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Gmail Now Lets You Block Specific People

 & Angela Moscaritolo Managing Editor, Consumer Electronics

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Has your ex been sending you nasty emails that you just don't care to see? Now you don't have to with Gmail.

Google on Tuesday finally introduced a block sender feature, which will help you keep your Gmail inbox devoid of messages from people with whom you don't want to converse. The feature is available now on the Web, and will be rolling out to Android over the next week.

Until now, you could only report an email as spam in Gmail. If you took this action more than once, it would essentially function the same as blocking a sender, but there was no easy way to just block someone with the press of a button. That's changing today.

"Sometimes you get mail from someone who's really disruptive," Google Product Manager Sri Harsha Somanchi wrote in a blog post. "Hopefully it doesn't happen often — but when it does, you should be able to say, 'Never see messages from this person again.'"

To block someone just press the "More" button right next to Reply (a down arrow on the Web and three vertical dots on Android) and you'll see an option to block that email address. Once you block the person, any mail they send you from that email address in the future will go to the spam folder. If you and your ex end up working things out, you can always unblock them from your Settings.

Meanwhile, in addition to the new block option, the Gmail unsubscribe button is making its way to Android with this update, letting you opt out of mailing lists directly from the app.

"It's perfect for those newsletters you subscribed to a while back but don't read any more," Harsha wrote.

About Our Expert

Angela Moscaritolo

Angela Moscaritolo

Managing Editor, Consumer Electronics

My Experience

I'm PCMag's managing editor for consumer electronics, overseeing an experienced team of analysts covering smart home, home entertainment, wearables, fitness and health tech, and various other product categories. I have been with PCMag for more than 10 years, and in that time have written more than 6,000 articles and reviews for the site. I previously served as an analyst focused on smart home and wearable devices, and before that I was a reporter covering consumer tech news. I'm also a yoga instructor, and have been actively teaching group and private classes for nearly a decade. 

Prior to joining PCMag, I was a reporter for SC Magazine, focusing on hackers and computer security. I earned a BS in journalism from West Virginia University, and started my career writing for newspapers in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia.

The Technology I Use

My little Florida beach bungalow is brimming with smart home tech. I have a smart speaker or display in every room, allowing me to control other connected devices by voice. The Nest Hub on my bedside table lets me set wake-up alarms, control my smart light bulbs, and set the temperature on my smart thermostat. I use the Amazon Echo Show 8 on my kitchen counter to browse recipes, reorder protein powder, check the weather, and watch the news while I do dishes. 

Because I suffer from allergies, air purifiers are essential. My favorite model is the Dyson Purifier Cool TP07, which doubles as a fan and continuously sends indoor pollution data to its companion mobile app. 

My pitbull Bradley sheds, so a good robot vacuum is a must. I currently use a premium Ecovacs Deebot that can both vacuum and mop, empty its own dustbin, and wash its own mop cloth. 

For fitness, I like to mix up my routine with cycling, indoor rowing, running, and strength training in addition to yoga. I take classes on the Tonal 2 smart strength training machine, I row indoors on an Aviron machine, and track my beach runs with an Apple Watch while listening to music on my Apple AirPods Pro. On the weekends, I love riding e-bikes like the rugged, beach-friendly Aventon Aventure for fun and fitness.

My job involves a lot of virtual meetings, so a quality webcam, microphone, and ring light are important. I use the Jabra PanaCast 20 webcam, the Elgato Wave: 3 microphone, and a Yesker tripod ring light. 

As for my preferred phone platform, I'm an iPhone person, but I've also extensively used Android for product testing.

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