Unable to block IP address in Outlook

Question

Why am I unable to block SPAM from IP address 20.103.68.34? Outlook won't do it,...

Answer 1

Outlook.com and Outlook on the web do not support blocking mail by IP address at the user level. Junk filtering and IP reputation are handled by Microsoft’s backend services and cannot be overridden or configured per account.

What can be configured in Outlook.com / Outlook on the web is:

1. Block specific senders or domains
   1. At the top of the page, select Settings.
   2. Select Mail > Junk email.
   3. Under Blocked senders and domains (or Blocked senders / Blocked domains, depending on UI):
      • Enter the email address to block, or
      • Enter the domain (for example, example.com) to block all mail from that domain.
   4. Select Add (or OK) and then Save.
   Messages from those senders/domains will then be moved directly to the Junk Email folder.
2. Use Safe Senders instead of IP rules If legitimate mail is going to Junk, add those addresses/domains to Safe Senders instead of trying to manage IPs. See “Add recipients of my email messages to the Safe Senders List” in the linked article.
3. Rely on Microsoft’s spam filtering Junk email is automatically filtered and moved to the Junk Email folder. In Outlook.com / Outlook on the web, junk is retained for a limited time (typically 14–30 days depending on experience) and then permanently deleted, and this behavior cannot be changed per IP.

Because IP-based blocking is not exposed in the Outlook.com/Outlook on the web UI, blocking that specific IP address directly is not possible. Use blocked senders/domains and the built‑in junk filtering instead.

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References:

• Block or unblock senders in Outlook
• Filter junk email and spam in Outlook