How To Block Numbers Or Contacts On iPhone: An Easy Guide

It's almost remarkable that, no matter how fancy our phones get, telemarketers, phone bots, and scam calls are still an enduring grievance of modern life. Just having an active phone number invites all manner of audible irritants into your life, and they are nothing if not persistent. As tempting as it is to pick up the phone just so you can yell at them, though, the best possible thing you can do is prevent them from calling you entirely — at least, at their current number.

Thankfully, unlike with analog phones, smartphones like iPhones have built-in features to block and filter phone numbers; whether they're from an extremely persistent telemarketer, or just your annoying cousin. Not only can you block problematic numbers after the fact, but you can also use your iPhone's supplementary features to keep them from bothering you in the first place. All it takes is some switch-flipping in your phone's settings.

Whenever you receive a call on your iPhone from a spam number, whether you pick it up or not (preferably not), you have the ability to block the number from ever contacting you again.

1. From your iPhone's home screen, open the Phone app.

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2. Open the "Recents" tab.

3. Find the number that called you that you want to block.

4. Tap the Info symbol next to the number.

5. Scroll down and tap "Block this Caller."

When you block a phone number, that caller won't be able to contact you directly. If they attempt to call you, they'll be automatically re-routed to your voicemail — they can still leave a message, but you won't receive a notification if they do.

If you want to block someone who's already registered in your Contacts list, the process is equally simple.

1. Open the Settings app.

2. Tap Phone.

3. Tap Blocked Contacts.

4. Tap Add New.

5. Tap on a contact in your list to block them.

In case you're blocking a real person, don't worry, they won't be notified that you blocked them. However, if you were sharing your location with them, they will be notified of that.

The first way robocallers get their foot in the door is by getting you to pick up when they call. Even if they don't say anything to you when you pick up, it doesn't matter — you've been registered as an active number, which means you're probably going to hear from them again. To ensure you don't accidentally pick up, you can use your iPhone's settings to automatically filter calls from anyone who isn't registered to your Contacts list.

1. From the iPhone's home screen, open the Settings app.

2. Tap Phone.

3. Scroll down and tap Silence Unknown Callers.

4. Enable the "Silence Unknown Callers" toggle.

While this option is enabled, your phone will not ring if a number that isn't registered attempts to call you. The call will be recorded in your recent calls list, and they can leave a voicemail, but you won't know if you don't actually check.

One word of caution — any numbers that aren't registered to your contacts will be filtered. As such, you should make sure you have the numbers saved of any potentially important calls you may receive before you enable this feature, lest you miss a call that actually matters.

Given the volume of spam calls that circulate these days, it's pretty much a given that you'll end up with a hefty book of blocked numbers after a while. You can check the numbers you've blocked and adjust their permissions through your Contacts list, just in case you accidentally blocked someone important.

1. From the iPhone's home screen, open the Settings app.

2. Tap Phone.

3. Tap Blocked Contacts.

4. Tap a blocked number to see any saved details.

If you want to unblock a number, just hold on the number and swipe right-to-left to reveal the unblock button. Tap the unblock button, and the number will be unblocked. If you have details saved, they'll be returned to your normal Contacts list, otherwise the number will simply be able to call you again.

Keep in mind that blocked numbers are managed across all relevant apps (Phone, Messaging, FaceTime, etc.). If you unblock a number, it will be unblocked on all of those apps.