Thanks to the advanced smartphone technologies, it’s getting faster and more convenient to get in touch with family and friends. Not all calls are welcomed, though. Spammers, strangers, telemarketers, and other unwanted callers can get annoying. Telemarketers, political campaigns, and other unwelcome callers can disrupt you with ill-timed calls. If you want to get rid of their phone calls altogether, there’s a straightforward solution to stop specific callers, which is to block them. Your options will differ depending upon your handset, wireless provider, and application preferences. You can block a number on a cell phone by trying one of these methods provided by this guide.
How to Block a Phone Number on iPhone (or iPad)
Regularly receiving text messages or phone calls on your iPhone can be aggravating, especially if they’re from unknown numbers or from someone you know who doesn’t want to contact you. We’ll walk you through a straightforward step-by-step process for blocking numbers on any iPhone in this post. You’ll discover how to prevent unsolicited texts, phone calls, emails, and even FaceTime calls. We’ll also teach you how to handle these banned contacts if you wish to unblock any or add a phone number without the contact first contacting you.
How to Block Texts on Your iPhone
Although a blocked contact can still leave voicemail messages if they try to call you, they can’t send you text messages. Any messages they try to send will fail to send and you won’t receive anything on your iPhone.
Here’s how to block texts on your iPhone:
- Open the Messages app and open a conversation with the person or company you want to block.
- Tap the contact icon at the top of the screen, then tap the Info icon to bring up quick actions for that contact.
- Tap Info again to view a contact card.
- Scroll to the bottom and tap Block this Caller, then confirm you want to Block Contact.
How to Block Unknown Calls on Your iPhone
An unwanted phone call is difficult to ignore. But if you keep getting unwanted calls from the same person or company, you can block them from calling you so you don’t need to worry about them anymore.
When you block contacts from calling or FaceTime calling you, their calls automatically divert to voicemail. Your iPhone doesn’t give you any notification, but you can see your missed calls by checking the Recents on the Phone.
You can also check the blocked folder of your voicemail to see if anyone left you a message.
Here’s how to block unknown calls on your iPhone:
- Open the Phone app and tap Recents to see your recent calls.
- Find the person or number you want to block and tap the i to open their contact card.
- Scroll to the bottom of the page and tap Block this Caller, then confirm you want to Block Contact.
How to Block a Contact on iPhone
- Open your iPhone’s Settings. It’s a gray app containing sprockets on your home screen.
- Tap Phone. It’s in the fifth section of the menu.
- Tap Call Blocking & Identification. It’s the second set in the “Calls” section of the menu.
- A list of all the contacts and phone numbers you’ve previously blocked will appear.
- Tap Block Contact. It’s at the bottom of the screen. If your list of blocked callers extends beyond the screen, you’ll have to scroll down.
- Select a contact to block. Simply tap the name of the person you wish to block. The blocked contact will no longer be able to reach you on your iPhone by phone call, FaceTime, or Messages.
- Repeat the previous two steps for all contacts you wish to block.
- You can unblock contacts from this menu by tapping Edit in the upper-right corner of the screen and selecting them.
What About Blocking Multiple Phone Numbers
There are a few ways to block numbers on an iPhone. One way is to go to “Settings,” then “Phone,” and then “Blocked.” You can then add the numbers you want to block. Another way is to open the “Phone” app and tap the “Recents” tab. Then, swipe left on the number you want to block and tap “Block this Caller.
If you aren’t quite satisfied with the built-in iPhone options, download a call-blocker app instead. You can’t block multiple phone numbers at once on a single device, but you can use a call blocker app to do it. There are a number of these apps available, and they work by identifying calls that are spam or telemarketing calls and then blocking them. RealCall is one of the most popular call-blocking apps. The app is overflowing with features to help you get more security from your iPhone. It also has various core features including Realcall protection, Smart Assistant, and Real SMS Protection.
How to Block a Phone Number on Android
How to Block a Number on Samsung Galaxy
Samsung continues to be the biggest smartphone maker in the industry, holding over 18% of the smartphone market share. There’s a good chance this is the right section for you. You can block a number through the Contacts app or your Phone app.
Block in Contacts
- Open the Contacts app.
- Locate the contact you intend to block.
- Tap the More menu, located at the bottom right corner.
- Hit the Block contact button.
- Tap Block again to confirm.
Block in the Phone app
- Open the Phone app.
- Tap the 3-dot menu button.
- Select Settings.
- Locate and tap the Block numbers section.
- Choose Add phone number. You can also pull numbers from Recents or Contacts.
- Once you type the phone number, press the + button to add it to your contacts.
- You can also toggle on Block unknown/private numbers to eliminate all unknown callers.
How to Block a Number on Motorola
To Block a Number:
- Open the Phone application
- Tap the three dots on the upper right
- Tap Blocked numbers
- Tap ADD A NUMBER
- Enter the phone number
- Tap BLOCK
How to Block a Range of Phone Numbers on Android
Method One
- Open the Phone app.
- Go into the Contacts tab.
- Find the contact you want to block and tap on it.
- Hit the three-dot menu button.
- Select Block numbers.
- Select whether you want to report the number(s) as spam or not.
- Confirm by hitting Block.
Method Two
- Open the Phone app.
- Go into Recents.
- Long-press on the number you want to block.
- Hit Block/report spam.
- Check or uncheck the box that reads Report call as spam.
- Select Block.
Method Three
- Open the Phone app.
- Tap on the 3-dot menu button in the top-right corner.
- Pick Settings.
- Select Blocked numbers.
- Tap on Add a number.
- Type in the number and hit Block.
- Another good option is to use the Unknown setting above, which blocks all unidentified callers.
If your Android phone doesn’t have a built-in call-blocking feature, or if it does but you find it lacking, you might be wondering how to block a phone number using another method. Thankfully, you can also choose RealCall as the efficient third-party call-blocking tool.