can end up in Junk.

On Outlook.com there’s a quicker way if you have an email from them. Open it, click the three dots at the top right of the message, point to Block and click Never block followed by the sender’s name.

Add a Safe Sender in Classic Outlook

The quick way is to right-click an email from the sender, point to Junk and click Never Block Sender.

To add an address by hand, open Junk E-mail Options, click the Safe Senders tab and click Add.

While you’re on that tab, tick Also trust e-mail from my Contacts, which does the same job as the tick box on Outlook.com.

Rescue an Email That Is Already in Junk

Open your Junk Email folder, select the email and click Not junk on the toolbar. Or right-click the email and choose Not junk. Either way, Outlook moves it back to your inbox.

Don’t leave it too long. Outlook.com permanently deletes anything that has been in Junk Email for 30 days.

If emails have stopped arriving altogether, from everyone, that’s a different problem. The usual cause is a full mailbox, which I cover in Outlook.com not sending or receiving emails.

Why Am I Still Getting Emails from Blocked Senders in Outlook?

This is the most common complaint about blocking in Outlook. There’s nearly always one of four reasons behind it.

The Sender Keeps Changing Their Address

A block only works on the exact address you blocked. Spammers know that, so they rarely use the same address twice.

Look at the addresses the emails come from. If they all end in the same domain, block the domain instead of each address. If they don’t, block them by the words they have in common, using a rule. Both are covered in this guide.

The Sender Is Hiding Their Real Address

The name and address you see at the top of an email can be faked. It’s called spoofing, and it means the address you blocked may not be the one the email really came from.

To see the real one in new Outlook, open the email, click the three dots at the top of the message, then View, then View message details. If the address in there is different, add that one to your blocked senders list.

A faked sender address is also one of the signs of a scam email. If you’re not sure about one, see my guide on how to spot a phishing email.

And if you need to open an email you don’t trust, there’s a safe way to do it. You can check it in Windows Sandbox, where it can’t touch the rest of your PC.

Outlook Says It Couldn’t Block the Sender

Sometimes Block sender simply isn’t working. Some people see the message “We couldn’t block sender. Try again later” when they block from the right-click menu.

If that happens to you, don’t keep trying. Add the address by hand instead. Go to Settings, then Email, then Junk email, and add it on the Blocked senders and domains tab.

And if there’s no Block option on the menu at all, check which account the email arrived in. As I said earlier, new Outlook can’t block senders on Gmail, Yahoo or iCloud accounts.

Your Blocked Senders List Is Full

With a limit of 10,000 it takes some filling, but it does happen to people who’ve blocked junk one address at a time for years.

The fix is to tidy the list. Wherever you’ve blocked several addresses from one domain, remove them and block the domain once.

How to Block Emails with Certain Words Using a Rule

A rule tells Outlook what to do with an email as it arrives. You can use one to delete anything that has a certain word or phrase in the subject, whoever it’s from.

That makes a rule the best answer to a sender who keeps changing address, because the words in their emails change far less often than the address does.

Here’s how to make one on Outlook.com or in new Outlook.

1. Click the Settings cog, then Email, then Rules.
2. Click Add rule and type a name for the rule.
3. Under Add a condition, scroll down the list, choose Subject includes and type the word or phrase.
4. Under Add an action, choose Delete.
5. Click Save.

Like blocking, rules in the new Outlook app only work on Microsoft accounts. For a Gmail or Yahoo account, make the rule with your email provider.

How to Stop Spam and Junk Emails in Outlook

Blocking works well against one persistent sender. It doesn’t work against spam in general, because spam comes from thousands of addresses that are used once and thrown away.

You’ll never stop junk email completely, but these habits cut it down a lot.

Report Junk and Phishing Emails in Outlook

Don’t just delete junk, report it. On Outlook.com and in the new Outlook app, select the email and click Report junk on the toolbar. That teaches Outlook’s filter what you count as junk.

If the email is pretending to be your bank, a delivery firm or Microsoft itself, click Report phishing instead. It’s the next button along. My guide to phishing emails shows you what to look for.

Both are on the three dots menu as well, when you have the email open.

One thing to know. Reporting a phishing email doesn’t block the sender. Microsoft says the sender is reported, but they can still email you. If you want them blocked as well, block them in the usual way.

How to Unsubscribe from Emails in Outlook

For genuine newsletters and shop emails, unsubscribing works better than blocking, because it stops the emails being sent in the first place.

Outlook.com keeps all of your subscriptions in one place, so you don’t have to hunt for the link at the bottom of each email.

1. Click the Settings cog, then Email, then Subscriptions.
2. Under Your current subscriptions, find the sender and click Unsubscribe.
3. Click OK to confirm.

The three dots at the end of each row let you block that sender instead.

Outlook.com also puts an Unsubscribe button under some emails in your inbox list, which does the same job in one click.

Don’t click unsubscribe in an obvious scam email though. That only tells them your address is real. Report it instead.

More Ways to Cut Down on Junk

Turn the junk filter up in classic Outlook. Open Junk E-mail Options and, on the Options tab, choose High. It catches more junk, but it makes more mistakes too, so check your Junk Email folder now and then.

On Outlook.com the same kind of setting is at the top of the Junk email page, where you can switch from Standard to Strict. Outlook describes Strict as “Individually decide who is allowed to send you emails”. That’s a drastic step, so I’d only try it if junk is out of control.

Keep your main address to yourself. For sign-ups, competitions and one-off downloads, use a burner email address and the junk never reaches your real inbox.

Blocking Emails in Outlook FAQ

Q: Does blocking someone in Outlook tell them?
A: No. The sender gets no message and nothing bounces back. Their emails still send as normal from their end, but they land in your Junk Email folder.

Q: Where is the blocked senders list in Outlook?
A: On Outlook.com and in the new Outlook app, click the Settings cog, then Email, then Junk email, and open the Blocked senders and domains tab. In classic Outlook, click Junk on the Home tab, then Junk E-mail Options, and open the Blocked Senders tab.

Q: How do I block emails on Hotmail?
A: Hotmail is part of Outlook.com now, so the steps are the same. Sign in at Outlook.com, open the email, click the three dots at the top right of the message and choose Block.

Q: Does blocking a sender delete their emails?
A: No. Blocked emails go to your Junk Email folder, where Outlook.com deletes them after 30 days. To have them deleted the moment they arrive, make a rule with Delete as the action.

Q: Why can’t I block a sender in the new Outlook app?
A: The new Outlook app can only block senders on Microsoft accounts. If the email came into a Gmail, Yahoo or iCloud account that you’ve added to the app, you have to block the sender with that email provider instead.

Q: How many email addresses can I block in Outlook?
A: Microsoft says the blocked senders list holds up to 10,000 addresses or domains. If you’re getting near it, block whole domains instead of single addresses.

Q: Why are emails going to junk in Outlook when I haven’t blocked the sender?
A: Outlook’s own junk filter has caught them. Open the Junk Email folder, select the email and click Not junk, then add the sender to your safe senders list so it doesn’t happen again.

Q: Does reporting a phishing email in Outlook block the sender?
A: No. Microsoft says the sender is reported but can still email you. To stop their emails reaching your inbox, block the sender as well.

Summary

Blocking a sender in Outlook is quick once you know which version you’re using. Right-click and block is all most people will ever need.

Just remember that a block only moves emails to Junk, and only for the exact address you blocked. When a sender keeps getting through, block their domain, or use a rule to catch the words they use.

And it’s worth looking in your Junk Email folder now and then. Outlook’s filter learns as you go, but it does make mistakes, and an email you were waiting for may be sitting in there.

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