cannot block senders

Question

The options to block senders are all disabled or missing on my Outlook.

Answer 1

Hello, thank you for reaching out to Microsoft Q&A.

Open an Incognito tab on any web browser and sign in with your Microsoft account here-

https://outlook.live.com/

Go to Outlook Settings > Mail > Junk Email > Blocked Senders and domains > select 'Add Blocked Sender'.

If this option is missing,

May I please know if the affected email address for a personal Microsoft account (e.g., ending in @outlook.com, @hotmail.com, @gmail.com that you created for services like Skype or Xbox) or a work/school account provided by an organization (e.g., ******@company.com)?

Answer 2

In Outlook on the web/Outlook.com, blocking senders is done from the Junk email settings, not from the message list if those options are missing or disabled.

Use these steps to configure blocking:

1. Sign in to Outlook on the web or Outlook.com.
2. If there is more than one account, select the account to configure.
3. Select Settings (gear icon) at the top of the page.
4. Select Mail > Junk email.
5. Under Blocked senders or Blocked senders and domains:
   • To block a specific email address, enter it in the Blocked senders field and select Add (or Add blocked sender), then OK if shown.
   • To block an entire domain, enter the domain (for example, contoso.com) in Blocked domains (or the same Blocked senders and domains section) and select Add.
6. Select Save.

After this, messages from those addresses or domains are delivered directly to the Junk Email folder instead of the Inbox. Junk email is retained for a limited period (14–30 days depending on experience) before being automatically deleted and cannot be recovered after that.

If the block options still appear missing or disabled in the message right‑click menu, use the Junk email settings page as above, since that is the supported way to manage blocked senders in Outlook on the web/Outlook.com.

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References:

• Block or unblock senders in Outlook
• Block or allow (junk email settings)
• Filter junk email and spam in Outlook