How to Block Emails on Outlook in 2023?
Every email user is prone to receiving unwanted emails from time to time. It can be from an online store or an eCommerce development agency you’ve visited before. Somehow yet get looped into their mailing list, or even from a user you know. The rate at which these unwanted emails keep pouring in can become downright annoying, and the option to unsubscribe may not just be enough to stop the onslaught. Outlook has even blocked access to potentially unsafe attachments for the safety of the users.
If you’re experiencing this annoying issue on Microsoft Outlook, it’s pretty easy to rectify. Outlook has features that enable you to block emails from sources you don’t want to receive emails from. So with just a few clicks, you can block that unwanted sender from pestering you further.
So let’s get started on how to block emails on Outlook.
Steps to Block a Sender on Outlook
- Select the message
- From the quick access menu at the top, click/tap on “Junk” then “Block” or “Spam and Block”.
- Click on “Ok”. This will prompt the message you selected to delete and block further emails from that particular sender.
P.S: If you mistakenly blocked a sender, you can unblock them by accessing your list of blocked senders. When you see the sender, you want to unblock, simply select the “Trash” icon next to their name. This will automatically take them off the blocked senders’ list.
Steps to Adding Unwanted Senders to the List of Blocked Senders
This process is an alternative to the above process. Please follow the provided steps below:
- Go to the blocked senders and domains. Click “Add”.
- Input the emails or domains of those senders you want to block. Click “enter”.
- Click “save”.
P.S: This list and the safe senders’ list, can accommodate 1,024 domains or emails. To lengthen the list, block domains rather than personal emails.
Steps to Make Certain Emails as Spam and Keep Them from your Primary Inbox
Unless you’ve subscribed to the latest news, individual mails will need to be shipped to a section where you won’t be disturbed or distracted by their notifications. The steps to this include:
- Selecting the messages you want to mark as spam or junk by highlighting them
- Select the “junk” or “spam” option at the top toolbar to migrate that message(s) to your spam or junk folder.
P.S: Messages tagged as spam or junk only stay in your mail between a period of 10-30 days before they are automatically deleted. So ensure you have no relevant emails there.
Steps to Block Every Unknown Sender
This will restrict any user from excluding those in your list of safe senders. When making your list of safe senders, ensure that you add every sender you want to receive emails from. The steps include:
- Go to safe senders and domains. Click “Add”.
- Here, you will input the domains or emails of your contacts and other senders you want to receive emails from. When you’re done compiling the list, click “enter”.
- Then beneath “Filters”, choose the following:
- The option to trust only emails from those in your safe senders and domains list as well as the safe mailing lists
- The option to restrict pictures, links, and attachments from any sender is not included in the safe senders’ list.
- Click “save”.
Steps to Making a Rule to Eliminate Unwanted Messages
This process is very helpful in filtering out specific words that keep recurring from various and, in some cases, hidden emails.
The steps include:
- Access your Outlook.com rules and click the “+” sign to create a new rule
- Every rule on Outlook is made up of three elements:
- Name
- Condition
- Action
- A rule can also have certain exceptions to conditions. You can create several actions, conditions, and exceptions at every step by selecting “Add an action”, “Add a condition” and “add an exception”. For instance, in creating a rule that deletes every mail containing the word “marketing” in the subject, it will involve something like:
- Name: marketing
- Condition: subject/mail contains marketing
- Action: delete
- To prevent more files from running, click/tick the box beside “stop processing more rules”
- Click “Save” to finish creating your rule.
P.S: This feature is only applicable to emails in your inbox.
Employing a Bit of Subterfuge with your Email Address
This is some sort of encryption but only to email spammers, not your contacts. Write out your full email address whenever you want to upload or type content on a news forum, group chat, message board, or any online public gathering, even a website.
For instance, instead of typing danawayne@outlook.com, type danawayne AT outlook DOT com. This way, your contact can know it’s still your email address, but the bot programs set up by email spammers will most likely not recognize it as an email address.