Gmail: how to block the reception of unsolicited messages?

There are a number of reasons that may cause you to look for a way to block receipt of an email. If you’re looking for an effective way to prevent a newsletter from unsubscribing, or stop unwanted contact messages from reaching your inbox, Gmail has the solution.

The first is to create filters, in which you define actions to be applied to messages that meet defined characteristics. The second, more draconian, allows you to simply block the address of senders.

Here’s how to clean your inbox, and block the arrival of unsolicited emails.

1. Go to Settings

To access your Gmail mailbox settings, click on the cogwheel icon from the main page, and enter the Settings menu.

Then go to the Filters and blocked addresses tab. It is from this menu that it is possible to create filters, but also to manage blocked e-mail addresses.

2. Create a filter

If you are irritated by certain topics, Gmail allows you to create filters to block the reception of targeted messages. Click on Create filter to bring up the configuration window.

The rules configured in your filters can apply to the sender’s address, the subject of the message, the presence or not of certain keywords, the size of the message, the presence of an attachment, etc. Define the rules for your filter and click Create Filter to validate them.

The following window suggests that you define the action to be taken when a message received matches the parameters defined by your filter.

Check the actions you want to apply, Delete for example, and validate by clicking on Create a filter.

For all emails received that meet the defined criteria, the selected actions will be implemented.

3. Block email addresses

Another possibility offered by Gmail to stop receiving unsolicited e-mails is to block the sender’s address directly.

To do this, open a message from an address you want to block. Expand the options by clicking on the three small dots at the top right of the message, then select Block [Nom de l’expéditeur].

An alert window appears and indicates that future messages sent from this address will be marked as spam. Confirm by clicking on Block.

To unblock an address, you will need to go to Settings> Filters & Blocked Addresses.