How to Block and Unblock a Number on Your Android Phone

It is no exaggeration to say that the modern smartphone is one of humanity’s greatest inventions; There’s so much packed into this handheld supercomputer. But even the greatest invention has its drawbacks. For smartphones, one of these bitter drawbacks is spam calls.

With all the benefits, convenience and interconnectivity smartphones allow you to enjoy, unfortunately, they also allow scammers, spammers and all sorts of annoying people to easily connect with you through texting or, even worse, constant calls. Fortunately, you can easily block unwanted callers on your Android phone. Android is a large ecosystem, so the exact process of blocking numbers may differ depending on your Android device. But for the majority of Android phones, the Phone or Contacts app is the first step to blocking those annoying scam text messages. And if you ever change your mind about a number you’ve banned from the blocklist, you can also unblock it directly from the Phone or Contacts app.

If you’re using a Samsung phone, you can block calls from unwanted people in two ways: with the Contacts app and with the Phone app for numbers that aren’t saved.

Using the Contacts app:

1. Open it Contacts app

2. Select the contact you want to block

3. Faucet More

4. Faucet Block contacts

5. Confirm the block

Using the Phone app:

1. Open it Phone app

2. Find and copy the number you want to block

3. Faucet More (three dots) in the upper corner

4. Select Settings

5. Faucet Block numbers

6. Faucet Add a phone number and paste or type the number you want to block

7. Press the plus sign

If the number called you recently, you can easily block it from the Recents section of the Phone app. Navigate to the number you want to block and tap Details > More options > Block number.

Blocking a number on a Pixel phone or Android device is just as easy:

1. Open your Phone app

2. Select More (three points)

3. Faucet Call history

4. Tap a call from the number you want to block

5. Faucet Block/report spam

Once you do this, every time the number tries to call you, your Android phone will automatically reject it before it even rings or appears on your screen, and the texts will usually be filtered into a blocked or spam folder. Note that blocking a number is managed by your device and not your carrier. So if you move your SIM card to another device, you will probably have to block the number again.

Unblocking a number follows a similar process. To unblock a contact on the Samsung Contacts application, simply:

1. Open it Contacts app

2. Select the contact you want to unblock

3. Faucet More options (three points)

4. Select Unblock contact

If you use the Phone app:

1. Open it Phone app

2. Select More (three points)

3. Faucet Settings

4. Select Block numbers

5. Then tap the (-) next to the number you want to unblock

For Google Pixel and Android Stock users:

1. Open it Phone app

2. Faucet More (three points)

3. Select Settings

4. SO Blocked numbers

5. Faucet Clear (x) next to the number to unblock it

As soon as you unblock the number, he will be able to call and text you as usual. Note that any calls sent from the number during the blocking period will not be added to your call logs, so they will remain lost forever.