How to Block (and Unblock) Email Addresses in Yahoo Mail

Yahoo Mail lets you block up to 1,000 email addresses. Blocking is done in Settings on a computer, and the sender isn’t told. Here are Yahoo’s steps for New Yahoo Mail and classic Yahoo Mail.

Block an email address

New Yahoo Mail

1. Open Yahoo Mail in a desktop browser.
2. Click the More options icon, then select Settings.
3. Click Security and Privacy.
4. Under Blocked addresses, click Add.
5. Enter the address you want to block and click Save.

Classic Yahoo Mail

1. Click the Settings icon, then More Settings.
2. Click Security and Privacy.
3. Under Blocked addresses, click Add, enter the address and click Save.

Unblock an address

Go back to Settings › Security and Privacy (in classic Yahoo Mail, Settings › More Settings › Security and Privacy). Hover over the address and click the Delete icon next to it.

Good to know

• Up to 1,000 blocked addresses. If you hit the limit, remove ones you no longer need.
• Yahoo’s steps are for a desktop browser. If you only use the app, sign in on a computer once to set up your block list.
• One address at a time. Spammers often change the address they send from, so a block on one address may not stop them.

When blocking isn’t enough: use a filter

A filter can send matching email to Trash or any folder as it arrives — useful for a newsletter you can’t escape or a sender who keeps switching addresses. Yahoo allows up to 500 filters:

1. In a desktop browser, click More options › Settings › Filters.
2. Click Add new filters, name it, set the rules, and choose a folder (or Trash).
3. Click Save.

Full steps, including filter order, are in Yahoo Mail filters. Remember that Yahoo empties Trash after 7 days — recover deleted Yahoo email if a filter catches the wrong thing.

Blocked someone by mistake?

Remove the address from Blocked addresses as described above. Then check Trash and Spam in case anything from them landed there — Trash is emptied after 7 days and Spam after 30.

Blocking a scam?

Block it, but don’t click anything in the message first. The email security hub explains how to check whether an email is real, and Yahoo Mail security covers protecting your account.

Same job elsewhere: Gmail · Outlook.