Nearly everyone relies on their phone for communication these days. Even if someone lives next door, it’s standard practice to call instead of simply walking over and knocking on the door in person.
So, what happens when you suddenly don’t have the ability to call someone? Unfortunately, that happens quite often, thanks to how easy it is to block someone’s number.
Today, we’re going to go over how someone blocks your number, why you might need to know that it has happened, situations when it actually matters, and of course, how to tell if someone blocked your number.
If you’re a bit older, you might think the idea of a blocked phone number is a bit silly. Back in the day, there really wasn’t a way to block a number unless you called your service provider and had them do it.
Then, with cell phones, it became a common feature to “silence” calls from specific numbers. This didn’t block those numbers, but at least they didn’t disrupt anyone’s day.
However, modern smartphones can just flat-out block phone numbers on demand. If you, or anyone else, doesn’t want to talk to someone, it’s as easy as choosing a block setting for that person’s number. The call simply won’t go through after you’ve blocked the caller.
When Do You Need to Know Someone Blocked Your Number?
In many situations, it’s really not necessary to know that someone blocked your number outside of the personal feelings attached to it.
They might not want to continue communicating with you, and rather than tell you that, they took the easy way out and blocked your number.
That’s annoying, but they’re within their rights to do that. In this situation, determining whether or not they blocked your number is typically to make sure you’re not wasting your time trying to call them.
However, in some situations, such as with relationships that are in good standing and you don’t expect to get blocked, it might be necessary to rule out something bad happening and their phone being decommissioned without warning.
It’s possible that people block you by accident, and they won’t realize it until they check the Phone app for blocked numbers.
This can also be useful for business purposes. If you operate a phone-based business that requires you to reach out to people, you’ll likely get your number blocked occasionally.
Telemarketing companies typically aren’t well-received nowadays. Figuring out whether or not your number is blocked and how often it’s happening can provide you with crucial metrics for your business that you can use to improve your business model.
In a less ethical way, determining whether or not you’re blocked can be used to find ways to bypass the block and resume communication. But in almost every situation, this is unethical, and we recommend against it.
What Happens When Someone Blocks Your Number
Unfortunately, when someone blocks your phone number, you don’t get a message saying that you’re blocked. This is how it is with most other forms of blocks, such as those found on most social media platforms.
This is unfortunate because having this information upfront would make the emotional blow a lot easier to take, cope with, and move on from for the person being blocked, and there wouldn’t be any need for the methods we’ll be talking about later.
Twitter is a good example of how a block can be handled in a respectable manner, as it simply tells you you’re blocked when you attempt to view a user’s content.
It’s then up to you to accept that the person no longer wants to speak to you, and responsible adults can move on in a mature fashion.
Alas, this is not the case with phone numbers, and you will need to resort to more ambiguous clues to determine whether or not someone has blocked you. This really complicates matters more than it should.
How to Know If Someone Blocked Your Number
Since you don’t get a confirmation that you’ve been blocked, you have to resort to ambiguous clues that might or might not mean that you’ve been blocked.
We will go over the various methods you can use to determine if you’ve been blocked. But keep in mind that the person can fail to pay their phone bill, or their phone can otherwise be decommissioned, and you’ll experience many of the same things.
The signs might be slightly different whether they’ve blocked your number on iPhone or Android.
We will highlight one surefire way to tell if someone has blocked your phone number, though.
1. Ask the Person Outright
The easiest and most mature method to see if someone blocked your number is simply asking them.
This is easy if you know the person in real life. You can simply ask them if that’s how it is the next time you see them.
When confronted face to face, the average person will simply let you know that they did it, and even if they try to skirt around the problem, you’ll be able to tell by paying attention to their behavior.
Unfortunately, this only works if you regularly see the person. You obviously can’t ask a friend you met online or someone you don’t see in person whether they have blocked you or not.
It’s also important to have the right approach to this method. You can easily escalate a very simple situation into a dangerous confrontation if you act like a blocked phone number is a serious ordeal in-person.
Just ask the question, and accept the answer. There’s no reason to get defensive or otherwise allow the situation to escalate into a dramatic matter.
2. Call Your Blocker With a Mutual Friend’s Phone
Beyond asking the person outright, which isn’t always possible, you do have an option that is clear-cut and certain. You can ask a mutual friend for help.
If you are trying to call the individual you think has blocked you, and you’re immediately getting a message saying the person isn’t available, or it keeps ringing, has a mutual friend placed the call?
This requires a lot of trust. You don’t want to be the weird person who has people call on your behalf, and a mature adult doesn’t want to ruin the relationship between your mutual friend and the person you’re worried about.
However, it can be necessary, and it’s a surefire way to tell if you’ve been blocked.
If you get a message saying the person is unavailable, but your mutual friend gets a call through or at least goes to voicemail, you can 100% consider yourself blocked.
This, and the method detailed earlier, are the only two ways to 100% know that you’ve been blocked.
4. Hide Your Number to Call the Blocker
If you don’t have a mutual friend, create a burner phone number or hide yours. That way, the recipient can’t see your number.
The code to block your number varies depending on the country you’re in. In the U.S., dial *67, followed by the number you’re trying to call.
This hides your number, which will show up on the recipient’s screen as “Private” or “Unknown caller.” You’ll have to dial *67 whenever you want to hide your number.
Hide Your Number on Android Device
To permanently hide your number on Android, follow these steps:
- Open the Phone app
- Tap the three-dots icon at the upper right corner of the screen.
- Select Settings from the drop-down menu.
- Tap Calls. This menu might be different depending on your Android phone brand.
- Tap Additional settings.
- Select Caller ID.
- Tap the toggle switch to hide your caller ID.
Hide Your Number on iPhone
To permanently hide your number on iPhone, follow these steps:
- Open the Settings app.
- Scroll down and tap Phone.
- Select Show My Caller ID.
- Tap the toggle switch to hide your caller ID.
Whenever you make a call, your phone number appears as private or unknown to recipients.
It’s important to note that with iOS 13, Apple makes it easy to silence unknown calls. So hiding your caller ID might make it easier for people not to take your call. Or, they can simply block all no-callers ID calls.
3. Know the Signs a Number Blocked You
If you can’t talk to the person face-to-face, and you don’t have a mutual friend who can try to call, you have to rely on a couple of signs that they blocked your number.
First, try to place a call with the person. There are three things to look for to find out if they’ve blocked your number.
3.1. Call Answered
If the person answers, you’re obviously not blocked. You can put your worries to rest and move on with your life.
3.2. Call Not Answered
If the person doesn’t answer, you have a bit more work to do. Did the call go to voicemail?
Typically, your call will not go to voicemail if you are blocked. You will simply get a message telling you they aren’t available.
However, you can’t be too sure just yet. If you don’t go to voicemail, the person might not have their voicemail system set up.
In most situations, you will get an automated message confirming this, but it’s not guaranteed.
3.3. Phone Rings, But No Answer
If your call rings and doesn’t get a response beyond canceling, you are either blocked or they didn’t set up their voicemail.
If you go straight to voicemail, the person might have their phone turned off. This is a common answer, and you shouldn’t think one way or the other in this situation.
It’s very possible that the person just didn’t charge their phone, and it died while working or doing errands. Please see battery-saving tips for iPhone and Android to prevent your phone from dying fast.
However, if the phone rings for a standard amount of time and then the call cuts off without an automated message, or if it rings once or twice before cutting off with no message, you can assume they have blocked your number.
4. Send a Text Message
Android and iOS messaging applications work differently. For example, you will know if someone blocked you on iMessage by looking at the chat bubble colors and delivery status reports.
If the recipient uses an iPhone, recent chat bubble colors will turn green instead of blue. This usually indicates that they’ve blocked your number.
However, for Android phones, you only have read receipts. In this case, your messages will deliver normally, but your recipient doesn’t receive them, so they remain stuck on “Delivered” instead of “Read.”
Therefore, a text message is not the best way to determine if they blocked your number. Move on to the next tip.
5. Reach Out on Social Media
Alright, you have a friend that you talked to on another platform, you traded phone numbers, and you have consistently talked on the phone without any problems. Suddenly, their phone doesn’t work, and you can’t get a hold of them that way.
The first thing you should do is go to the social media platform the two of you met on, and then you should send them a message or video call.
Whatever the two of you have used in the past is perfectly acceptable. If you get a hold of them, just ask them. That’s the best way to handle it. If you don’t, look for a couple of things.
You are blocked if your message remains in the conversation box without being checked as delivered. If you’re on Twitter, you’ll get a message saying you’re blocked.
With Snapchat, it’s not cut and dried. You’ll have to rely on a few tips to know if they blocked you on Snapchat too.
Even then, if nothing happens and you never get a response, assume you’re blocked and move on with your life in a mature fashion.
Try to understand the reasons behind the block, and if possible, reach out to the person to apologize or clarify any misunderstanding.
If they choose not to respond, accept their decision and move on. Never resort to spamming that person, as it can be considered harassment.
Consider talking to a friend about the situation or finding other means of support that are readily available if you are feeling down about the situation.
If you have any feedback or questions, then please don’t hesitate to leave a comment below.
