Blocking stops emails from a specific person from reaching your inbox

When you block a person in Outlook, their emails go to your Junk folder automatically. You won't see them in your inbox, and Outlook won't notify you that they arrived. The blocked person doesn't know they're blocked — their email client shows the message as sent normally. Blocking is different from unsubscribing: it works on any email address, not just mailing lists.

Outlook has a built-in block feature that takes about 10 seconds to set up. You can block from an open email, from your contact list, or from your settings. You can unblock someone at any time if you change your mind.

Key Takeaways

  • Blocking an email address in Outlook sends that person's future emails to your Junk folder automatically.
  • You can block someone by right-clicking their email, opening their contact card, or going to Settings — each method takes less than a minute.
  • Blocked emails still arrive on Outlook's servers; they're just filtered away from your inbox and don't trigger notifications.
  • Blocking does not delete emails already in your inbox from that person — you'll need to delete those separately if you want them gone.
  • You can unblock someone at any time through your Blocked Senders list in Settings.

Block someone from an open email

The fastest way to block is from the email itself. Open any message from the person you want to block. At the top of the email, look for three dots (called the "More actions" menu) — it's usually in the upper right corner. Click it.

A dropdown menu appears. Select Block. Outlook will ask you to confirm: "Block [email address]?" Click Block again. That's it. From now on, emails from that address go straight to Junk.

Block someone from your contacts

If you have the person saved as a contact, you can block them from your contact list. Click People at the bottom of the left sidebar. Find the contact and click their name to open their card.

At the top of the contact card, click the three dots menu. Select Block contact. Confirm the block. The contact stays in your list but is now blocked.

Block someone through Settings

You can also block someone without having an email from them open. Click the gear icon in the upper right corner and select View all Outlook settings. Go to Mail in the left sidebar, then Junk email.

Under "Blocked senders and domains," click Add. Type the email address you want to block and click Add. The address is now on your blocked list.

What happens to emails already in your inbox

Blocking only affects new emails going forward. Any messages from that person that are already in your inbox stay there. If you want to remove them, you'll need to delete them manually or move them to another folder.

To clean up old emails quickly, search for the person's email address or name in the search bar. Select all the results, then delete them. This doesn't unblock the person — it just removes the old messages from view.

Unblock someone if you change your mind

Open Settings (gear icon, upper right) and go to Mail > Junk email. Under "Blocked senders and domains," you'll see a list of everyone you've blocked. Find the person you want to unblock and click the trash icon next to their name. They're now unblocked and their emails will go to your inbox again.

Unblocking doesn't restore old emails that went to Junk while they were blocked. Those stay in your Junk folder unless you move them back manually.

The difference between blocking and other filters

Blocking is simpler than creating a custom rule, but it does the same basic job: it moves emails from one person into Junk. If you want more control — like sending emails to a specific folder instead of Junk, or blocking an entire domain instead of one address — you can create a rule instead. Rules live in Settings under Mail > Rules.

Unsubscribing works only on mailing lists and newsletters that include an unsubscribe link. Blocking works on any email address. If someone is sending you unwanted emails from multiple addresses, you may need to block each one separately, or block their entire domain (for example, @company.com) if Outlook's rules feature supports it.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can the person I blocked tell that I blocked them?

No. Their email client shows the message as delivered normally. They have no way to know it went to your Junk folder. If they're trying to reach you and you don't respond, they might suspect something, but Outlook doesn't notify them of a block.

What if someone is emailing me from a new address after I blocked them?

You'll see emails from the new address in your inbox. You can block that address too. If someone is repeatedly creating new addresses to contact you, blocking becomes tedious — in that case, consider reporting the emails as phishing or spam, or contact your email provider's support team.

Do blocked emails take up storage space?

Yes. Blocked emails still arrive on Outlook's servers and count toward your mailbox storage limit. They sit in your Junk folder. If you want to free up space, you can delete them permanently or set up Outlook to automatically delete Junk emails after 30 days.

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

Through the basic block feature, no — you can only block individual addresses. If you want to block everyone from a domain (like @spam-company.com), you'll need to create a rule in Settings under Mail > Rules instead. Rules let you block by domain.

If I unblock someone, will I see the emails they sent while they were blocked?

No. Those emails are still in your Junk folder. Unblocking just stops new emails from going to Junk. You can search for their name in Junk and move old messages back to your inbox if you want to read them.