How to block, unsubscribe, or report emails on Gmail

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How to block, unsubscribe, or report emails on Gmail
It's easy to block emails on Gmail if junk emails are clogging your inbox.Getty Images
  • To block emails on Gmail on desktop or mobile, click or tap the "More" icon and select "Block."
  • You can also report spam or phishing in Gmail to prevent similar emails from coming to you in the future.
  • Gmail also has features for unsubscribing to mass marketing emails, and recommends unsubscribing to senders if you don't read their emails.
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Gmail has built-in filters that help keep spam out of your inbox, but sometimes spam emails or phishing attempts get through anyway.

The good news is that there are ways to report spam and phishing, and block senders, so that you can keep your inbox a junk-free space. If you get a lot of marketing emails, Gmail also has tools to unsubscribe from the senders you regularly ignore.

Once you block an email address, any future messages from that sender will be sent to your Spam folder. When you report spam, Google receives a copy of the email and may analyze it to protect other users from future spam.

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How to block emails on Gmail on desktop

Tired of receiving emails from a specific sender or want to report spam? You can block and report emails with just a few clicks.

Block an email address

1. Go to the Gmail website. Log in to your account if you aren't already logged in.

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2. Open an email from the sender you want to block.

3. Click the icon of three vertical dots in the top-right corner of the email, then click Block [Sender].

How to block, unsubscribe, or report emails on Gmail
Block senders, report spam, report phishing, and more in the "More" menu. Abigail Abesamis Demarest

4. Click Block in the pop-up window to confirm this action.

Quick tip: To unlock an email address, click Unblock sender at the top of the email, or repeat the steps above (selecting Unblock [Sender] instead).

Report spam and phishing

1. Go to the Gmail website. Log in to your account if you aren't already logged in.

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2. Click on the box to the left of the spam or phishing email, or open it.

3. For spam, click the Report spam button in the toolbar and select Report spam again in the pop-up.

How to block, unsubscribe, or report emails on Gmail
The "Report spam" button looks like a stop sign with an exclamation point inside it. Abigail Abesamis Demarest

4. For phishing, open the email. Click the icon of three vertical dots in the top-right corner of the email, then click Report phishing. Click Report Phishing Message to confirm this action.

How to block, unsubscribe, or report emails on Gmail
Click "Report phishing" in the pop-up. Grace Eliza Goodwin/Insider

How to block emails on Gmail on the mobile app

You can also block and report emails on the Gmail mobile app for iOS and Android.

Block an email address

1. Open the Gmail app on your iPhone, iPad, or Android.

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2. Open an email from the sender you want to block.

3. Tap the icon of three horizontal dots located next to the Reply button (not the icon of three horizontal dots that's in the very top-right corner), then tap Block [Sender].

How to block, unsubscribe, or report emails on Gmail
Select "Block [sender]." Abigail Abesamis Demarest

Quick tip: To unlock an email address, tap Unblock sender on the email, or repeat the steps above (selecting Unblock [Sender] instead).

Report spam

1. Open the Gmail app on your iPhone, iPad, or Android.

2. Tap the circular profile icon of the sender to the left of the email, or open the email.

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3. Tap the icon of three horizontal dots in the top-right corner, then select Report spam.

How to block, unsubscribe, or report emails on Gmail
Tap the "More" icon in the toolbar at the top of the screen. Abigail Abesamis Demarest

How to unsubscribe from mass marketing emails

Whether or not you knowingly signed up to be on a company's email list, you can unsubscribe at any time. Save yourself the five seconds it takes to delete that weekly, bi-weekly, or daily promotional email you don't even read by following these steps.

On desktop:

1. Go to the Gmail website. Log in to your account if you aren't already logged in.

2. Open an email from the sender you no longer want to receive promotional emails from.

3. Next to the sender's name, click the links to Unsubscribe or Change preferences. If you're not seeing either of these options, follow the steps above to block the sender or mark the email as spam.

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How to block, unsubscribe, or report emails on Gmail
You can also click on the "Unsubscribe" link within the body of the email to manually unsubscribe. Abigail Abesamis Demarest

Quick tip: You can also scroll all the way to the bottom of the email and select the Unsubscribe or Change Preferences (or similar wording) hyperlink, which is required in all mass marketing emails.

On the mobile app:

1. Open the Gmail app.

2. Open an email from the sender you no longer want to receive promotional emails from.

3. Scroll down to the bottom of the email, then tap Unsubscribe or Change preferences.

Quick tip: To turn off Unsubscribe recommendations (sent by Google for emails from bulk senders that you rarely read) tap the icon of three horizontal lines, then Settings, then select the Gmail account you want to edit. Tap Inbox Tips, then turn off Unsubscribe tips.

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