You can block private calls on your iPhone with these two methods.
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To block no caller ID on iPhone, use Do Not Disturb to silence calls not in your contacts.
You can block individual private callers on your iPhone, but only after they’ve called you once.
Blocking individual callers is less effective for robocalls as they use many numbers.
No, it’s not your imagination. There’s a virtual tsunami of robocalls sweeping American phones these days, with 46% of Americans reporting getting unwanted calls daily in 2021.
Since many of these calls arrive as private calls — with their Caller ID marked as “Unknown” — you can dramatically reduce the number of calls you get by blocking them.
Unfortunately, Apple doesn’t give you an easy way to block Unknown, Private, or No Caller ID calls on your iPhone, but there are a few workarounds you can try.
How to block private calls on an iPhone using Do Not Disturb Mode
This is the most effective way to limit calls from private and unknown numbers, but it’s not without its disadvantages.
You can turn on the iPhone’s Do Not Disturb mode, but configure it to allow calls from numbers in your contacts list to go through.
All unknown calls will go to voicemail (which isn’t terrible, because most robocalls won’t leave a message), but so will any legitimate calls that aren’t already in your contacts list.
If you try this approach, you’ll want to keep an eye on your voicemail for important calls.
1. Start the Settings app, tap on Focus, and then tap Do Not Disturb.
You can specify exactly how your iPhone behaves when in Do Not Disturb mode from the Settings app.
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2. Tap People.
Tap People.
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3. Tap Calls From and select All Contacts.
Allow all of your contacts through in Do Not Disturb mode and then turn it on to keep telemarketers at bay.
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Now, you can enable Do Not Disturb mode (tap the switch at the top of the Do Not Disturb page, or open the Control Center from the top right or bottom of the screen and tap the crescent moon icon) and only people in your contacts list will ring through — all other numbers will go to voicemail.
Quick tip: If desired, you can set it so that if a second call comes in from the same number within three minutes that it will not be blocked. This could be useful if someone not in your selected allowed group needs to contact you in an emergency.
How to block calls on an iPhone from specific private callers
You can’t block every call you get, but you can block specific ones — in fact, there’s a Block this Caller option built into the call log in the Phone app.
You can block specific private callers, but only after they’ve already called you once.
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Keep in mind that telemarketers use enormous phone banks to place calls. A single telemarketer might place calls from many different numbers and also spoof legitimate numbers of people, making it appear as though they are calling you.
As a result of this, blocking individual callers will have only a modest impact on the number of unwanted calls you get, at best.
Quick tip: If you are accessing the log from your most recent calls, be careful to click the “i” information button on the right of the call log and not just tap on the log as that will cause you to call them back and could incur long-distance charges, depending on where their number originates.