How To Block Phone Numbers On iPhone

Non-stop spam calls and emails from solicitors, marketers, exes, or local businesses can be really annoying. And the best way to stop these calls is to block the numbers that they come from. Apart from preventing spam calls, knowing how to block phone numbers can also help you take a temporary or permanent break from someone you don’t want to talk to. However, not many iPhone user knows how to do it. A few years ago, this process used to be very complicated and require jailbreaking the phone. But since the introduction of iOS 7, you can now block any phone numbers or emails that you don’t want to hear from with just a few taps on your iPhone. Here is what you need to do.

Block Phone Numbers On Your iPhone

It’s very simple to do. You can follow the traditional way by blocking a number right after you receive a call from it but you hang up or do not answer. In this case, you need to:

Open the Phone or Face Time app
Tap on the Recents tab at the bottom of the screen.
Click the ‘i’ symbol next to the unwanted number.
Scroll down and tap Block this Caller.
Confirm your decision.

You can also use the Messages app to block a number that used to text you:

Open Messages
Open the conversation and tap on the contact at the top of the screen.
Select the “i” symbol and then tap on the name, phone number, or email address.
Scroll down to find the Block this Caller button;
Tap it and confirm

Alternatively, you could:

Open the Settings app.
Scroll down and tap Phone.
Tap Blocked Contacts (in older versions of iOS, this was Call Blocking & Identification).
You’ll see your list of blocked callers. If you want to add a new one, tap on Add New…
You will need to scroll through your Contacts list to pick the number to block (so you will need to add the nuisance caller to your contacts list for this method to work).

And now you won’t be bothered with any calls, texts or FaceTime calls from that number.

What Happens When You block a Phone Number?

When you block someone in FaceTime, Messages, or the Phone app, incoming calls will go directly to voicemail. They can even leave you a message that will silently show up in the Voicemail section of the Phone app, but be hidden in a Blocked Messages section.

Messages or FaceTime calls won’t show up on your Apple devices, and the person you blocked won’t receive an alert or be any the wiser. They’ll be left with the impression that you’re ignoring them.

How to Use Silence Unknown Callers

This is a handy new feature that arrived in iOS 13. Silence Unknown Callers will make all calls from unknown numbers go straight to voicemail. You won’t even hear the phone ring. You will know that you missed a call because it will appear in the Recents list and you will see a message that you have a voicemail if they leave one. If you are busy or you don’t like to talk to a stranger, this feature is very useful. To enable it:

Open the Settings app.
Scroll down and tap on Phone.
Tap on the switch beside Silence Unknown Callers.

You will still be able to receive calls from people you have recently called as well as people who might appear in Siri Suggestions (perhaps someone you have been emailing).

Contact Your Service Provider:

How to Unblock Numbers

If you change your mind and decide to unblock the number, it’s easy to remove them from your Blocked Contacts list.

Go to Settings.
Tap on Phone.
Scroll down and tap on Blocked Contacts (Call Blocking & Identification in older iOS version).
Select on Edit.
Tap the red circle next to the blocked number you want to unblock.
A red Unblock button will appear. Tap that and confirm your decision