What do you hear when your number is blocked

I have a rule: If writing an email will take longer than a few minutes, I make a phone call instead. It saves me a lot of time. 

What happens when you want to call someone, and you’ve misplaced their number or never had their number?

Now that you’re ready to go, uh oh, your cell service is bad. That’s OK, I can help there, too.

And what happens when you make the call but no one picks up? You won’t get any official notice if someone blocks your calls — but you can make an educated guess by looking for these signs. 

The sound of silence 

When you block a number, you no longer receive calls or text messages from that person. This step helps stop unwanted spam calls, but it’s also great for personal reasons. 

The first indication that something’s up is the most obvious: You call and send text messages, but you get no response. There are many reasons this might be happening, of course, but a blocked number is one possibility. 

For most cases, texts you send will appear to go through usually, but the person you’re sending them to won’t receive them. That silence is your first hint something is wrong. 

Count the rings before voicemail 

It’s a normal call when you call a person and hear the usual number of rings before getting voicemail. But if the person has blocked you, here’s the big indicator. You only hear a single ring before being diverted to voicemail. 

There are a few caveats. An unusual ring pattern doesn’t necessarily mean your number is blocked. It may just mean the person is talking to someone else at the same time you’re calling, has the phone off or sent the call directly to voicemail.  

Try again later. If the one-ring and straight-to-voicemail pattern persists, it likely may be a case of a blocked number. 

What do you hear when your number is blocked
A sign you have been blocked is if your call only rings once and then is sent directly to voicemail.Shutterstock

Automated responses 

If you make a call and receive an automated message along the lines of “the customer is unavailable,” that person’s wireless carrier may have blocked you. The messages can vary, but the result is the same. Your call won’t go through. 

Again, a blocked number isn’t the only reason for a message like this. But it’s a strong indication you’ve been blocked. 

It could be something else 

Don’t jump to conclusions even if you suspect your number is blocked. There may be a simple reason why your calls aren’t going through. There could be a network problem, the person may have their phone turned off, the battery is dead, or they didn’t pay their bill on time. It happens. 

You could try to disguise your phone number. There are ways to hide your number from caller ID, either by changing your call settings or by downloading an app that will handle it for you. 

Don’t be a jerk. Use this power wisely. Respect that person’s decision if someone doesn’t want to hear from you.

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Finding out whether or not you've been blocked by a contact can be an uncomfortable process. If you think you've been blocked and you need to verify one way or the other, you can do so by calling your contact a few times and listening to the way the call ends. Be aware that, if you realize that a contact has blocked you and you continue to attempt to contact them, they may be able to file a harassment complaint against you.

  1. What do you hear when your number is blocked

    1

    Call the contact who you suspect blocked you. You usually won't be able to tell whether or not a contact has blocked you by sending a text message, so you'll need to call them.[1]

  2. What do you hear when your number is blocked

    2

    Listen to the way the call ends. If the call ends after one ring (or, in some cases, half of a ring) and you are diverted to voicemail, you are either blocked or your contact's phone is dead.[2]

    • If the phone immediately hangs up or beeps rapidly, then either the line is busy or the contact blocked you through their carrier.
    • Of course, if the contact answers your call, you haven't been blocked.

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  3. What do you hear when your number is blocked

    3

    Call your contact again to confirm. Sometimes a call will divert to voicemail even if the line is clear and your phone unblocked; calling again will confirm the call's ending.

    • If your call still ends after a ring or less and diverts to voicemail, your contact's phone is definitively dead or blocking your calls.

  4. What do you hear when your number is blocked

    4

    Call your contact back with a masked number. You can do this by typing "*67" before their phone number. While you can't feasibly expect anyone to pick up a call from a restricted number, calling in this way will verify the contact's phone status:

    • If the call goes through like usual--e.g., five or more rings--then your contact has blocked your number.
    • If the call still stops after a ring or less and diverts to voicemail, your contact's phone is dead.

  5. What do you hear when your number is blocked

    5

    Ask a friend to call your contact's number. If you've determined that you're blocked but would like verbal confirmation, you can ask a friend to call your contact and talk to them about the situation. Keep in mind that, as tempting as this may be, doing so might harm your friend's relationship with the contact who blocked you.

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  1. What do you hear when your number is blocked

    1

    Understand the potential consequences. If you were blocked in error, then the person probably won't be unhappy to hear from you. But it could be considered harassment for you to attempt to work around a block that somebody enacted to put distance between you and them. Be wary of the legality of disregarding a block in your region before proceeding.

  2. What do you hear when your number is blocked

    2

    Mask your phone number. You can do this by typing "*67" before the phone number you're trying to call; this will result in your call showing up as an unidentified number.

    • Most people won't pick up if they see a "Restricted" or "Unknown" number calling them; this is because telemarketers often use this tactic to reach numbers on the do-not-call list.

  3. What do you hear when your number is blocked

    3

    Message your contact using an IM service. If, for example, you and your contact both use Facebook, you can use Messenger to try to reach out to them. The same concept applies to WhatsApp, Viber, Skype, or any other IMing services you share.

  4. What do you hear when your number is blocked

    4

    Leave a voicemail. Though your contact won't receive a notification of your call or your voicemail, it will still end up on their phone. You can use this loophole to communicate important information to them if need be.[3]

  5. What do you hear when your number is blocked

    5

    Attempt to get in touch via social media. If you absolutely have to get into contact with someone who has blocked you, you can email them or message them from various social media accounts. Again, consider your urgency here: if you're simply upset because they blocked you, it's best to leave the situation alone until both you and your contact have cooled off a bit.

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Add New Question

  • Question

    Can you tell if someone blocked your texts?

    What do you hear when your number is blocked

    This answer was written by one of our trained team of researchers who validated it for accuracy and comprehensiveness.

    What do you hear when your number is blocked

    wikiHow Staff Editor

    Staff Answer

    In some cases you may be able to tell that you have been blocked. Various methods for finding out are explained in detail in the article above. For example, since you can’t work this out by texting, you can try calling the number and listening to see what happens. Signs that you might have been blocked include the call being diverted after a half or one ring only or a message that the contact is unreachable. However, these signs might just mean the network is down, the caller is busy or the caller’s phone is dead, so try again later, perhaps several times over a few days. If it keeps happening, it could mean you’ve been blocked. You might ask a friend to call to see if the person answers and maybe even ask them about the block. If you truly suspect you’ve been blocked, then perhaps try to talk in person to the person whom you think has blocked you, to find out why.

  • Question

    How many times does the phone ring when you are blocked?

    What do you hear when your number is blocked

    This answer was written by one of our trained team of researchers who validated it for accuracy and comprehensiveness.

    What do you hear when your number is blocked

    wikiHow Staff Editor

    Staff Answer

    In many instances, the phone will ring out after half to one ring only. In some cases, there will be no ring at all. Be aware that what can happen when you’re blocked will depend on the carrier and where you are located but as a general rule, there won’t be many ringing sounds, and this will be a repeated pattern every time you try to call.

  • Question

    When you block someone do they know?

    What do you hear when your number is blocked

    This answer was written by one of our trained team of researchers who validated it for accuracy and comprehensiveness.

    What do you hear when your number is blocked

    wikiHow Staff Editor

    Staff Answer

    There is nothing to alert the person the moment you block them. Your phone carrier won’t inform anyone they’ve been blocked. Rather, they’ll work it out eventually when they can never get through to you, or if you tell them (or someone else offers this information to them).

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  • If you realize someone has blocked you, take some time to figure out why before attempting to contact them.

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  • Attempting to contact someone who has blocked you--especially doing so in person--can be considered harassment.

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About This Article

Article SummaryX

1. Call the phone number.
2. Wait to see if you are immediately sent to voicemail.
3. Listen for a message that says the contact can’t be reached.
4. Call the phone number again with a masked number.
5. Compare the results.

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Is this article up to date?

Can you tell if someone blocked your number?

The simplest way to tell if you have been blocked by an Android user is to call,” Lavelle says. Just like with an iPhone, listen for it to be diverted to voicemail or play you a pre-recorded message.

What sound do you hear when someone blocks your number?

If you call a phone and hear the normal number of rings before getting sent to voicemail, then it's a normal call. If you're blocked, you would only hear a single ring before being diverted to voicemail.