Block a sender directly from their message
The fastest way to block an email in Yahoo is to open the message and use the block button. Open the email from the sender you want to block, then look for the three-dot menu icon (⋯) in the top right corner of the message. Click it and select Block sender. Yahoo will move that sender's future messages to spam automatically.
This method works whether the email is in your inbox, spam folder, or anywhere else. Once you block someone, you will not see their messages in your inbox — they go straight to spam. You can unblock them later if you change your mind by going to your blocked senders list.
Key Takeaways
- The block button is in the three-dot menu at the top right of any email message.
- Blocked senders' messages go to your spam folder automatically, not deleted.
- You can view and manage your blocked senders list in Yahoo Mail settings under Privacy.
- Blocking works on the email address itself, so the same person using a different address will not be blocked.
- If you block someone by mistake, you can unblock them from the same settings menu.
Find your blocked senders list in settings
To see who you have blocked or to unblock someone, go to your Yahoo Mail settings. Click the gear icon in the top right corner of your inbox, then select Settings. From the left menu, click Privacy, and you will see a section called Blocked addresses.
This list shows every email address you have blocked. Next to each one is an Unblock button. If you blocked someone by mistake or want to receive their emails again, click Unblock and they will be removed from your blocked list. Their future messages will go to your inbox normally.
Block an address without opening the email
You do not have to open a message to block it. In your inbox list, hover over the email you want to block and a trash icon and three-dot menu will appear on the right side of that row. Click the three-dot menu and select Block sender. The email stays where it is, but that sender is now blocked.
This is useful if you get unwanted emails from the same address repeatedly and do not want to read them first. The message itself is not deleted — it just moves to spam, and future messages from that address will go there too.
What happens when you block someone
When you block an email address in Yahoo, all future messages from that sender go to your spam folder instead of your inbox. The sender does not get a notification that they have been blocked. They will not know their emails are not reaching you unless you tell them.
Messages that were already in your inbox before you blocked the sender stay where they are — blocking does not delete old emails. If you want to remove them, you have to delete them yourself. Only new messages from that address go to spam automatically.
Unblock a sender if you change your mind
If you blocked someone and want to receive their emails again, go back to Settings, click Privacy, and find their address in the Blocked addresses list. Click the Unblock button next to their name. They are now unblocked, and their future messages will go to your inbox normally.
Unblocking does not restore messages that went to spam while they were blocked. If you need to read those old emails, go to your spam folder and look for them there. You can move them back to your inbox if you want to keep them.
Block a domain instead of a single address
Yahoo Mail lets you block an entire domain, not just one email address. This is useful if you are getting spam from many addresses at the same company or service. In your Privacy settings under Blocked addresses, you can type a domain name like example.com instead of a full email address. Every email from anyone at that domain will go to spam.
Be careful with this option — if you block a domain, you will not receive emails from anyone using that domain, including people you might want to hear from. Make sure you really want to block the entire domain before you save it. You can always unblock it later if you realize you need emails from that domain.
Why blocked emails still appear in spam
When you block someone, their messages do not disappear — they go to your spam folder. You can still see them there if you check spam, but they will not clutter your inbox. This is different from deleting, which removes the message entirely. Blocked messages stay in spam for 30 days before Yahoo deletes them automatically.
If you want to permanently delete blocked messages instead of letting them sit in spam, open your spam folder and delete them yourself. You can select multiple messages at once and delete them all together, which is faster than deleting one at a time.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I block emails from a specific subject line or keyword?
Yahoo Mail does not have a built-in feature to block by subject line or keyword. You can only block by sender email address or domain. If you are getting spam with a specific word in the subject, report it as spam and Yahoo's filters will learn to catch similar messages in the future.
What if someone uses a different email address to contact me after I block them?
Blocking works only on the specific email address you blocked. If the same person sends you a message from a different address, it will not be blocked automatically. You will have to block that new address separately if you do not want to receive emails from them.
Does the blocked person know I blocked them?
No. Yahoo does not send a notification to blocked senders. They will not know their emails are going to your spam folder unless you tell them. If they try to contact you another way to ask why you are not responding, that is when they might figure it out.
Can I block emails on my phone or tablet?
Yes. Open the Yahoo Mail app on your phone or tablet, find the email you want to block, and tap the three-dot menu. Select Block sender. The process is the same as on a computer. You can also manage your blocked list in the app settings.
What is the difference between blocking and reporting as spam?
Blocking sends that sender's future messages to spam automatically. Reporting as spam tells Yahoo that the message is unwanted and helps train Yahoo's spam filters to catch similar messages from other senders. You can do both — report the current message as spam and block the sender so future messages are blocked too.