How to Tell If Someone Blocked Your Number on iPhone (2022)

How do you know if someone blocked your number? While you can't know for certain without asking the person, there are some telltale signs that will certainly help. We'll cover a few 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!

What You Need to Know:

• If you receive an automated response or your texts show a delivery notification, you can rest easy! Your number has not been blocked.
• However, you might have been blocked if your calls go straight to voicemail and your texts don't show a "Delivered" or "Read" status.
• A common myth is that the iMessage "Not Delivered" error means you've been blocked, but it actually means your texts are just not sending.

How to Know If Someone Blocked Your Number on iPhone—5 Quick Methods

You can combine the methods below to help you determine 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 four ways to know if someone blocked you by looking at text messages, plus the red flag to watch for if you do call. 

1. Got an automated response to your text? You're NOT blocked on iPhone!

This first tip is pretty straightforward. Another person might have an automated text response set to send if they're in Do Not Disturb mode or have the Driving Focus mode enabled. If you receive an automated text response to a message you send, 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 obvious automated response (or any response, for that matter), keep reading to learn about how to tell if someone blocked you on iMessage.

2. If you see a delivery notification, you're NOT blocked. They might just have Do Not Disturb enabled.

For this method, let's cover how to tell if someone blocked your number, or if they just have Do Not Disturb enabled. In order to test the difference, I had my friend set her iPhone to Do Not Disturb for one text, and then block me for a second text.

When I texted her while she was on Do Not Disturb, I got a delivery notification right away, despite the fact that she didn't receive the text until after she turned off Do Not Disturb. For the blocked iMessage, my text looked like it sent, but I didn't get any kind of confirmation; it just sat there. 

So, if someone just has Do Not Disturb or other Focus mode enabled, you'll still see delivery notifications. However, if you do not see delivery notifications, this is a great way to know if you're blocked on iMessage (more on this in the next section). 

3. If your iMessage doesn't show a "Delivered" or "Read" status, you MAY be blocked.

How do you know if someone blocked you on iMessage? If you're blocked, you won't see "Delivered" or "Read" below the recent text bubbles. However, it is important to note that this method only works if the other person owns an iPhone. If the person has an Android phone, your iPhone will not display delivery notifications.

Here's a great tip for how to tell if you're blocked on iMessage: Look underneath the last text you sent before you suspect you were blocked. If the previous iMessage says "Delivered" under the message bubble but the most recent one doesn't, it can mean that you've been blocked.

If you see an iMessage Not Delivered error instead, you may want to try the trick in the next section.

4. An iMessage Not Delivered error doesn't mean you're blocked, it means your messages are just not sending. 

Here's another great method for how to tell if someone blocked your number from texting them: if you're seeing the iMessage Not Delivered error, try enabling SMS texts on your iPhone. This way if an iPhone message is not delivered via iMessage, your device will automatically reattempt the text using your cellular plan, or you can manually reattempt with SMS instead of iMessage. If your SMS message also fails to receive a reply, it's another sign that you may have been blocked on an iPhone.

Here's how to manually resend a text via SMS after an iMessage Not Delivered error:

1. View the text you attempted to send and tap on the red info icon.
   
   
2. Tap Send as Text Message. This option will send your text as an SMS message instead of an iMessage.
   
   
3. Your device will attempt to resend the text. If you do not see the "Not Delivered" error, your message has been successfully sent. 

Resending the text rules out the other person not responding due to a technical glitch on your side. However, if you still don't receive a reply, this indicates that your number might have been blocked. 

Related: How to Check Voicemails from Blocked Numbers on iPhone

5. If your call goes straight to voicemail, you MAY be blocked.

Calling someone can be a great way to tell if someone blocked you on the iPhone. However, because there can be other reasons a call you make from your phone rings once and goes straight to voicemail, it's best to combine this step with the iMessage test to be more certain you've been blocked. 

Note: Unless there's an emergency, our recommendation is to wait to call your friend or family member for a few hours after the iMessage Not Delivered test, just in case they're out of their cellular service area or otherwise unable to reply temporarily. If your text still isn't answered after a few hours and you decide to call, here's how to know if you've been blocked on an iPhone.

For this experiment, I asked my sister to block my number, and here's what I discovered. The phone rang, but very briefly, not even a full ring before connecting to voicemail. I was able to leave a message as with any unblocked call, but it appeared in a separate section of the voicemail on her iPhone, called Blocked Messages. While I was blocked, there was no way at all for her to know I'd called, and no notification to either her or me about the blocked voicemail.

For me, I know I'm almost certainly blocked when I've tried the iMessage steps and then called, but their phone rings once and goes straight to voicemail.

How to Call Someone Who Blocked You

While there can be many reasons a number gets blocked, sometimes emergencies happen and users need to contact someone who has previously blocked their number. This is a tough area, and we do not recommend using this tip unless it's a true emergency. There can be legal ramifications to contacting someone who has made it clear they do not want you to do so! We strongly recommend respecting people's privacy, and we do not accept responsibility for users who act otherwise.

However, if you truly need to contact the person who has blocked your number, you can try hiding your caller ID by using *67. This will hide your phone number and allow the call to go through; it will show up as No Caller ID or a similar message. This means that many users will still decline the call, but it at least hides your caller ID. Note that this still doesn't always work depending on carrier settings, but it's an option in an emergency.

Can you leave a voicemail if your number is blocked? Yes, but your voicemail will appear in a separate section under Blocked Messages. Because the other person will not receive any notification that you have called, it is highly unlikely they will see your voicemail.

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 or not. 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.