Email filters have existed forever. In fact, a few particularly annoying PR flacks probably would have driven me insane years ago had it not been for the ability to block their persistent pitches for clients whose products aren’t even close to being a fit for BGR. I’m sure everyone can relate — there are just always going to be some people you never want to hear from again.
Google has supported filters just like every other email provider out there ever since Gmail first launched. Today, however, the company announced a new feature that makes it very easy to instantly block annoying senders in just a few quick clicks.
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Until today, blocking someone in Gmail meant digging through your settings for the filters tab and then adding a new filter in a multi-step process. That procedure is fine for more complex filters, but why isn’t there a simpler solution when all you want to do is block one person.
Well now, there is a simpler solution.
“Sometimes you get mail from someone who’s really disruptive,” Google’s Sri Harsha Somanchi wrote in a blog post on Tuesday. “Hopefully it doesn’t happen often—but when it does, you should be able to say, ‘Never see messages from this person again.’ That’s why you can now block specific email addresses in Gmail—starting today on the web, and over the next week on Android. Future mail will go to the spam folder.”
Beginning today, users can simply click the menu arrow in the top-right corner of a message and click the new block sender option. Here’s what it looks like (halfway down the list):
If you ever have a change of heart, the sender can always be unblocked from within your Gmail settings.
This feature goes live today on the web, and it’ll hit Google’s Gmail app for Android over the next week. Also of note, Gmail’s terrific quick-unsubscribe feature is in the process of rolling out to Android as well.
