Even if you are careful about keeping your personal information private, putting your number on the “Do Not Call” list, and generally trying to avoid spam calls, they can still happen.
Unfortunately, there isn’t a perfect way to block calls from spam numbers, telemarketers, or robocalls, but there are steps you can take on your iPhone to make these calls less annoying.
One of these settings will automatically silence calls from unknown numbers.
You can enable the option to silence unknown numbers on your iPhone by going to Settings > Phone > Silence Unknown Callers > then enable Silence Unknown Callers.
Now any number that calls you won’t ring unless you have them saved as a contact, or you have recently made an outgoing call to that number.
Our tutorial below discusses this setting more, as well as some other options for dealing with the unwanted calls that you are receiving on your Apple mobile device.
How to Stop Getting Calls from Unknown Numbers on an iPhone 13
- Tap Settings.
- Choose Phone.
- Select Silence Unknown Callers.
- Turn on Silence Unknown Callers.
Our guide continues below with more information on how to silence unknown callers on an iPhone 13, including pictures of these steps.
If you struggle to remember all of the passwords that you have for your different online accounts, then our how to automatically save passwords on iPhone guide can help.
How to Automatically Silence Calls from Numbers that Aren’t Contacts (Guide with Pictures)
The steps in this article were performed on an iPhone 13 in the iOS 15.4.1 operating system.
Step 1: Open the Settings app on your iPhone.
Step 2: Scroll down and choose the Phone option from the list of settings.
Step 3: Scroll down and select the Silence Unknown Callers option.
Step 4: Tap the button to the right of Silence Unknown Callers to enable it.
You will know that it is turned on when there is green shading around the button. I have it turned on in the picture below.
Now that you know how to silence unknown callers on an iPhone 13 you can start to toggle this option on and off as needed so that you can make sure to receive calls when you are expecting one.
If you would like to be able to occasionally silence all of your notifications, then read our do not disturb iPhone 13 article for some tips.
Our tutorial continues below with additional discussion about silencing notifications from calls that you don’t know.
More Information on Silencing Calls on the iPhone 13
When the “Silence Unknown Callers” setting is turned on, it will do the following:
- calls from unknown numbers will be silenced, sent to voicemail, and displayed on the Recents list.
- Incoming calls will continue to ring from people in your contacts, recent outgoing calls, and Siri Suggestions.
The steps above will change a setting for your Phone app so that your phone won’t ring or vibrate if you get a call from a number that’s not in your contacts.
While this doesn’t technically “block” spam or robocalls, it does make them a lot less annoying.
One downfall of this method, however, is if you are expecting a call from someone and they aren’t a contact, as that call won’t ring either.
If you are expecting a call from an unknown number then you may want to go back to Settings > Phone and turn this option off for a bit, or you might want to make a new contact for that number so that it rings.
When silencing unknown callers isn’t enough, then you can also elect to have Do Not Disturb on all the time and only allow notifications from contacts, or another group of people on your phone. you can configure this by going to Settings > Focus > Do Not Disturb.
Alternatively, you could download a third-party app like Robokiller and let it take care of blocking calls for you.
Matthew Burleigh has been writing technology how-to articles and tutorials for over a decade. He has extensive experience in information technology both in small business and as a consultant.
His articles have appeared on dozens of websites and been read millions of times.
He covers many different topics concerning technology, but focuses primarily on smartphones, consumer software, and consumer electronics.
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