How to tell if someone might’ve blocked your number on iPhone

We’ve shared guides that walk through how to avoid spam callers on your iPhone, which includes blocking their numbers as a last resort. We also showed you how to block spam texts on your iPhone. But what about when the shoe is on the other foot — when you suspect that you might be the one who’s been blocked by a fellow iPhone user? Is there a way you can tell for sure, or steps you can take to get a strong indication as to whether or not your number is on another iPhone user’s Blocked Contacts list?

There’s not necessarily a guaranteed assurance, but there are indeed a few ways whereby you can at least get a strong indication that this might be the case.

One introductory note is important to share here. We keep mentioning “clues” and “indication,” because barring someone actually telling you they’ve blocked your number there’s no sure-fire way to know. The other person’s phone might be off, for example. They could also be in an area with bad reception at the moment, or some other reason along those lines might be impacting their receipt of your texts or phone calls.

That said, using Apple’s Messages app is a good place to start here. Try sending the person an iMessage. Did the missive actually go through, telling you “Delivered” underneath the blue bubble? Or did you get a “Not Delivered” with an exclamation mark inside a circle? If the latter is the case, that’s one clue for you — so let’s keep going.

Try the same thing, but as an SMS text message instead. You can do that by tapping the iPhone’s Settings app, then Messages, then switching off iMessage.

Did your text result in another “Not Delivered”? Your suspicion of having ended up on a Blocked Contacts list is looking more likely.

Still curious?

If you haven’t tried actually giving the person on the other end a phone call, go ahead and try that now. Did your call almost immediately go to voicemail? Sorry to be the bearer of bad news here, but after all of the above clues? It seems that your suspicion was probably on the mark.

Especially if you feel assertive enough to use *67 to hide your number from the other person’s phone to see if they answer this time.

Managing your own list of blocked numbers on iPhone

On the flip side, here’s what you can do if you want to block a number yourself (if that number belongs to a spammer).

To see the phone numbers, contacts, and email addresses you’ve blocked on Phone? Go to Settings > Phone and then tap Blocked Contacts. Meanwhile, check out Apple’s guide right here to block not just phone numbers but also contacts, emails, and text messages.

More iPhone coverage: For more iPhone news, visit our iPhone 14 guide.