How do I whitelist a sender in Gmail?

Last reviewed: October 29, 2026 · Markdown version

There is no Gmail setting by that name. The word "whitelist" does not appear on the Gmail Help pages that deal with keeping wanted mail out of Spam (Fix issues with valid emails in Spam and Report spam in Gmail, both read 29 October 2026). What those pages give instead are three ways to tell Gmail a sender is wanted. Our pick is the filter, because it is a rule you can see and edit.

The filter, step by step

From the Fix issues with valid emails in Spam page, which says "You can create a filter so a specific sender’s emails never go to Spam":

In Gmail on a computer, click Show search options in the search bar.
"Next to “From,” enter the sender’s email address."
Click Create filter at the bottom of the search window.
"Next to “Never send it to Spam,” check the box", then Create filter.

That is as close to a whitelist entry as Gmail gets: one rule per sender, kept under Settings, See all settings, Filters and Blocked Addresses, where Google's filter page says you can later "Click Edit or Delete" (Create rules to filter your emails, read 29 October 2026).

The two lighter routes

Add them to your contacts. "When you add the sender to Google Contacts, their emails won’t go to Spam" (the Fix issues page above).
Rescue one message. Open Spam, tick it, click Not spam: "After you remove the email, future emails from that sender won’t go to Spam" (the same page).

How these three behave when mail starts landing in Spam anyway, and why that leaves Spam looking empty, is on why the Spam folder looks empty.

Two things that override what you set

A block. If the sender is on your blocked list, none of this sticks: "When you block a sender, even when you remove their emails from Spam, Gmail still automatically identifies their emails as spam" (the Report spam in Gmail page above). Unblock first; after that, Google says, "all future emails from them go to your inbox" (Block an email address in Gmail, read 29 October 2026). The two ways to do it are on unblocking a sender.

An old unsubscribe. Google's spam page lists a warning for exactly this: "If someone sends an email after you unsubscribe, their emails go directly to Spam." Its fix is the Not spam route above.

On a work or school account there is a third: "your admin might set controls to mark certain emails as spam" (the spam page above). For a work address, the administrator is the person to ask.

Before you add anyone

A sender address can be faked. Google's spam page describes a warning for addresses that look "very similar to the email address of a known sender", such as an "O" swapped for a "0", and for mail where "Gmail can't confirm who sent you the email" (the spam page above). Add an address only after checking it letter by letter, and do not rescue a message carrying either warning unless you are sure who sent it.