What to Know
- You've likely been blocked if your call goes straight to voicemail.
- Seeing Read receipts, their Do Not Disturb status, or automated text responses means you're not blocked on iMessage!
- No Delivery notification beneath your last sent iMessage can mean you're blocked.
With recent iPhone software updates, like iOS 16.5, the signs that your number has been blocked continues to change. We'll show you the most reliable ways to tell if someone blocked your number, plus some specific tips for how to know if someone blocked you on iMessage. Let's dive in!
How To Tell if Someone Blocked Your Number on iPhone
We've tested across different software versions and devices to find the most accurate ways to tell whether you’re blocked or the person is simply unavailable, out of service range, or has Do Not Disturb mode enabled. While these methods can give you great hints, there's not a foolproof method for how to know if someone blocked you on iPhone. Below, we'll cover the red flags to look for if you call or text.
1. To know if someone blocked you on iPhone, call them to see if you go straight to voicemail.
Calling someone is the best way to know if someone blocked your number on iPhone! If you call the other person and the call goes straight to voicemail (with barely even one ring), you've likely been blocked.
Here's what I discovered from having people block my number: the phone rings, but very briefly, not even a full ring before connecting to voicemail. I was able to leave a message as usual, but it appears in a separate voicemail section on their iPhone, called Blocked Messages. While I was blocked, there was no way for the other person to know I'd called, and no notification about the blocked voicemail.
Keep in Mind: This is the surest way to know if someone blocked your number, but can also mean the other person has their phone powered off or doesn't have cell service.
Hide Caller ID to Call Someone Who Blocked You
If you need to contact the person who has blocked your number, you can hide your caller ID by using *67. However, we strongly recommend respecting people's privacy, and do not recommend using this tip unless it's an emergency. When you hide your caller ID, this hides your phone number and allows the call to go through; it will show up as No Caller ID or a similar message on the other person's device. While hiding caller ID won't work with some carriers, using *67 or calling from another person's phone is your best option in an emergency.
What to Watch For: If you hide your caller ID and the call no longer goes straight to voicemail, this is a clear indicator that your number is blocked.
2. Check the delivery notification beneath the last text you sent.
Here's a great tip for how to tell if you're blocked on iMessage: Look underneath the last text you sent. If you're blocked, you won't see "Delivered" below the most recent text bubble. However, with recent security updates, this tip depends on your iPhone software version. If you've updated to iOS 16.5 or later, you'll still see the "Delivered" notification beneath the last text you sent, even if you're blocked.
Note: Checking delivery notifications only works for iMessages (blue text bubbles). If the other person has an Android or the message sent as SMS (green text bubbles), your iPhone will not display delivery notifications.
3. If you see Read receipts, you're not blocked on iPhone.
If you send a text and the notification below says "Read" with the time, the other person and has received and opened your text, and you're definitely not blocked! There's no need to panic if you don't see the "Read" notification beneath your texts though—these can be disabled on the other person's device and doesn't necessarily mean you've been blocked.
4. Got an automated text response? Your number isn't blocked!
If the other person has Do Not Disturb mode enabled or has the Driving Focus mode enabled, you might receive an immediate text response to your recent message saying that the other person isn't available to respond. If this happens, it is good news! You're definitely not blocked, because those auto-generated text responses don't go through to numbers that have been blocked on iPhones.
If you don't get an automated response (or any response), keep reading to learn about how to tell if someone blocked you on iMessage.
5. The moon icon means you haven't been blocked on iMessage.
If you see a moon icon next to a conversation in Messages or above the text field in a chat, this means the other person has Do Not Disturb enabled and has text notifications silenced. If you're able to see their Do Not Disturb status (the moon icon), your number hasn't been blocked.
6. An iMessage Not Delivered error doesn't mean someone blocked your number.
This is a common myth, and the iMessage "Not Delivered" error just means your text didn't reach the other person! If you're seeing the iMessage Not Delivered error, try enabling SMS texts on your iPhone. This way, if an iPhone message fails to send via iMessage, your device will automatically reattempt to send the text, or you can manually resend the text as an SMS message (green text bubble).
To resend an undelivered text, tap the red exclamation mark icon next to the message. Tap "Try Again" resend the text as an SMS message. Unfortunately, if your SMS message also fails to receive a reply, it's another sign that your number has been blocked.
7. Check if you've been blocked on other third-party apps.
When someone decides to block you, they will often do so on social media and on any other third-party messaging apps. On apps like Facebook, Instagram, or WhatApp, there are obvious ways to tell if you've been blocked and is an indicator that your iPhone number has also been blocked.
How to know if someone blocked you on Facebook:
Open Facebook Messenger and tap the conversation with the contact you think has blocked you. If you see a notification at the bottom above the text field that says, "You can no longer reply to this conversation," you've likely been blocked. If you can't see their profile in Facebook, this also means you've been blocked.
How to know if someone blocked you on Instagram:
If you search for a person on Instagram, but can't see their profile photo or view their account (the page will likely be blank, with a message that says "Page not available" or "No posts yet"), this means the other person has blocked you on Instagam.
How to tell if someone blocked you on Snapchat:
This one is pretty straightforward: if someone blocked you on Snapchat, their account won't show up when you search for it.
How to know if someone blocked you on WhatsApp:
In WhatsApp, tap the conversation with the person you think blocked you. If you can't see the other person's online status (when they're active or the time when they were last active in WhatsApp), you've likely been blocked. If you no longer see their profile photo at the top of the conversation thread, this is also a signal that your number has been blocked. You can try sending a courteous message, but a telltale sign is that the text won't deliver, and you'll only see a single checkmark beneath your message.
How to Know If an Android Blocked You on iPhone
Calling is the best way to tell if an Android blocked you on iPhone. If you call someone and go straight to voicemail (with barely even one ring), you've likely been blocked. Unfortunately, there is no way to tell if you've been blocked by looking at text messages, since texts from iPhones to Androids will send as SMS (green text bubbles) without a "Delivered" or "Read" status.
FAQ
- How do you know if someone blocked your number?
The best way to know if you're blocked on iMessage: call them to see if you go to voicemail with one ring or less. You can also check text message delivery status or other social media or messaging apps to see if you've been blocked. - Can you call someone who blocked you on iPhone?
Yes, you can call someone who blocked you by disabling caller ID or by using *67 to hide your caller ID. That said, please respect people's privacy! - Can you leave a voicemail if your number is blocked?
Yes, but your voicemail will appear in a separate section under Blocked Messages. The other person will not receive any notification that you've called, making it unlikely they will see your voicemail. - Does iMessage turn green when you're blocked?
No. Green text bubbles do not mean that your number has been blocked on iMessage. When you're blocked, texts continue to send as usual. Green text bubbles only signal that your text has been sent via SMS instead of iMessage. - Will iMessage say Delivered if you're blocked?
This depends on your iPhone software version: if you've updated to iOS 16.5 or later, you'll see a delivery notification even if you're blocked. For earlier software versions, not seeing a delivery notification beneath the blue iMessage text bubble can mean you've been blocked. - What does it mean when iMessage doesn't say Delivered?
For iOS 16.4 or earlier, this can signal your number has been blocked, it can also just mean the messages were not successfully delivered to the recipient’s device. This can happen if you or the other person has no cell service or their phone is turned off.
Now that you have a few helpful clues to check for in your texts and calls, you'll be able to tell with reasonable assurance whether your number has been blocked. If this has happened to you, hopefully, there's been a misunderstanding! However, if they did intend to block you and no longer want to be in contact, please respect their wishes and privacy.
