But Alex was tech-savvy. They suspected something else. A few weeks ago, during a fit of frustration over a flood of unwanted promotional emails from a different company, Alex had gone on a blocking spree. They had furiously clicked "Block" on several senders without really looking. Had they accidentally blocked "The Daily Scoop" by mistake?

Alex leaned back. "Think," they whispered. "When I block someone, where does Gmail hide that information?"

The page showed a list of filters—rules that sorted or deleted emails. But there were no blocked addresses. Just a few old filters like "emails from 'news@example.com' skip the inbox." Alex frowned. This wasn't the block list. This was a common trap. People often confuse email filters with the block list . Filters move or delete email after it arrives. The block list stops it from arriving at all.

Next to each blocked address was a blue button. Alex clicked "Unblock" next to newsletter@dailyscoop.com .

A pop-up asked: "Unblock [email address]? This person will be able to send you emails again."

Then, Alex went back to Gmail and refreshed the page. Within seconds, a new email appeared: "The Daily Scoop: You missed our last three issues!"