How to block a sender in Gmail on Mac: step by step for the browser

Gmail on Mac runs in a browser

The Gmail help pages this guide relies on describe Gmail in a web browser. They do not mention a separate Gmail app for Mac. So the steps here run in Safari, Chrome or Firefox at mail.google.com. Google's blocking help page covers the desktop version without naming a Mac or a macOS version.

This matters for one reason. Google can move menu items when it changes the layout. If a label looks different on your screen, look for the same words. Block, Unblock and More are the labels to watch.

Block a sender in Gmail on Mac, step by step

The numbered steps at the top of this guide follow the open-message route, which is the one Google documents. Before you click Block, read the item carefully. It should show the sender's name or address. If it shows a name you do not recognise, close the menu and check the sender line again.

Three places to block a sender on a Mac

You can block from an open message, from the inbox list, or from the Apple Mail app. Google's help page covers the open-message route. Security.org's 2026 Gmail guide describes the inbox-list route, with a checkbox, the three dots above the list, and Block. That guide also says it has no macOS-specific steps, so treat it as a secondary source.

What blocking does and does not do

Blocking changes where new mail from one address lands. It does not reach back into your inbox. Gmail's help says future emails from a blocked sender go to Spam. Anything that arrived before the block stays where it is until you move it or delete it.

• Future mail from that exact address goes to Spam.
• Older messages from the sender stay in whichever folder they are in.
• Gmail keeps flagging the sender as spam, even after you clear their messages from Spam.
• Blocking works per address. A second address from the same company still gets through.
• Unblocking sends future mail from that address back to your inbox.

Unblock a sender in Gmail on Mac

The fastest way back is from a message from them. Open the message, click More next to Reply, and choose Unblock followed by the sender's name. If you cannot find a message from them, use the settings page instead. Settings > See all settings > Filters and blocked addresses lists the blocked addresses.

1. Click the Settings gear at the top right, then choose See all settings.
2. Open the Filters and blocked addresses tab.
3. Tick the box beside the sender's address.
4. Click Unblock selected addresses.

Block a whole company or domain

Gmail's block works one address at a time. A company that sends from several addresses needs one block for each. Several sources say a filter can catch a whole domain. Google's blocking page does not cover domains, and the filter steps are not on the pages this guide checked, so check Google's filter help before you rely on one. The guide to creating a filter on Mac has the menu paths: how to create a filter in Gmail on Mac.

Block a sender in Apple Mail on Mac

If you read Gmail in the Mail app, blocking works differently. Apple's Sequoia guide describes the steps in the list below. Apple uses Block Contact in that guide and Block Sender in its junk-mail guide, so the menu may show either label.

1. Open a message from the sender in Mail.
2. Hover over the sender's name in the message header.
3. Click the arrow that appears.
4. Choose Block Contact. A Blocked icon appears by the sender's name.

Check the Blocked list in Mail

Go to Mail > Preferences in Sequoia, or Mail > Settings in the macOS 27 guide. Then choose Junk Mail > Blocked. Tick Enable blocked mail filtering. Next, pick what happens to blocked mail: leave it in your Inbox with a mark, or move it to the Trash. Apple says you can block up to 3,000 senders.

Some secondary sources say blocked mail is ignored unless that box is ticked. I did not confirm that on an Apple page. Keep the box ticked, then watch what happens to the sender's next message.

Keyboard shortcuts: what they can and cannot do

Google's shortcut list has no shortcut for blocking a sender. You need the menu for that. The shortcuts below speed up the rest of your inbox cleanup, and they stay off until you turn them on.

• Turn them on: Settings gear > See all settings > Settings tab > Keyboard shortcuts > Keyboard shortcuts on > Save Changes.
• r replies to the open message.
• m mutes the conversation.
• Shift and 1 reports the message as spam on a US keyboard.
• . opens the more actions menu. Block is not a named shortcut, so you still click it.

Common mistakes when blocking a sender

• Blocking the display name instead of the address. Two senders can share a name.
• Expecting old mail to disappear. Blocking does not move existing messages.
• Emptying Spam to undo the block. Gmail still flags the sender's mail as spam.
• Assuming one block covers a new address. Each address needs its own block.
• Setting the block in one app and checking another. Gmail web and Apple Mail use separate menus, so check the app you read mail in.

Still getting mail from a blocked sender?

Start in Spam. New mail from a blocked address should land there, so check it before you assume the block failed. If mail still arrives in your inbox, look for a filter that labels or forwards it, or for a second address the sender used. Apple Mail users should check the Blocked list and the setting for blocked mail.

A worked example with a repeat sender

Say a sender writes from billing@example.com every week, asking you to pay an invoice you do not recognise. You open the latest message, click More next to Reply, and choose Block. The next week a message arrives, and it lands in Spam. You open it, read the sender line, and report it as spam.

Then the same scam comes from billing@example.net. The block on the first address does nothing for that one. That is the moment to block the second address too, and to check whether a filter would fit better. The pattern matters more than either address.

How long Gmail keeps spam and trash

Google says emails in Trash or Spam are permanently deleted after 30 days. You can empty those folders sooner. If a blocked sender writes something you need, move it out of Spam within that window. Google's help does not describe a way to recover messages after they are gone.

Use Gmail in its own window with Chrome

Chrome can install a website as an app. That gives Gmail its own window, which helps if you check mail all day. On some sites an Install icon appears at the right of the address bar, and you can use that instead of the menu.

1. Open Gmail at mail.google.com in Google Chrome.
2. Click the three dots at the top right of Chrome, then choose Cast, save, and share.
3. Choose Install page as app.

The Gmail window still runs Gmail in Chrome, so every step in this guide still applies.

Where to go next

If you want to sort mail before it reaches your inbox, read how to create a filter in Gmail on Mac. If you sent a message to the wrong person, how to undo send in Gmail on Mac covers the browser and Apple Mail steps.