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According to Hangouts Help:

Block or ignore someone

Users who don’t know you need to send an invitation to chat. To protect you, Hangouts filters spam invitations into a separate screen. If a spam invitation isn't filtered, or if you don't feel comfortable in a Hangout with someone, you can block them. When you block someone, they can see you’re online but can't send you Hangouts messages.

However, this statement does not appear to be true, as someone keeps sending me spam on Hangouts via a group chat. I never accepted any invitation from this person to chat. I have tried leaving the group as well as archiving the conversation, but I still receive these messages. The help article gives steps on how to block someone, but it only seems to work if they send you direct messages. I can't find steps for blocking someone who only sends group messages.

Block someone

  1. On your computer, go to Hangouts at hangouts.google.com or in Gmail.
  2. Select the person from the Hangouts list to open the conversation.
  3. At the top of the conversation, click Settings.
  4. Click Block and then Block.
  5. If you want to remove someone from your list, but don’t want to block them, open the "Contacts" tab and then Point to the person's name and then More and then Hide [contact name].

I cannot follow these steps because when I click on the Settings for the group conversation, there is no option to Block. I can only Leave or Archive. As mentioned above, selecting these options has not prevented this person from sending me further spam. I have no individual conversations with this person. How can I block them?

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  • Sounds like the answer to all of this is "you can't." In the same article you cited, under the zippy "Things to keep in mind:" "The person you blocked will still be able to join other group conversations that you're in." Feb 25, 2019 at 22:00
  • Gah. That sucks. So glad someone is abusing this loophole to send me material i have no wish to view. Maybe I'll have to just disable hangouts entirely. Feb 25, 2019 at 22:22
  • did you try to play with blocking in gmail chat? should be doable there
    – user0
    Feb 26, 2019 at 2:01
  • I tried in gmail chat and hangouts but could not find a way to do it. Feb 26, 2019 at 2:35
  • Did you try recreating the group without that user? How large is the hangout group? Is there anyone who would invite them back in? Feb 26, 2019 at 17:36

2 Answers 2

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In the Android app, when you view the People list in a group hangout, each current member has a 3 dots button that opens a menu that includes Block.

(Not sure if there's any easy way to do it on the web.)

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    I tried it out, and that does allow me to block the person. It doesn't stop them from sending me more messages in this group even if I keep leaving it, however. :( Mar 2, 2019 at 18:04
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I just did this from the Android app. First I blocked the person, and then in that same menu there's an option to remove that person from the group. I'm hoping that should do it. At least they have to make a new account to spam me again.

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