How To Tell If You Re Blocked On Iphone

There is no way to definitively know if your number has been blocked on an iPhone — aside from later learning of it from your blocker — but by conducting a few tests you can get a decent sense of whether you're blocked.
An iPhone or other device that's been set to Do Not Disturb mode, has been switched off, or has run out of battery might reject your call or text as if you were blocked, even if you haven't been.
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Knowing your phone number is blocked is, if nothing else, a good way to know where you stand with someone. While it's likely not OK to go ahead and contact someone who blocked you without their consent, there are a few ways you could try to check if you're blocked.

Finding out if you're blocked on an iPhone isn't a clean cut-and-dried process, though. There's no definitive way to know if you've been blocked aside from the blocker telling you outright.

But to get a sense of whether you're blocked, you could try several different things and cross-reference your results.

How to check if someone has blocked you on an on iPhone

If you suspect you have indeed been blocked, first try to send a courteous text of some kind. If you get the "Delivered" notification underneath it, you weren't blocked. If you get a notification like "Message Not Delivered" or you get no notification at all, that's a sign of a potential block.

If your text messages are able to be delivered, then that's a sign that you haven't been blocked.

Next, you could try calling the person. If the call goes right to voicemail or rings once (or a half ring) then goes to voicemail, that's further evidence you may have been blocked.

Hang up, and then call again, but this time dialing *67 before you type in the phone number. If it rings through normally with this masked phone number (or if the person answers), then that almost definitely means your number was blocked.

Potential false positive signs that you've being blocked

If you try to call someone and it goes right to voicemail, you might have been blocked. But on the other hand, the person's phone might be turned off or have a drained battery, or they might simply be in Airplane Mode or Do Not Disturb mode.

iPhones have many ways to automatically block calls without blocking a number — the person you're trying to call may just have one of these settings turned on.

Otherwise, they might have immediately sent you to voicemail because they were on another call, in class, or just didn't want to talk at the moment.

Likewise, a text message that isn't delivered might be a result of poor cell service or occasional glitches in iMessage, not a fracture in your relationship. Wait a few hours, or even a day, and try to call or text again and see how it goes.

Related coverage from How To Do Everything: Tech:

How to block a phone number on your iPhone
How to set up call forwarding on an iPhone through any major phone carrier
How to stop robocalls and other spam calls from reaching your iPhone
How to hide messages and message notifications on your iPhone, so only you can read them

Steven John

Freelance Writer

Steven John is a freelance writer living near New York City by way of 12 years in Los Angeles, four in Boston, and the first 18 near DC. When not writing or spending time with his wife and kids, he can occasionally be found climbing mountains. His writing is spread across the web, and his books can be found at www.stevenjohnbooks.com.