Have you ever wanted to block someone on your iPhone but wondered what actually happens when you do? You can block contacts through your Messages, FaceTime, and Phone apps, and blocking a contact in one app will block them across the board. However, blocking doesn’t prevent someone from trying to reach you—and they won’t get a notification that they’ve been blocked, so they might start to wonder why you aren’t answering their messages.
You’re blocking them, though, so you probably don’t care too much about that last part. So here’s how to block someone on your iPhone—and where those messages go (or don’t go).
To block a number in Messages, open the conversation, tap the contact’s name, number, or image at the top of the screen, and hit the “i” info icon. Tap the name or number again and scroll down to the bottom of the contact screen to “Block this Caller.”
When a blocked number tries to send you a text message, it won’t go through. If they’re on iOS, they might not even see the “delivered” note in their Messages app—though it’s possible they’ll see your chat bubble turn from blue (iMessage) to green (SMS). You’ll see nothing on your end.
Messages also has an option to filter texts from senders who aren’t in your Contacts list. You’ll still get the messages, but they’ll be delivered to a separate “Unknown Senders” inbox. You also won’t see notifications for these texts.
The Unknown Senders tab will appear alongside a “Contacts & SMS” tab in Messages if you enable this feature (Settings > Messages > Filter Unknown Senders).
To block a number in the Phone or FaceTime, tap the “i” info icon next to the number or contact and hit “Block this Caller” on the contact screen.
You can manage your blocked contacts in Settings > Phone (or Messages or FaceTime) on your iPhone. Unblock numbers at any time to resume receiving messages, calls and notifications.
Calls from blocked contacts go directly to voicemail. On your end, you’ll see a special “Blocked Messages” folder in your voicemail inbox if they leave a message (found at the bottom of your voicemail message list). You won’t receive any notification they called, however.
This story was originally published in 2016 by Thorin Klosowski and was later updated by Emily Long. It was updated again on Oct. 29, 2021 to meet current Lifehacker style guidelines.
During a normal year, it’s common to feel like the holidays sneak up on us too quickly, leaving us unprepared. But in 2020, the holidays—and the end o
Even though none of us should be traveling right now, there are still plenty of people who want (or need) to get away from their home base. I start th
After the release of iOS 14.3, I’ve been doing a little more digging into iOS 14, and I stumbled across a little trick I never knew about before, even
One of Chrome’s best features for staying organized is coming to Android: the almighty “tab groups,” which let you bunch up your tabs into more useful
There’s an obvious appeal to off-the-shelf, “install this to fix everything!” software suites. Or, they sound great on paper, anyway: Dump an app (or
If someone on WhatsApp continuously fails to respond to you, they may be ignoring you—or they may have blocked you from contacting them altogether. Ho
One of the many hierarchies of Instagram has been the link-in-stories feature. You only got access to it if you had more than 10,000 followers, or if
You usually want a response when asking your Google Home device a question. When you issue a command, however—say, telling your Google Assistant to tu
We are a comprehensive and trusted information platform dedicated to delivering high-quality content across a wide range of topics, including society, technology, business, health, culture, and entertainment.
From breaking news to in-depth reports, we adhere to the principles of accuracy and diverse perspectives, helping readers find clarity and reliability in today’s fast-paced information landscape.
Our goal is to be a dependable source of knowledge for every reader—making information not only accessible but truly trustworthy. Looking ahead, we will continue to enhance our content and services, connecting the world and delivering value.
