How to block incoming messages

Follow Microsoft's instructions to block a mail sender to configure your University email account to block email from specified sender addresses or entire mail domains.

All email from the specified sender will go into your Junk Email folder.

This method will delete any incoming messages from a particular sender address or domain. You can specify other criteria in step 3, for example to delete message where the subject line contains specified keywords.

1. Right-click on a message from someone you don't want to receive email from and click Rules > Create Rule
2. Select Advanced Options
3. Select the first condition "from XXX" then press Next.
   You can change the sender address and/or add other conditions here if you prefer
4. Select "delete it" as the action then press Next.
   You can select other actions here if you prefer, such as moving the message to the Junk Email folder
5. Select Next, turn on Run this rule now, then select Finish to complete and run the rule.
   Outlook will scan your inbox folder and take the specified action on all matching messages. It will also apply automatically to any new messages arriving in inbox provided that you have Outlook running (desktop or web versions)

For further information read Microsoft instructions to manage email messages by using rules.

This method will deliver incoming messages from a particular sender address or domain into a folder that you select. This is helpful if you don't want to see the messages in your INBOX or Junk Mail folders, but need to retain them - for example as evidence in a law enforcement investigation.

You can specify other criteria in step 4, for example to delete message where the subject line contains specified keywords.

1. Create a new folder in your mailbox to store the messages in. You can drag-and-drop this folder to move it away from the folders you use most, for example to the bottom of your folder list
2. Right-click on a message from someone you don't want to receive email from and click Rules > Create Rule
3. Select Advanced Options
4. Select the first condition "from XXX" then press Next.
   You can change the sender address and/or add other conditions here if you prefer
5. Select "move it to the specified folder" as the action, then select "specified" in the Step 2 area and pick the folder you created earlier. Select Next
6. Select Next, turn on Run this rule now, then select Finish to complete and run the rule.
   Outlook will scan your inbox folder and take the specified action on all matching messages. It will also apply automatically to any new messages delivered to your mailbox

For further information read Microsoft instructions to manage email messages by using rules.

1. Configure MS Teams to mute + hide chat for the contact - see Hide, unhide, mute, or pin a chat in Teams

2. Configure MS Teams to block calls via Teams telephony: navigate to Teams > Calls, right-click or long-tap the contact and choose Block

   (This only works for contacts that Teams considers to be "external", which generally includes contact made via external phone numbers. If the "block" option is not available then Teams considers this contact to be internal and there is no means of blocking incoming calls)

Where all of the following conditions are met it may be agreed to add a specified address to the site-wide blocked sender address list. This will only be done in exceptional circumstances, and will cause all email sent from the specified address(es) to be blocked from delivery to any Nexus365 mailboxes. No notification will be sent to the sender when their emails are blocked. Delivery to units that handle mail routing themselves will not be affected by this block, and you should contact local ITSS to request an equivalent block if required. Required conditions:

1. The matter has been taken up with law enforcement (i.e. referred to the police) or a court order has been placed on the sender banning them from contacting one or more member(s) of the University
2. Emails contain abusive, threatening and/or seriously offensive language and the detrimental effect of non-delivery of email from the specified address on interested parties (esp. Nexus365 and units who may have been in contact with the sender previously) is agreed by the authorisers to be acceptable when balanced against the detrimental effect of delivery
3. Email address to be blocked is not a University-provided address and sender is not a current student or member of staff
4. Sender is regularly contacting more than one University email recipient via their University email address

Where these conditions are met you can request a block by contacting the Service Desk with details of the address to be blocked, an expiry date not exceeding 6 months or the last date of effect of any court order (whichever is later), and contact details for someone who can provide evidence that the conditions are met. Your request will be reviewed by Information Security and Legal Services, and implemented if approved. This typically takes 3 to 5 working days.

The methods above are best suited to different situations. The following table shows the main differentiating features to help you decide which is the most suitable.

Our recommendations of which method to use for some common scenarios:

• Block repeat spam / junk offenders: use the Outlook blocked senders list, blocking the entire domain if messages come from different people each time (common with marketing organisations)
• Block offensive messages based on keywords: use Outlook rules to delete messages that match
• Block harassing messages but keep a copy as evidence: use Outlook rules to move messages to an evidence folder
• Block senders of targeted, abusive / offensive messages to multiple (or frequently changing) University addresses: site-wide blocked sender

We generally advise against setting up any kind of automatic response in relation to unwanted messages. This can alert the sender, who may then take action to circumvent the block you have put in place.