Retreiving Blocked Sender Emails

Gina C 0 Reputation points
2026-11-10T19:05:45.4+00:00

I found out I accidentally blocked a Sender. How can I retrieve previous emails sent? I'm on an Apple Desktop, if that makes any difference.

I went through the steps to unblock and added to Safe Sender.

Thank you!

Outlook | Web | Outlook.com | Email
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  1. Vikki-T 13,945 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator
    2026-11-11T06:30:33.03+00:00

    Hi Gina C,

    Blocking a sender does not normally remove messages that were already in your mailbox. It mainly directs new messages from that address to the Junk Email folder. Since you have already unblocked the address and added it to Safe Senders, future messages should no longer be treated as junk.

    For the older messages, try searching for the sender’s full email address in Outlook.com and change the search scope to All folders. It is also worth checking Archive, as well as Junk Email and Deleted Items. If the messages were automatically removed from Junk Email and are no longer available under Recover items deleted from this folder, they may no longer be recoverable.

    Could you also confirm whether you access Outlook.com through a browser on your Mac or through the Apple Mail app? The steps may differ if the account is being viewed through Apple Mail. Thank you so much for your understanding.

    Note: Please follow the steps in our documentation to enable e-mail notifications if you want to receive the related email notification for this thread.

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  2. AI answer

    2026-11-10T19:06:30.3766667+00:00

    Unblocking the sender does not restore earlier messages automatically; on your Mac, open Outlook.com in a browser and recover any retained messages from Junk Email or Deleted Items.

    Recover the messages

    1. Sign in to Outlook.com using Safari, Chrome, or another desktop browser.
    2. Open Junk Email in the left folder pane.
    3. Search for the sender’s complete email address.
    4. Select the messages, then choose Report → Not junk. This moves them back to the Inbox and reports that they were incorrectly classified. Blocked-sender messages are routed to Junk Email rather than held in a separate blocked-mail folder.^1^
    5. Also check Deleted Items. Select any messages found there and choose Move → Inbox.
    6. If they are no longer in Deleted Items:
      • Open Deleted Items.
      • At the top of the message list, select Recover items deleted from this folder.
      • Select the messages and choose Restore.^2^

    Use a desktop browser for the last recovery step; Microsoft notes that the Recoverable Items folder is accessible from a PC or Mac, but not from a mobile browser.

    If the messages are absent

    Microsoft’s recovery documentation says Outlook.com retains Junk Email for 30 days, while another Microsoft blocking article currently states 14 days. Because of that inconsistency, attempt recovery immediately.^3^

    If the messages are no longer in Junk Email, Deleted Items, or Recoverable Items, they have likely been permanently removed and cannot be recovered through Outlook.com. Ask the sender to resend them.

    Since you have already unblocked the address and added it to Safe Senders, no further change to those settings is needed. If newly sent messages still fail to arrive, search All folders and review Settings → Mail → Rules for a rule that moves or deletes that sender’s mail.^4^

    References

    1. Filter junk email and spam in Outlook | Microsoft Support
    2. [Web](https://support.microsoft.com/outlook/mail/recover-and-restore-deleted-items-in-outlook)
    3. [Classic Outlook](https://support.microsoft.com/outlook/mail/block-or-unblock-senders-in-outlook)
    4. Specific Email Account Stopped Arriving - Microsoft Q&A
    AI-generated content may be incorrect. Read our transparency notes for more information.

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