How To Block Unwanted Messages On iPhone

If You Have An Android Phone:

iPhone: How to block calls, texts and emails

When you tap on a message that Android tags as suspicious, the OS will often give you the opportunity to report it as spam . But if you get a spam text that wasnt flagged:

Tap the three dots in the upper-right corner
Select Details > Block & report spam
You can just block that number if you want, or you can check Report spam to send the number to Google and possibly your carrier as well

Note that this process can differ depending on which Android phone youre using.

Android often gives you the chance to report spam.You can just block a spam text, or you can report it.

How To Block Messages On Macos

If youve tried blocking a number in the Messages app on macOS, you may have noticed that there is no direct option to do so. Blocking messages from a sender on macOS is a bit more tedious, since you cant directly block a sender. Instead, the senders phone number / iMessage email address has to be added as a contact first before it can be blocked. The method is a bit longer but works just as well. We hope Apple considers a more simpler solution like the one for iOS.

1. Open up the Messages app on macOS, and select the conversation with the sender you want to block.

2. Click on the arrow next to the contacts name / phone number / email address, and select Add to Contacts.

3. Save the number as a contact. Wed recommend using some random name, such as Blocked.

4. Once done, go to Messages -> Preferences from the top-left menu.

5. In the Blocked tab, click on the Add button, and enter the contact name / iMessage address you want to block.

Thats it. Its also worth noting that if your iPhone/Mac share the same Apple ID, blocking an address / phone number on any one device will result in it automatically being blocked on each device using the same Apple ID with Messages. Thats why we recommend using the iOS method described above, as its much easier and simpler.

Shujaa Imran is MakeTechEasier’s resident Mac tutorial writer. He’s currently training to follow his other passion become a commercial pilot. You can check his content out on Youtube

How To Block Emails On iPad

If youre now wondering how to block unwanted emails on iPad, we have good news for you: the instructions on how to block email on iPhone also apply to iPad.

Yes, its true that iPad apps sometimes have more features than their iPhone counterparts, but its still more convenient to block unwanted emails on the computer. Theres only one exception to this, and its Clean Email, a smart email organizer that works just as great on mobile devices as it does on desktop computers.

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Best Text Blocking Apps For iPhone

For iOS users looking for an extra layer of protection, we recommend a text blocking app for iPhone. Good against every flavor of spam, our updated list of the best iOS text and call blockers has you covered. Try an ad blocker for iOS to further protect against annoying disruptions on your phone.

Hiya

A feature-rich call and SMS blocker app for iPhone, Hiya identifies spam calls, including robocalls and telemarketers, and blocks them automatically.;

Streamlined interface: Easily view blocked numbers.
Area code and prefix blocking: Block potentially spoofed spam calls by location.
Reverse phone lookup option: Connect names to unsaved numbers.

TrueCaller

One of the largest and most-used spam-blocking apps, TrueCaller boasts a 100% free subscription tier, while systematically keeping spam texts at bay.;

Feature-rich: Includes both a spam-blocker and caller ID.
Community-created: Automatically identifies spam, robocalls, and other fraudulent communications before you answer them.;
Informational database: Confirms the identity of any caller based on the experience of other users.

VeroSMS

A dedicated and effective SMS filter that puts your privacy first, VeroSMS lets you block texts by keyword or with region-based crowdsourcing data.;

SMS Shield

A machine learningbased spam filtering app, SMS Shield works both offline and on your device to find and filter junk messages with high efficiency.

Other Text Blocking Methods For Android

There are lots of versions of the Android operating system still in circulation, so if you’re using one that doesn’t reflect the instructions above, those screenshots won’t look like what you see on your phone or tablet.

Try one of these methods for blocking texts on Android if you haven’t had luck yet:

Open the conversation, tap the three dots at the top right, select Block number, and then tap OK.

Tap the three dots at the top of the screen and go to Settings >Block numbers and messages >Block numbers. Type the number you want to block, or choose one from Inbox or Contacts, and then select the green plus sign to add the number to your block list.

Look for a Settings or menu-looking button and then browse the options for anything related to SMS, text, calls, messages, or other words that might be used to describe how someone could contact you. There should be a block option there.

Also Check: How To Win 8 Ball Imessage

Using Ios13+ Or iPadosblocking Email Addresses Just Got A Heck Of A Lot Easier

Verify that the email address you want to block is in your;Contacts app

If the address isnt in your Contacts app, add it either to an existing contact or create a new contact card

Once the email address is in Contacts, open your Settings app

Tap Mail

Under the Threading options, tap Blocked Sender Options

Choose what you want to do with any mail from a blocked sender. Choices include None, or Move to Trash

After you toggle that setting on, tap;Blocked;and choose Add New

Tap on the contact you want to block

If you enable Mail in iCloud, blocking a sender works across all your Apple devices

How To Block A Group Text On An iPhone

To block a group text on your iPhone, open the Messages app and select the group text you want to block. Then tap the info button and tap the slider next to Leave Conversation.

As long as there are other people in the group text, members can leave a group text any time they want.

Open the Messages app on your iPhone.

Then select the group text you want to block.;

Next, tap the profile icon at the top of the screen.

Then tap info.;

Next, tap Leave this Conversation.

Finally, tap Leave this Conversation in the pop-up and select Done. You will see this in the top-right corner of your screen.

Note: Youll only be able to leave a conversation if someone else created the conversation, and everyone in the group chat is using iMessage. If anyone is not using iMessage, this option will be greyed out, and you will be unable to leave the group.

You wont get notifications from this group textanymore, but you will still see individual messages from the other members ofthe group.

If you dont want to leave the conversation, but you dont want to see the messages for a period of time, you can also hide the alerts. To do this, tap the slider next to the Hide Alerts button. You will then see a crescent moon icon next to the group conversation.;

If youre looking to block messages from a spam company, check out our guide on how to enable the Silence Unknown Callers feature on an iPhone.

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How To Block A Contact Via The Messages On The iPhone Or iPad

There are a few ways to block a contact on your Apple gear, including using Messages.

Launch the Messages app from the Home screen of your iPhone or iPad.

Tap the conversation of the person you’re trying to block.

Tap on the person’s name and photo at the top of the screen.

In their contact page that pups up, tap Info again.

Scroll down and tap Block this caller

Confirm by tapping Block Contact in the pop-up.

With a contact blocked, you will not receive any messages, calls, or FaceTime requests from that person. If you ever happen to change your mind and want to unblock a contact, it’s as easy as following the same steps as above and tapping Unblock This Caller.

Block Numbers On Your Phone To Stop Texts Instantly

MacMost Now 115: How To Block Unwanted iPhone Text Messages

Tim Fisher has more than 30 years’ of professional technology experience. He’s been writing about tech for more than two decades and serves as the VP and General Manager of Lifewire.

Block Through the Carrier

Blocking text messages prevents your phone from receiving texts from any specific number. There are multiple reasons why you might want to do this, like to stop spam or cut ties with someone.

Fortunately, you don’t need a special message blocker to do so; you can block texts on iPhone and Android using settings built-in to those devices. However, the method you need to use to block numbers is different depending on the app you use to send messages.

Another way to stop a number from texting you is to log in to your carrier’s website to access your account and set up message blocking.

When you block a number to stop getting texts from it, you’re also preventing phone calls. There might be third-party apps that can differentiate between the two so that you’re blocking texts only and not calls, or vice versa, but the methods explained below block both.

These steps apply to both iPhone and Android devices regardless of the manufacturer or carrier .

Also Check: Why Am I Not Receiving Group Texts On My iPhone

Forward Your Text Unwanted Text Message To Spam

For this method to work you will first have to tap and then hold the specific message that you wish to send to the SPAM folder.

Then you need to select the option that says Report as Spam.

And then you select the option OK.

After that, you should receive a short response which will ask you to input the phone number of the sender of the text message. So just enter it and then send.

There is an alternative method as well.

You can simply choose to Forward to, in turn, forward the unwanted messages to 7726 or SPAM.

Once you do that you should receive a short response again which will again ask you the phone number of the sender of the message. Just enter the phone number and send.

Block Text Messages Through The Carrier

Some carriers have message blocking tools you can use to block spam text messages or block specific numbers. This might be a preferred way for you to block messages if you’re a parent overseeing several phones and you don’t want your kids to easily undo your restrictions.

Follow these links for all the details you need to block text messages within each of these carriers’ websites, regardless of the kind of phone that’s being used on the account: Verizon, Sprint, T-Mobile. If you’re an AT&T customer, the AT&T Call Protect app is the best way to block specific numbers or fraudulent calls.

If you use AT&T, T-Mobile, Verizon, Sprint, or Bell, you can report spam texts by forwarding the message to the number 7726 . This might not immediately block the number from texting you again, but it will report the number for further investigation.

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Filter Messages From Unknown Senders

Blocking phone numbers one by one is all good until you start receiving spammy messages every single day, multiple times a day, from different numbers.

When this happens, and spammers have gotten a stranglehold on your cellphone number, you can still block all of them with one feature built right into your iPhone.

All you have to do is filter out the messages from unknown senders and you will never have to get notified of another scam again.

Here’s how:

This will filter all your incoming text messages from numbers that aren’t saved in your contacts to a different folder.

You technically never have to look at this folder if you don’t want to, but checking up on it periodically will help catch important messages from numbers you haven’t saved in your contacts.

If a friend changed numbers or is using a different number to message you, it will be automatically filtered from your regular text messages.

To check your filtered messages, select the Filters option at the top of Messages and select Unknown Senders.

How To Block Contacts On Sprint

Here is how.

There are currently two methods that our research shows work pretty well when it comes to blocking texts on the mobile carrier by the name of Sprint.

These text or contact blocks pretty much stay in effect for a total of 90 odd days.

After that, you will have no choice but to renew your blocks.

Here we go then.

Also Check: How To Find Blocked Numbers On iPhone

Go To The Related Website

The first step here is for you to go to the official website of Sprint and then sign in with your account. The website is www.sprint.com.

Now you need to do some navigation and go to My Preferences. After that, you need to select the option that says Limits and Permissions. And then you need to tap on the option that says Block texts. That is it.

After you have finished the previous step you need to click on the device or the phone that you wish to block the phone number for.

Then you should select the option Block all text messages outbound and inbound.

After that we want you to type the exact domain address or shortcode or email address or phone number.

When that is done, you need to click the button that says Save.

Then reset your Android or iOS device.

How Clean Email Can Help With This Task

Clean Email is an email organizer that can automatically block unwanted emails and apply other actions to emails. It supports Gmail, Outlook, Yahoo, iCloud, and other major service providers, providing the easiest way how to achieve Inbox Zero.

To block an email address in Gmail, Yahoo, Outlook, and other services using Clean Email, all you have to do is take advantage of Clean Emails powerful automation features. When you delete or archive emails from a certain sender, you can simply check the checkbox labeled as “Automate this action” when applying an action, and Clean Email will make sure that no messages from the sender can reach your inbox without being dealt with.

Thanks to its iOS app, Clean Email presents an excellent way how to block emails on iPad and iPhone. You can download the app for free and use it to clean up to 1,000 emailsmore than enough to discover what makes it so great. Clean Email is firmly committed to protecting the privacy and security of its users, which is why it only analyzes email headers and not actual emails.

Learn more about how to block emails on Android or how to delete all emails on iPhone in our other posts.

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Add Extra Protection With Avast Free Antivirus

Spam can be harmless, but dubious links and hidden malware can do real damage to your device. For an extra layer of protection against threats lurking in spam messages, Avast Mobile Security is your solution.;

Featuring lightweight protection, Avast Mobile Security offers real-time protection against malware and other threats, keeping your sensitive information and your system safe. With versions available for both Android and iOS, its never been easier to stay protected.

How To Block A Text Message’s Source On iPhones

How to Block Messages on iPhone

Say you receive a suspicious and unwelcome text message, as I did yesterday with that very ironic text screenshotted above. You can block that number in just a few quick steps.

Open the text and tap the blank profile icon above the phone number.
Tap Info. Then tap Info again in the subsequent menu.
On the bottom of the next page, you’ll see the option to Block this Caller.

This method works for recently received spam texts. But if you’ve already deleted someone’s text messages, or haven’t received one yet but want to preemptively block them, you can use your Phone Contacts to do just that assuming you know the phone number you want to block.

Open the Phone app and tap the Contacts tab.
If you already have the person in question registered, tap their name, then scroll to the bottom of the menu options to find Block this Caller.
If not, you’ll need to create a Contact entry. Hit the + symbol on the top-right of the Contacts page. Add a name and phone number, then hit Done. Then scroll to the bottom to block them.

If you ever decide to unblock a number, you can do so easily using their phone contact page. You can also go to Settings > Messages > Blocked Contacts to see a list of every number you’ve blocked.

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How To Stop Unwanted Texts

Flipboard

The majority of spam text messages do not originate from another phone. Theyre usually sent from a computer and sent to your phone via an email address or an instant messaging account at no cost to the sender.

Spam SMS may expose you to identity theft, install malware on your smartphone, and access your personal information, in addition to being extremely unpleasant. According to the Federal Trade Commission, sending unsolicited, or spam, commercial text messages to a cellular device is unlawful unless the sender has your consent.

You may assist prevent unwanted text messages from appearing on your phone and other mobile devices by reducing the number of unwanted text messages you receive. Read this article to understand dealing with spam messages, as well as how to permanently eliminate spam texts.