Fed up with your inbox overflowing with unwanted emails, newsletters, spammers and scammers? You’re not alone. In a recent ICO survey, 63% of people said they receive nuisance emails at least once a week. That’s why blocking email on your iPhone is such a handy trick.
Read on and we’ll show you why blocking is useful, and how to do it in different ways. We’ll even show you how to unblock someone if you ever change your mind.
Why blocking unwanted emails on iPhone makes a difference
Blocking unwanted senders helps you take back control, so your inbox only shows what matters. It means you can:
Skip distractions. Blocked senders go straight to your bin/trash, so you don’t have to see their emails again.
Cut out spam and unwanted contacts. Persistent newsletters, old contacts, or unknown senders won’t clutter your inbox anymore.
Focus on important messages. With fewer needless emails, it’s easier to spot the emails you actually need to read.
How to block a specific sender in the Mail app
If an annoying sender keeps popping up, blocking them directly in the Mail app is quick and easy:
Open Mail and tap the email from the sender you want to block.
Tap the sender’s name or email in the From field.
Tap View Contact Card if it appears.
Select Block this Contact.
Confirm if prompted. Future emails from this sender will now follow your blocked rules.
Pro Tip. Blocking doesn’t remove older messages. So, if you’d prefer a fresh start, delete any earlier emails from them too.
How to make blocked emails go straight to Trash
If you don’t want to see a blocked email, even briefly, here’s how to banish it straight into the trash:
Go to Settings/Mail.
Scroll to Blocked Sender Options.
Select Move to Trash and you’re done.
Blocked emails will now be fully out of sight. This helps keep your inbox neat and tidy without any extra effort. Just remember to empty your trash now and then.
How to block a sender without opening their email
You don’t have to open a suspicious message to block it. Simply:
Long-press on the email in your inbox.
Tap Block Sender from the menu that appears.
The big benefit of using this method is safety, because you don’t risk accidentally opening spam or phishing emails.
How to filter entire domains or lists of senders
Sometimes a company or website will change its email address slightly each time, to get around your attempts to block it. If that happens, you’ll need to block the whole domain – but it’s quite easy. Simply use iCloud Mail (or your email provider’s settings) to set rules that move all emails from @domain.com to the trash.
Here’s how to create a rule in iCloud Mail that blocks an entire domain:
1. Log-in to iCloud Mail at www.icloud.com/mail.
2. Click the gear icon in the sidebar and choose ‘Preferences’.
3. Go to the ‘Rules’/‘Add a Rule’.
4. Set ‘If a message’ to ‘is from’, then enter the domain you want to block.
5. Set the action to ‘Move to Trash’.
6. Click ‘Done’ to save the rule.
If you’re unsure how to set this rule in a different email provider, look for a “Filters” or “Rules” section in your account settings. Most providers have easy step-by-step guides for blocking domains.
How to block senders in Gmail, Outlook, and other apps
If you use Gmail, Outlook, or another email app instead of Apple Mail, here’s what to do:
Gmail app. Open the email, tap the three-dot menu, then Block Sender.
Outlook app. Open the email, tap the three dots, choose Block Sender or Report Junk + Block.
Other apps. Check the settings for options to block senders or domains. If you can’t find any, it might be worth thinking about switching to a more block-friendly app.
Extra inbox-cleaning tools in iOS 18
If you’re running iOS 18 and you use iCloud Mail, Apple has added a few new tools that make tidying your inbox even easier.
You can now set simple ‘cleanup rules’ that automatically deal with older emails - like clearing out newsletters or promotional messages after they’ve been sitting around for a while.
There’s also a quick ‘unsubscribe and delete’ option. Tap it once to unsubscribe from a sender, and future emails from that sender will go straight to your bin. Perfect for those random newsletters you’re convinced you never signed up for.
These don’t replace blocking, but they do give you a few more easy ways to stop your inbox overflowing with emails you don’t need.
How to unblock a sender if you change your mind
Changed your mind about a blocked contact? Here’s how to reverse it:
Go to Settings/Mail.
Tap Blocked Senders.
Swipe left on the contact to Unblock or tap Edit to remove them.
Emails from that sender will now arrive in your inbox again.
Beyond blocking – other tips to reduce unwanted emails
Blocking is a great tool to keep your inbox under control, but there are other good options:
Use aliases or Hide My Email to keep your real address private. Hide My Email lets you generate random addresses to share with websites or apps, while keeping your personal address private.
Unsubscribe from newsletters you don’t want. The less of your email address out there, the better.
Auto-delete or archive emails with certain keywords or domains you notice in unwanted emails.
Third-party apps like Clean Email can help you unsubscribe from newsletters you never read, block unwelcome email senders, and automatically delete old emails.
Don’t open suspicious emails. It confirms to spammers that your address is active.
Need more help?
If you’re looking for more advice on getting the best out of your iPhone, check out our handy article on how to set up your new iPhone. We’ve also got some top tips on how to update your iPhone, how to sync your iPhone and iPad, and how to withhold your number on iPhone.
