Blocking Junk Emails

Question

I have always been able to block emails through their contact card email address, but since last week (18/05/2026) it’s no longer working, either on Mail or Outlook on both iPhone & iPad, & on neither of My 2 email accounts. I can Flag & delete them only. The only recent change to emails is adding Gmail as a 3rd account.

Answer 1

Hi!

Welcome to Microsoft Q&A forum.

May I have some additional information such as whether or not you are using another email address on Mail and Outlook? We have to determine where the junk mail is being received.

It is pointing towards the email settings as opposed to being caused by having a Gmail account.

Answer 2

Blocking from the contact card in iOS Mail/Outlook can break or change with app/OS updates, but the underlying junk/blocking features in Outlook are still available. Use Outlook’s built‑in junk settings and blocked senders lists instead of relying on the contact card.

Try these steps for each affected Outlook account (not the Gmail account if it’s only synced via iOS Mail):

1. In Outlook on the web (for the Microsoft accounts)
   1. Sign in to Outlook on the web for the account.
   2. Select Settings (gear) > Mail > Junk email.
   3. Under Blocked senders / Blocked domains, add the unwanted email addresses or domains and select Add, then Save.
      • For example, add someone@example.com or example.com.
   4. Under Safe senders and domains, add any legitimate senders that must never go to Junk.
2. In Outlook on the web (Block or allow page)
   1. Go to Settings > Mail.
   2. Under Accounts, select Block or allow.
   3. In Blocked senders, enter the email address or domain and press Enter or select the Add icon.
   4. Select Save.
3. In Outlook desktop (if used on a PC or Mac)
   1. Select a message from the sender.
   2. On the Home tab, in the Delete group, select Junk > Block Sender.
   3. Or open Junk E‑mail Options > Blocked Senders tab > Add, then enter the email address or domain and select OK.
4. In Outlook on the web: confirm junk handling is active
   1. Go to Settings > Mail > Junk email.
   2. Ensure junk filtering is enabled (not set to “Don’t move email to my Junk Email folder”).
   3. If junk is not being filtered correctly, temporarily switch handling to a stricter mode (if available), save, sign out, sign back in, then set it back to standard. Allow a few hours for changes to take effect.
5. On iPhone/iPad
   • Use the Outlook app’s server‑side junk/blocked lists above; the iOS contact‑card “block” is client‑side and may not move messages to Outlook’s Junk folder reliably.
   • After configuring blocked senders in Outlook on the web/desktop, unwanted messages from those senders should start going directly to Junk Email across all devices.

If the issue started right after adding the Gmail account, verify that the problematic messages are on the Microsoft accounts (not Gmail). Gmail spam handling is separate and must be configured in Gmail itself.

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References:

• Block or unblock senders in Outlook
• Block a mail sender
• Block a mail sender in Outlook
• Block or allow (junk email settings)
• Filter junk email and spam in Outlook
• Outlook.com doesn't send any emails to junk folder - Microsoft Q&A