Taking Control of Your Inbox
Email is an essential tool for professional communication, but it is also the primary delivery method for marketing spam, phishing scams, and unwanted newsletters. While Microsoft Outlook features an aggressive, built-in spam filter that catches the vast majority of malicious emails, some persistent senders will inevitably slip through the cracks and clutter your primary inbox.
If you find yourself repeatedly deleting emails from the same persistent salesperson, an overly enthusiastic retailer, or a known scammer, simply hitting “delete” is not enough. To permanently solve the problem, you need to explicitly block their email address. When you block a sender in Outlook, their future emails are instantly diverted directly to the Junk Email folder, ensuring they never trigger a notification or clutter your workspace again.
The process is incredibly simple, but the exact steps differ slightly depending on whether you are using the classic desktop application, the modern web interface, or the mobile app.
How to Block a Sender in the Outlook Desktop App (Windows/Mac)
If you use the traditional desktop software provided with Microsoft Office or Microsoft 365, follow these steps:
- Open the Microsoft Outlook desktop application.
- Locate an email from the person or company you wish to block. You do not need to open the email; simply select it once so it is highlighted in your inbox list.
- Look at the top ribbon menu. On the Home tab, find the section labelled “Delete” (it usually contains the standard trash can icon).
- Click the button labelled Junk (it often has an icon of a person with a red circle/slash over them).
- A small drop-down menu will appear. Select Block Sender.
Outlook will display a small confirmation box stating that the sender has been added to your Blocked Senders List, and the specific email you selected will be immediately moved to the Junk Email folder.
How to Block a Sender in Outlook on the Web (Outlook.com)
If you access your email through a web browser, the interface is slightly different, but the process remains just as easy.
- Log into your account at Outlook.com.
- Find the offending email in your inbox and click to open it.
- Look at the top-right corner of the email itself (not the top of the entire webpage). You will see three horizontal dots (…) indicating “More actions.” Click these dots.
- From the drop-down menu, hover your mouse over Block.
- A secondary menu will appear. Click Block [Sender Name].
- A final confirmation window will pop up asking if you want to block the address and delete all messages from them in your inbox. Click OK.
This method is particularly powerful because it cleans up your existing inbox while simultaneously preventing future emails from arriving.
How to Block a Sender in the Outlook Mobile App (iOS/Android)
When you are quickly triaging emails on your phone, you can block senders with just a few taps.
- Open the Outlook app on your smartphone.
- Tap to open the email from the sender you want to block.
- Tap the three vertical dots located in the top-right corner of the screen.
- Select Move to Junk from the menu. (In newer versions of the app, this might be labelled “Report Junk”).
- A secondary prompt will ask if you want to simply move the message or block the sender entirely. Select Block Sender.
How to Unblock an Email Address
If you accidentally block an important client or realise you actually need those newsletters after all, you can easily reverse the process.
- Open the Outlook desktop app or Outlook on the Web.
- Click the Gear icon (Settings) in the top right corner.
- Navigate to Mail > Junk email.
- You will see a list labelled Blocked senders and domains.
- Scroll through the list to find the email address you accidentally blocked.
- Click the Trash can icon (or “Remove” button) next to their name to delete them from the list.
- Click Save at the bottom of the window.
The sender is now unblocked, and their future emails will arrive normally in your primary inbox.
