What Happens When I Block Someone in Hotmail?

Seeing a notification that you have a new email waiting for you can be an exciting process if you enjoy this form of communication. But if you check your Hotmail inbox to find the message is spam or correspondence from someone with whom you don't wish to communicate, it can be annoying. Hotmail allows you to block specific senders' email addresses.

Many people might worry that when someone on their blocked list sends them an email, the sender gets a notification saying he is blocked or that the email couldn't be delivered. Hotmail, however, does neither of the above. The sender has no reason to believe the email wasn't delivered, yet it's deleted from Hotmail's server before it ever appears in your inbox.

It's another common misconception that once you block a sender, her emails are sent directly to your Hotmail Junk folder. This, however, is untrue. Hotmail does receive the emails -- otherwise, the sender would get a notification that the message didn't go through -- but deletes them rather than sending them to your Junk folder. They don't appear in your Deleted folder, either. They're not accessible to you in any way.

The process of blocking a sender on Hotmail is simple. Upon logging into your Hotmail account, click the "Options" menu in the top right of the screen, then select "More Options." Choose "Safe and Blocked Senders," then "Blocked Senders," and enter the email address of the person you wish to block.

If, for whatever reason, you decide that you want to begin receiving emails from the blocked person, you can navigate to the "Blocked Senders" option outlined in Step 3. Find the sender's email address in the "Blocked Senders" list, then click "Remove from list" to unblock him. The next time he emails you, you'll receive it in your inbox.