It is a very common practice for people to block email addresses they don’t know. Sometimes though, a recipient’s email settings may automatically block emails, sending many relevant and important emails to spam.
While it may not be possible to reverse email blocking when it’s done deliberately, you can get people to unblock your Microsoft Hotmail email if they have unintentionally blocked you.
I’ll tell you how below.
How To Tell If Someone Blocked Your Email On Hotmail
Can emails be blocked on Hotmail?
Absolutely yes!
Blocking is a safeguard meant to protect the person blocking. So, you cannot know if someone has blocked you, because technically, the very act of being blocked marks you as the aggressor.
One way to know if you have been blocked is to actually ask the recipient by phone or chat. But let’s face it. Such a conversation can be awkward.
So rather than asking, you can do any of the following:
Wait For The Email To Bounce Back
Emails that bounce back usually return an “email undelivered” message. Email bounces usually occur as a result of a technical problem such as
- A problem with yours or the recipient’s server
- A wrong, unavailable (or fake) email address
Note: blocked emails don’t bounce back (we’ll go into this a little bit more below).
Note 2: Use a read receipt in a new message, that way you can confirm if the recipient reads it. If they don’t and none of the other solutions work, then it’s likely been blocked.
Send An Email To A Different Recipient
Are other people receiving your emails? If yes, then it’s likely you have been blocked.
Sending emails to other people will help you eliminate any send/receive errors as those don’t usually occur in isolation.
We also have an accompanying article, ‘why am i not receiving emails in Hotmail‘, if you need help there.
Try Contacting The Person Through A Different Email Address
I’m not encouraging duplicity here, but rather advocating for a genuine attempt to find out if the recipient may have somehow failed to notice that they blocked you. So, you can write something like this:
Hi Sandra,
I’m M from XYZ corp. I have been trying to reach you with a product that I think will solve the email backup problem you have at your company.
Can you reach out to me at (blocked email address)? Alternatively, you can reply to this email and let me know when you’ll be available for a demo.
Best regards,
M
The answer to whether you’ve been blocked will depend on whether or not the recipient responds, and the email address they reply to.
What Happens When Someone Blocks You On Hotmail?
If someone blocks your email on Hotmail, your emails will be automatically sent to the recipient email’s spam or junk folder.
This means the emails are delivered- just not to the inbox.
Getting emails blocked on Hotmail isn’t something you should take lightly because if it happens severally, it could lower your sender reputation. This means that recipient servers may mark all emails that originate from your IP address as “bad” and automatically send them to spam.
Will I Get A Notification If My Email Is Blocked On Hotmail?
No. Outlook will not notify you when a person blocks your email address.
What Is A Bounce Back Email?
Blocked emails don’t bounce. This is because as I mentioned above, they are delivered. Only instead of going into the inbox, they go straight to junk. An email only bounces if it is undelivered.
