How to Block a Number on Android

A spam caller or an unwanted contact keeps reaching you. Blocking the number stops both calls and texts from it, and takes a few taps in the Phone app.

Open Recents in the Phone app

Open the Phone app and tap Recents at the bottom. Find the call from the number you want to block.

Touch and hold the number

Touch and hold the entry, then tap Block / report spam. If the long press does nothing, tap the entry, then tap the three-dot menu or the details icon and choose Block / report spam there. Leave Report as spam checked if you want Google to learn from it. On Samsung, tap the entry, tap the details icon, then tap Block.

Confirm the block

Tap Block in the confirmation. Calls from that number no longer ring, and texts from it stop arriving in Messages.

Block from a conversation in Messages instead

If the number has only texted you, open Messages, touch and hold the conversation, then tap the block icon at the top and confirm. Samsung Messages puts Block in the menu that appears when you touch and hold a conversation. Blocking in either app covers both calls and texts, since they share one list.

Manage the list later

In the Phone app, tap the three-dot menu, tap Settings, then tap Blocked numbers. Each entry has an X to unblock it, and Add a number lets you block a number you type in without waiting for it to call. On Samsung, the path is Phone, three-dot menu, Settings, Block numbers.

What the caller experiences. Blocked calls do not ring and show no notification; the caller is sent to voicemail. Blocked texts are dropped without a notification. The caller is not told they were blocked.

Hidden and unknown numbers. To block every call that arrives with no caller ID, turn on Unknown on the Blocked numbers screen. Samsung has a matching Block unknown/private numbers toggle on its Block numbers screen.