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Your Ultimate Guide to Screening and Blocking Calls on iPhone

Is your iPhone constantly lighting up with calls from numbers you don't recognize? You're in luck! Your phone has powerful, built-in features that let you identify, screen, filter, and block spam and unknown callers. Think of this as your personal gatekeeper, putting you back in control of who can reach you.

Let's walk through how to set it all up and reclaim your peace and quiet.

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Let Your iPhone Identify Callers for You

Ever wish your phone could tell you who's calling before you answer? With call identification, it can! This feature uses official business registries and smart apps to give you a heads-up on incoming calls.

1. To get started, head into your iPhone’s main control panel by opening the Settings app.

2. Tap on Apps, then find and select Phone. From there, tap on the Call Blocking & Identification option.

3. Now, you can supercharge your caller ID by turning on one or both of the following switches:

   • Business Call Identification: This is a great feature that uses information from Apple Business Connect and your phone carrier to identify legitimate business numbers.

   • Call Identification apps: If you've downloaded a third-party caller ID app, flipping this switch on allows it to work its magic and identify potential spammers.

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Screen or Silence Calls from Unknown Numbers

Screenin g unknown calls on iOS 26

This is where you decide how your iPhone should handle calls from anyone not in your contact list. You can have your phone automatically screen them for you or send them directly to voicemail.

1. Go to the Settings app on your iPhone.

2. Tap on Apps, and then tap on Phone.

3. Here, you get to choose the setting that best fits your needs:

   • Never: This is the traditional option. Your iPhone will ring for all calls, whether you know the number or not.

   • Ask Reason for Calling: Think of this as a personal assistant. Your iPhone will automatically answer and ask the caller for their name and purpose before your phone ever rings. It will then show you their response so you can decide whether to pick up.

   • Silence: This is the ultimate peace-and-quiet setting. Calls from any number not saved in your contacts will be silenced, sent straight to voicemail, and will only appear in your Recents list.

Note: When the call screening feature is active, the voice assistant (Siri) will speak in your iPhone's default language.

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Filter and Organize Unknown and Spam Calls

Beyond just silencing them, you can also have your iPhone automatically sort potential junk calls into their own separate lists, keeping your main call log clean and tidy.

1. Once again, make your way to the Settings app.

2. Tap Apps, and then tap Phone.

3. Turn on the following toggles to activate these powerful filters:

   • Unknown Callers: When this is on, calls from numbers your iPhone doesn't recognize are automatically moved out of your main Recents list and filed away in a separate "Unknown Callers" list.

   • Spam: This feature is incredibly smart. If your phone carrier identifies an incoming call as potential spam or fraud, this setting will automatically silence it and move it to a "Spam" list for you to review later.

Made a mistake? If an important call got filtered, you can easily teach your iPhone it's a known number. Just go to the Phone app, tap the filter icon, tap Unknown Callers, find the call and tap Mark as Known next to it, then confirm by tapping Mark as Known again.

Need to reverse it? To remove a number from your known callers, tap Contacts twice, tap Other Known, tap the number you want to remove, and finally, tap Mark as Unknown at the bottom.

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How to Block a Specific Person or Number

If there's one particular number you never want to hear from again, blocking them directly is simple and effective.

1. Open the Phone app on your iPhone.

2. Tap on Contacts, find the contact you wish to block, and tap on their name.

3. Scroll to the very bottom of their contact card and tap the red Block Contact option. They will no longer be able to call or message you.

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Changed Your Mind? How to Unblock Someone

It's just as easy to remove someone from your block list if you decide you want to hear from them again.

1. Open the Settings app on your iPhone.

2. Tap on Apps, then tap on Phone.

3. Tap on Blocked Contacts to see your full list.

4. Tap Edit in the top corner.

5. Tap the red minus icon (–) next to the contact you want to unblock, and then tap Unblock. They are now free to contact you again.

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Where to Find Your Filtered and Spam Calls

Wondering where all those silenced and filtered calls went? They're neatly organized so you can check them at your convenience.

1. Open the Phone app.

2. Depending on your Phone app layout, do one of the following:

   • Unified layout: Tap Calls.

   • Classic layout: Tap Recents.

3. In the top-right corner of your screen, tap the filter icon (it often looks like a circle with three lines).

4. You can now choose to view your Unknown Callers or Spam list. Just tap on one to see all the calls that have been sorted there.