- You can easily block emails on your Mac if you don't want to get mail from a certain sender using the Mail app.
- You can also set Mail to deliver emails from blocked senders to your inbox, but to flag them with a banner so that you know it might be best to simply delete the messages.
- Unblocking a sender only takes a few seconds if you ever change your mind about someone's status.
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Your inbox is surely cluttered enough already with emails you actually care about, so the last thing you need is a glut of messages from senders you'd just as soon never want to hear from.
Whether it's the same spam account pinging you time and time again, a series of saccharine notes from an old flame, or more forwards filled with extreme political drivel from that semi-estranged family member, the solution is the same — block the sender's emails from your Mail app.
And don't worry, you can always unblock email addresses on your Mac just as quickly as blocking them, so don't hesitate to take action and stop unwanted messages. Here's how to block an email sender on a Mac on whichever operating system your computer is running.
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How to block emails on a Mac running macOS Catalina
1. Launch the Mail application on your Mac.
2. Click on a message from a sender you'd like to block.
3. Hover the cursor over their name above the message, then click on the little downward facing arrow that appears.
4. Click "Block Contact."
To unblock a sender, follow the same steps as when you blocked them, but this time simply select "Unblock Contact."
And that's it, their messages are banished from your inbox until you change your mind and unblock them.
How to block emails on your Mac on older macOS versions
1. Launch the Mail app on your Mac.
2. Click "Mail" in the top menu bar.
3. Then, click "Preferences..." from the drop-down menu.
4. In the pop-up window, click the "Rules" tab on the top-right.
5. Click the "Add rule" button on the right side.
6. Name your rule in the "Description:" box if you'd like, and then in the third box on the right in the second row, input the email address that you'd like to block.
7. In the row below, under "Perform the following actions:," select what you'd like the Mail app to do when you receive an email from the address you inputted above, by selecting options from the first and second boxes.
- For example, in the first box you can select "Delete Message" so the Mail app automatically deletes any messages from that sender.
- You can also do this by selecting "Move Message" in the first box and "Trash" in the box to the right of "to mailbox:"
8. Click the blue "OK" button in the bottom-right corner when you're done.
9. You should now see the rule you just created in your list of active rules.
Deleting a rule that you no longer need is just as simple.
1. Click on the rule that you want to delete. It will turn dark blue when selected.
2. Then, click the "Remove" button on the right-hand side. Click "Remove" again in the pop-up menu.
3. Once deleted, the rule will disappear from your list of active rules.
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