Shut out annoying contacts with Gmail’s “Block Sender” feature

By Rik Ray | Updated on 23-Sep-2015

23-Sep-2015

HIGHLIGHTS

Gmail users on app and web can now block specific email IDs as well as unsubscribe from mailing lists directly

Google has introduced a new “Block Sender” feature for Gmail on Tuesday. It will allow users to block incoming mail from specific email addresses. It also announced that the “Unsubscribe” feature will be rolled out for the Android app.

The “Block Sender” feature was launched yesterday for the web interface of Gmail. The update will be rolling out to Android devices from next week. Users will now be able to block a pesky email address with just a couple of clicks. Any further emails from that specific address will be end up straight in the spam folder. Should you decide to unblock someone, you can head over to the settings to do so. In order to block an ID from the web interface, open up a mail from the sender you are trying to block. You should find the option to block from the drop-down menu beside the reply button. In the app, it can be found in the menu that appears by tapping on the three vertical dots in the top-right corner of the screen while viewing an email. Until now, users could block people by creating a filter in Gmail. However, it required more than one click to filter unwanted emails out of the inbox.

In addition to the “Block Sender” feature, Google also launched the “Unsubscribe” option on the Android app. Users can now unsubscribe from mailing lists directly from the app, without having to navigate a maze of headache inducing pages. The feature is present in the menu that appears on hitting the “More” option, represented by the vertical dots. The “Unsubscribe” feature was already available in the web version.

A few months back, Gmail introduced an “Undo Send” option. The mail won’t be sent before a predefined delay, ranging from 5 to 30 seconds. On clicking send, users can undo the action within that duration.

The “Block” and “Unsubscribe” feature will be available on the app from next week, although some regions, including India, have already received it. The updated app is now live on the Google Play Store.