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How can I keep people I don't know from sending me instant messages?
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People who know your e-mail address can send you messages even if they are not on your contact list or on your Allow List. You can prevent this by adjusting your privacy settings.
| 1. In the Messenger main window, click the Tools menu, then click Options. |
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| 2. Click the Privacy tab. |
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3. Under the heading My Allow List, click All others, then click the Block button.
All others moves to your Block list. This forces anyone who wants to send you messages to add you to their own contact list. Click the OK button once you have done this. |
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| 4. To block a message from an individual, simply click the Block button on the toolbar in the conversation that you are having. |
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Please note:
- The blocked contact does not know he or she has been blocked. You simply appear to be offline to them.
- Deleting a blocked person from your contact list does not remove the block.
- A person you have blocked cannot contact you directly; however, you might find yourself in a conversation with the blocked person if you are both invited to the conversation by someone else.
 Return to the Messenger Support page
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Spam on MSN Messenger is extremely rare and it's a fairly simple process to ensure that you never receive messages from strangers.
To protect yourself from Spam:
- Open Messenger, click the Tools menu and select Options.
- Click Privacy and select 'Alert me when other users add me to their contact lists’.
- When someone tries to add you to their buddy list, a dialog box will ask if you want to allow him or her to contact you. If this request is from a stranger or someone you don't want to hear from, check ‘Block this person from seeing when you are online and contacting you.’
If you are still having problems after following these steps, we suggest you block the unwanted messages.
Click here for a visual guide to blocking abusive or unpleasant users
Click here for a visual guide to stopping messages from unknown users
To block unwanted messages:
- Open Messenger, click the Tools menu and select Options.
- Click Privacy and select All other users.
- Click Block. This will prevent people who are not on your buddy list from sending you messages or adding you to their contact list.
Note: If you do this, new friends will also be prevented from adding you to their contact lists unless you add them to your list first.
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