Meet Gmail’s Newest Spam-Fighting Tools

Gmail has two new tools that can help reduce the amount of unwanted emails that reach your inbox.

Google announced Tuesday that its email service, Gmail, now has a “block” feature that makes it easier to block all email from a specific sender.

The feature is available for Gmail on the Web now, and it will become available for mobile devices with the Android operating system over the next week, Google says.

Here’s how Google explains the “block” feature:

Sometimes you get mail from someone who’s really disruptive. Hopefully it doesn’t happen often — but when it does, you should be able to say, “Never see messages from this person again.”

Using the feature automatically routes all email from blocked senders directly to the spam folder.

Previously, Gmail users could not directly block individual email senders. They had to create filters to do so, which is a multi-step process.

If you later wish to unblock messages from a particular blocked sender, that change can be made in “Settings,” Google states.

Tuesday’s announcement also notes that Gmail’s existing “unsubscribe” feature, which also aims to help keep spam out of your inbox, “is making its way to Android, so you’ll be able to opt out of eligible mailing lists directly from the Gmail app.”

To learn more about the new “block” feature, including step-by-step directions, visit Gmail Help’s “Block unwanted emails” page.

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