Spam and scam calls: the iPhone and Android settings that silence strangers

Your phone already has built-in tools to cut down nuisance and scam calls, with no extra app needed. The steps below come from Apple’s iPhone User Guide and Google’s help centre for the Phone by Google app on Android, as published on 26 October 2026. Menu names can differ slightly by software version and handset.

On iPhone

Silence or screen unsaved numbers

1. Open Settings.
2. Tap Apps, then Phone.
3. Under Screen Unknown Callers, pick one of three: Never (the phone rings as usual), Ask Reason for Calling (the phone answers and asks the caller for a name and reason before it rings), or Silence (the call goes to voicemail and shows in Recents).

Call screening arrived with iOS 26. Apple notes that it switches off for 24 hours after you call emergency services.

Sort unknown and spam calls into their own lists

1. Go to Settings, then Apps, then Phone.
2. Turn on Unknown Callers: their calls move out of Recents into a separate list.
3. Turn on Spam: calls your carrier flags as likely spam or fraud are silenced and sent to voicemail. This depends on your carrier supporting it.

To move a number back to the known list, open the Phone app, tap the filter button, tap Unknown Callers, then Mark as Known.

Block a contact

In the Phone app, tap Contacts, choose the contact and tap Block Contact. To undo it: Settings, Apps, Phone, Blocked Contacts, Edit.

On Android: Phone by Google

Block a number that called you

1. Open the Phone app.
2. In call history, tap the call from that number.
3. Tap Block / report spam.

Block hidden numbers

1. In the Phone app, tap More, then Settings, then Blocked numbers.
2. Turn on Unknown.

This only blocks private or withheld numbers. A visible number that simply isn’t in your contacts will still ring.

Spot and filter spam

1. In the Phone app: More, Settings, Caller ID and spam.
2. Leave See caller ID & spam on — it is on by default.
3. Turn on Filter spam calls. You won’t be notified, but the calls stay in your call history.

Google points out that the service sends unsaved callers’ numbers to Google to identify them, and that phones with automatic Call Screen don’t show the filter option, because spam blocking is built into Call Screen there.

What settings can’t do

Blocking, silencing and filtering won’t stop every scam, especially from new or spoofed numbers. Never give a verification code or password to anyone who rings claiming to be from a bank or a government body. And check the unknown list now and then, so you don’t miss a delivery driver or a clinic.

Photo: a smartphone in a leather case on a wooden table. By Santeri Viinamäki, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

Source: Apple, iPhone User Guide: Screen and block calls and Manage unknown callers on iPhone; Google, Block or unblock a phone number and Use caller ID & spam protection. All read on 26 October 2026.