How to Block and Unblock Someone on Plenty of Fish

In the POF app, open your chat with the person or their page, tap the shield with a heart icon to open the Safety Toolbox, and tap Block. On the website, click the three dots in the chat and choose Block This Person. Unblocking is the part that surprises people: you can only do it from a desktop computer, in your settings.

The steps POF gives:

1. Go to your conversation with them, or to their profile.
2. Look for the icon of a shield with a heart on it, and tap it. The Safety Toolbox opens.
3. Choose Block.

That is the whole process. Because it starts from either the chat or the profile, you can block from wherever you happen to run into the person.

On a computer the button sits somewhere else:

1. Open the chat with the person.
2. Click the three dots.
3. Choose Block This Person.

Both routes end in the same place, so use whichever device you happen to be holding.

POF says blocking does three things. The person can no longer message you. They are removed from your matches. And your chat history with them is deleted.

The first two are what you want. The third is the one to think about before you tap, because once the conversation is gone, it is gone. If anything in it matters, save it first. That is covered two sections down.

You cannot undo a block from the app. POF only lets you unblock from a desktop computer, under Edit Profile, then Settings.

So if you blocked someone in a moment of irritation and regret it, log in on a computer, go to Edit Profile, open Settings, and undo it there.

Do not expect the block to reverse everything it did, though. The chat history was deleted when you blocked, so plan on starting from an empty conversation. Being awkward to undo is a good reason to treat blocking as a decision rather than a reflex.

A block is for someone you want gone for good, and a few situations make that obvious.

Money is the clearest. If a woman you have never met starts talking about a customs fee, a sick relative, a gift card or a trading tip, you do not need to hear the rest of the story. Hostility is another. So is a set of photos that plainly came off a model's social media, or an account whose only goal seems to be getting you to click somewhere else. And anyone at all who makes you feel unsafe.

It also works for people you know. An ex or a coworker who keeps appearing can be blocked quietly, and neither of you has to deal with the awkward moment.

What does not need a block is ordinary disappointment. A conversation that fizzles, a woman who says she is not free this week, a reply that is shorter than you hoped. None of that is a threat. Stop writing to her, and put the time into the women whose replies are getting longer.

Because a block deletes your chat history, the order matters. Screenshot first, block second.

If the person was running a scam or being abusive, the screenshots are your record. They are what you would hand over if you decide to report the account, and a picture of their exact words carries more weight than your summary of them. Capturing them takes a few seconds. After the block, there is nothing left to capture.

Skip the goodbye. Telling a scammer you are onto them only invites a new story, and a final word to someone hostile just gives them something fresh to react to. The block is the whole message.

A block is a safety tool, and it works best kept that way. Reaching for it every time a conversation disappoints you turns a small letdown into something you have to manage. Refusing to use it when someone is genuinely out of line keeps you stuck in exchanges that only get worse.

a dating coach approaches the apps like an experiment: try something, see whether it works, drop it if it does not, and move on without fuss. A dead conversation fits that. It does not need a ruling or a farewell. You just stop investing in it.

So block the people who are unsafe or impossible, and let everyone else drift out of your inbox naturally. The attention you save is better spent on a woman who is actually keen to meet you.