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In order to appear as “Anonymous” or “Private” on the recipient’s phone, for whatever reason, or to surprise someone, you need to block your phone number.
However, note that some numbers like 911 or 800 are programmed not to accept calls from blocked numbers.
That being said, this article will show you practical ways to block your number.
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How To Block Your Number With Ease
Going forward, we will be looking at practical ways and the steps involved in blocking your number.
1. Using The *67 Code
You may be familiar with *67 code as it is notably one of the numerous codes you can dial to unlock special features on your phone.
Having said that, this code is a fast and temporary way to block your number when making calls, and the most interesting fact about it is that it works on both smartphones and landlines, almost all phone service providers support it, and it’s completely free.
To use this method, add *67 to the start of any phone number to block your caller ID when you call that number, and if you want this to be permanent,
add them as a contact, and save their number with *67 at the front.
Please, note that *67 and *69 are not the same. While the former is for blocking your number, the latter is a popular way to automatically dial your last incoming call and only works on landlines.
2. Contact Your Phone Service Provider
Another way to permanently block your number is by calling your phone service provider requesting that your number be blocked, however, note that you will be asked to give your reason for this decision, so prepare your answers.
Also, some phone companies charge for it.
Interestingly, you are free to unblock your number for a single call if you like by adding *82 to the start of the number you’re calling.
3. Change The Setting Of Your Smartphone
Although you may not be able to do this manually on all phones or with all service providers, if you can, whether you are an Android or iPhone user, the instructions below will guide you.
For iPhone users, follow the steps below:
Step 1: Open the Settings app, then scroll down and click Phone.
Step 2: In the menu that opens, choose Show My Caller ID. Please, note that “Show My Caller ID” will be grouped with other calling options.
Step 3: You will have to exercise patience as your phone will take a while to connect to your phone service provider, and once this happens, click the “Show My Caller ID” switch button to flip it to the left and turn it off.
For Android users, follow the steps below:
Step 1: Open the Phone app, click the three dots in the top-right and choose Settings or “Call settings.
Step 2: Scroll down and choose Other Call settings or More settings — the exact button here will differ depending on what phone you have
Step 3: Click the Show My Caller ID option, however, if you don’t see it on this page, you might need to select another More settings button.
Step 4: In the pop-up that appears, choose Hide number.
As long as you don’t change the setting, your number will remain blocked. I recommend this method if you need a long-term block.
4. Reach Out To Your Carrier To Block Your Number
You will agree with me that having to block on a per-call basis is stressful, so in a bid to avoid this, you have to reach out to your wireless carrier to help.
Dial 611 to reach out to them, let them know you want to speak to “customer support” or “technical support,” then ask the person to block all outgoing calls.
Furthermore, anytime you decide to unblock a number on a per-call basis, use *82.
5. Use A Burner App
Thankfully, there are several burner apps you can download for iOS or Android as these apps make use of your internet data to make calls thereby giving your phone a second number to use.
With burner apps, you don’t need to bother hiding your number since you can use the app to route your calls directly to your secondary number.
That being said, burner apps come with a 7-day free trial and costs $5 per line month afterward.
Another one is Hushed, and although it isn’t free ($2 per week), it’s less expensive compared to other competitors.
With this, you can get 60 texts and 20 call minutes, and you are free to cancel at any time.
Again, Google Voice allows you to choose a new phone number to make voice calls, texts and audio messages for free, and thankfully, it doesn’t require paying a monthly fee with Google Voice.
It makes use of your existing phone minutes and data, and interestingly, Google Voice number is the number that will show.
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Common Codes To Help Control Your Privacy
In this section, we will be looking at some of the most common “star codes” that can be used both on mobile and landline.
Below is a list you can use with your touch-tone keypad:
*57 – Trace Call: Traces the number of the last incoming call received. Useful when the call warrants legal action.
*60 – Call Block: Prevents calls from select phone numbers and gives callers a recording that says you’re not accepting calls.
*77 – Anonymous Call Rejection: Blocks calls from private callers.
*67 – Caller ID Block: Hides your phone number on Caller ID systems.
*80 – Disable Call Block (*60)
*82 – Disable Caller ID Block (*67)
*87 – Disable Anonymous Call Rejection (*77)
*69 – Call Return: Redials the last number that called you.
*70 – Call Waiting: Place your call on hold so you can answer another.
*72 – Call Forwarding: Forward your call to another phone number.
Conclusion
With the instruction provided herein, you can make do with any of the methods, and block your number.
Funny enough, if someone else blocks you, you can’t find out by dialing any code, you can only depend on your intuition, especially if you are not able to reach that person.
That being said, do you have further questions? If yes, do reach out to us in the comment section.
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