Block a sender in Yahoo Mail in three steps

To block someone on Yahoo Mail, open an email from that person, click the three-dot menu icon next to their name, and select Block. Yahoo will then send their future emails straight to your spam folder automatically. You do not need to do anything else — the block stays in place until you remove it.

If you want to block someone without opening their email first, you can also manage your blocked senders list directly in your settings. This is useful if you know you want to block an address but have not received mail from them yet, or if you want to review everyone you have already blocked.

Key Takeaways

  • Blocked senders' emails go to your spam folder, not deleted, so you can unblock them later if needed.
  • You can block someone from an open email or add addresses directly in your Yahoo Mail settings under Blocked Senders.
  • Blocking only affects your account — the sender will not know they are blocked and can still send mail to you.
  • If someone uses multiple email addresses, you will need to block each address separately.

Block someone from an open email

This is the fastest way if you have already received mail from the person. Open any email from the sender you want to block. Look at the top of the email where their name and address appear.

Click the three-dot menu icon (it looks like three vertical dots) to the right of their name. A dropdown menu will appear with several options. Select Block from this menu. Yahoo Mail will confirm that the sender is now blocked.

From that moment on, any email from that address will skip your inbox and go directly to your spam folder. You will not see a notification when blocked mail arrives.

Add addresses to your blocked senders list manually

If you want to block someone before you receive mail from them, or if you prefer to manage all your blocks in one place, you can add addresses directly in your settings. Click the gear icon in the top right corner of Yahoo Mail and select Settings.

In the left sidebar, click Blocked Senders. You will see a list of anyone you have already blocked. At the top of this page, there is a text box where you can type an email address. Enter the address you want to block and click Add. The address is now blocked.

You can add multiple addresses this way, one at a time. Each one will send incoming mail to your spam folder just like blocking from an email does.

What happens when you block someone

When you block an address, Yahoo Mail routes all future emails from that sender to your spam folder. The emails are not deleted — they sit in spam where you can read them if you change your mind. This is different from deleting, which removes the message entirely.

The blocked sender does not receive any notification that you have blocked them. From their perspective, the email went through normally. They will not know why you are not responding, and they can keep sending mail (it just will not reach your inbox).

Blocking is specific to your account only. If someone else uses your computer and logs into their own Yahoo Mail account, they will not see your blocked senders list. Each Yahoo account has its own separate block list.

Unblock someone if you change your mind

Blocking is not permanent. If you decide you want to receive mail from someone again, you can unblock them at any time. Go to Settings, click Blocked Senders, and find the address you want to unblock in the list.

Click the X or Remove button next to their address. They are now unblocked, and their emails will go to your inbox again instead of spam. If they sent you mail while they were blocked, those old messages will still be in your spam folder, but new messages will arrive in your inbox.

Block multiple addresses from the same person

Some people use more than one email address. If someone is contacting you from different addresses, you will need to block each one separately. Blocking john.smith@gmail.com does not block john.smith@yahoo.com — they are treated as different senders.

The easiest way to handle this is to block each address as it arrives. When you receive mail from a new address from the same person, open it and use the three-dot menu to block it. Over time, you will have blocked all their addresses.

If you know multiple addresses ahead of time, go to your Blocked Senders list in Settings and add them all manually. This saves you from having to wait for mail to arrive from each one.

When blocking is not enough

Blocking works well for individual senders, but it does not stop mail from similar addresses or addresses that are slightly misspelled. If someone is determined to contact you and keeps creating new email addresses, blocking each one individually can become tedious.

In those cases, you might want to use Yahoo Mail's other filtering tools. You can create rules that automatically delete or move mail based on keywords in the subject line or sender address. You can also mark mail as spam, which trains Yahoo's spam filter to catch similar messages in the future. These options give you more control over mail that comes from variations of an address or from multiple senders.

Frequently Asked Questions

Will the person I block know that I blocked them?

No. Blocking is invisible to the sender. Their email will appear to send normally from their perspective. They will not receive a notification, and there is no way for them to tell that you blocked them just by trying to send mail.

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

Yahoo Mail does not have a built-in feature to block all addresses from a domain at once. You can only block individual email addresses. If you need to block many addresses from the same company or domain, you will need to add each one to your blocked list separately, or use mail filtering rules instead.

What if I block someone by mistake?

You can unblock them immediately by going to Settings, clicking Blocked Senders, and clicking the X next to their address. Once unblocked, their future emails will arrive in your inbox normally. Any mail they sent while blocked will still be in your spam folder.

Do blocked emails stay in my spam folder forever?

No. Yahoo Mail automatically deletes spam folder contents after 30 days. If you want to keep a blocked email, move it out of spam to another folder before the 30 days pass. Otherwise it will be permanently deleted.

If I block someone on my phone, will they be blocked on my computer too?

Yes. Your blocked senders list is tied to your Yahoo Mail account, not to a specific device. Whether you block someone on your phone, computer, or tablet, the block applies across all devices where you access that account.