Unable to block email in Apple Mail after iOS 26.4 update

Well not exactly. These aren't blocked phone numbers, they're blocked email addresses, so it's not about people calling me. And I've set it up so that an email coming from a blocked address is NOT automatically moved to trash. So I can see that I actually do receive multiple emails from some of the same addresses. It's not unusual for me to block an address, then receive follow up emails from the same sender. The follow-ups are flagged in my inbox, so I can monitor the traffic before manually deleting them. I realize I could set it up so they're automatically moved to trash, but I prefer it this way.

acmeplant wrote:

Well not exactly. These aren't blocked phone numbers, they're blocked email addresses, so it's not about people calling me. And I've set it up so that an email coming from a blocked address is NOT automatically moved to trash. So I can see that I actually do receive multiple emails from some of the same addresses. It's not unusual for me to block an address, then receive follow up emails from the same sender. The follow-ups are flagged in my inbox, so I can monitor the traffic before manually deleting them. I realize I could set it up so they're automatically moved to trash, but I prefer it this way.

How many of the 4472 are repeats? And are some of them from real businesses that you just don’t want to hear from?

I don't know how many are repeats, and I'm not eager to scroll through the list of 4000+ to find out! If there were a way to sort the list, I could tell you, but it's not immediately apparent to me that that's possible. Some of them may be real businesses, but most of them feel scammy. Also, I get people asking me if they can place an article on my website, promote my books, improve my google ranking, etc. and they follow up multiple times. I sure did like that blocking feature.

Any thoughts on an alternate mail application? I hate to change because I'm so familiar with Mail. I won't use Outlook and I'd rather not use gmail, but if I have to, I'll change because this is ridiculous.

richphoto wrote:

I have been sending in messages to support for two years, this isn't rocket science to fix this, it's rediculous. They know it is an issue that has been going on and no one fixes it.

And you have been avoiding to learn how to block email and phone numbers. It’s not rocket science.

I’ve been using the feature for years, and it still works for me. So there’s nothing for Apple to fix, but you need to see why you specifically are having a problem.

You should also read the rest of the messages in the thread you added to so you can gain insight into how to resolve this issue with your iPhone.

BTW, blocking does not provide any protection against spam and phishing attacks, because spammers never use the same email address more than once, so if you block every spam or phishing message you are wasting your time, as well as the resources needed to save thousands of email addresses that will never email you again.

Well... It worked for me in 26.4 too.

But as soon as I updated to 26.5.1, the block option no longer worked. If you update, please lmk if it still works for you. Although I don't recommend updating if this is an important feature for you.

I actually do get repeat messages from people trying to sell me services that will improve my website traffic, place an article on my website, protect my identity, etc., so being able to block them is helpful.

richphoto wrote:

I have been battling this for a year even escalated to top tier support once then they stopped calling back .

Have you read the thread you just added to, which discusses troubleshooting options?

And this thread started only 2 1/2 months ago, so if you have a problem over a year old it has nothing to do with your problem.

Please believe me when I tell you that I get emails from the same addresses repeatedly. How do I know? Because when they show up in my inbox, the "blocked symbol" is already there. I set up my blocking to NOT automatically transfer to trash because I like to see what comes in.

Actually it's my MacBookPro, my iPhone still lets me block an address. And I'm not trying to stop unwanted emails from arriving. I simply want to have Mail recognize the address as blocked, so I can quickly move it to trash when I see the blocked symbol. That's all. It seems like a simple request, considering that I've been able to do it for so many years.

any one else still have this issue? I am up to 26.5.2 and I am still having this issue. I am also up to date on my iPhone 17 and I can't block there either. On the iPhone it looks like it will block it, but it removes it later.

I absolutely get emails from the same addresses that is junk/spam. Maybe not from years ago, so I could get rid of some them, but over weeks and months I get some from the same email. I can have six junk emails, block one, and five of the six emails are now blocked because they are all from the same email address even though they have different subjects. And they will continue to send from those addresses at least for awhile.

acmeplant wrote:

Unacceptable indeed. I, too, have well over 3000 blocked contacts. But I don't get pop-up when I try to block another. I'm using 26.5.2. Which OS are you using?

Let me ask you something really basic. Why do you have over 3000 blocked contacts? You do realize that spammers use a different email address for each message they send. As there are an infinite number of possible email addresses it’s easy to do so.

The only reason to block that many is if you have 3000 relatives you don’t want to hear from.

acmeplant wrote:

Unacceptable indeed. I, too, have well over 3000 blocked contacts. But I don't get pop-up when I try to block another. I'm using 26.5.2. Which OS are you using?

iOS 26.5.2 does not have the pop up telling you that the limit has been reach, that was added in 26.6.

“Not really”. Huh? I posted fact. Yes - really.

the reason customer support couldn’t tell me anything is because Apple doesn’t support customer support. How do you not tell the people who are supposed to help customers about an issue that customers are having?

And your “solution” to unblock contacts that you want, and have, blocked so you can block new ones isn’t a solution - it’s whack-a-mole.