How to Know if Someone Blocked Your Number
If you’re an active mobile phone user, you may have encountered this scenario at some point. You are dialing a phone number, but for some reason, your call cannot get through.
If you’re using a smartphone, sending SMS or text messages leaves you clueless as to whether they were successfully sent or not, or perhaps, the recipient simply ignores them. This situation can make you feel doubtful, hurt, and even rejected. However, things like this happen for a lot of reasons.
You may start to think that the person you call has a dead phone battery, is currently on vacation, has no signal, or decided to change his number. Still, these are simply some of the things we assume to comfort ourselves and to give this person the benefit of the doubt.
However, at the back of our minds, we are already having suspicions that this person has blocked our number and is, in fact, avoiding us.
If you happen to be in this situation, there are ways to find out if your number is blocked by the person you’re calling. It may seem offensive and displeasing, but being certain about it will enable you to understand why you are having trouble reaching this person via phone.
Are you wondering how to know if someone blocked your number? Here are some tried-and-tested ways to find out.
1. You Are Unable to Connect to the Phone Number.
If you hear a fast busy tone when you dial a phone number, the phone’s network is; either out of coverage area or the person has blocked your number. The sound you’ll hear on the other line usually shifts between fast busy tones to loud beeps that signal an error.
In some cases, you won’t hear any sound at all, and it’s as if your call is trying to get through but is unable to connect with the person’s number. Hence you end up hearing nothing but silence that eventually shifts to a busy tone, a series of beeps, or simply displays back your smart phone’s number pad.
Some carriers have automated voice messages that go like these; “your call has been forwarded to an automatic voicemail system”, or “the subscriber cannot be reached, please try your call later”. If you persistently hear these messages every time you make a call, there is a possibility that your number is blocked or the person is rejecting your calls.
2. Call Using a Different Phone Number.
Call blocking on mobile phones becomes possible through the recognition of the source number. The OS or operating system can instantly detect the calling number, and if it is on the blocked list, it will perform the necessary action of blocking that call.
The most feasible way to find out if someone blocked your number on their mobile phone is to call from another phone number.
Here’s a tip; avoid using a number that this person knows or any other number with a close association with you, such as your office phone number. Instead, you may borrow a friend’s cellphone, use an anonymous landline phone, or even call from a payphone.
If you hear the ring tone on the other line and the person answers your call, you may come up with an excuse as to why you are using an unknown or random phone number.
Still, the bottom line is that you were able to confirm that this person has indeed blocked your phone number on their mobile device.
3. Find Out How Different Carriers Handle Blocked Numbers.
Be aware that network carriers handle blocked numbers in different ways. For example, you suspect that a person blocked your number. Depending on their carrier, it is possible to hear a recorded message that says, “sorry, the person you are calling is not accepting calls right now”, “the number you dialed is not available”, or “the number you dialed is incorrect.”
For some carriers, the call may go directly to the voicemail, wherein you may leave a message. However, take note that this is on a case-to-case basis only and depends entirely on how the carrier’s system handles blocked calls.
You may experiment with the help of a friend to find out exactly what happens when you block a number who shares the same network carrier with you. Do the same with a phone number with a different network carrier.
For example, ask your friend to block your number and try to call him to find out what you will hear or what will happen. If your carrier is Verizon, experiment a fellow Verizon subscriber, then move on to try out other carriers (Verizon to AT&T or Verizon to T-Mobile and so on).
If you have the means to try out other network combinations (examples; AT&T to Verizon or T-Mobile to Sprint), feel free to do so to come up with different findings and definitive answers.
4. Applicable to iPhone Users: Send an iMessage.
If you’re trying to reach someone using an iPhone, the first way to find out if this person blocked your number is by sending them an iMessage. If you see that small “Delivered” notification under the text message, you can relax because this person did not block you from his/her contacts.
The chances are that they are just busy or unable to read their cellphone messages at the moment. If, by any chance, you get a notification that says; “Message not Delivered” or any indication of message sending failure, it is a sign that the person you’re trying to reach has blocked your number and iPhone details.
This method is only applicable for iMessage. It doesn’t work with Android and other instant messaging apps. It is also worth mentioning that message sending failure may also happen if you try to reach an iPhone user who is currently outside the network coverage area or is on Airplane mode.
Therefore, you’ll have to shift to plan B, which is to call the person’s phone number to confirm that you are blocked from their contacts.
If you intend to work on a plan C, enable and use SMS on your iPhone to determine if this person blocked your number.
If you do not receive a reply or fail to receive a delivery confirmation, this person might have really blocked you and tried to avoid receiving calls and messages from you.
5. Your Call Goes Straight to Voicemail After One Ring.
When you’re calling a person who has not blocked your number under normal circumstances, you will hear a series of rings before you’ll be diverted to the voicemail system. However, if you are blocked, one ring is all it takes before you’ll be redirected to the voicemail.
It may seem unlikely in some cases, but if you’ll hear something like a series of beeps, a busy tone, or an unusual ringing pattern before you get diverted to the voicemail, it is also possible that the person you are calling is currently engaged in a call or their phone went off.
Therefore, you may try to call again after a few minutes to figure out if you’ll be able to connect. You may only conclude that your phone number is blocked if this pattern goes on after calling the number for several times and on different intervals.
6. Disguise Your Number By Using *67.
If you suspect that a person has blocked your phone number, call the number as you normally would; and then call the number again, but this time with a masked phone number. This method usually works within the U.S. or if you are using a U.S.-issued number. Just type *67 before the phone number you are calling.
In most cases, you cannot expect a person to answer a call from an unknown or restricted number. However, this method will enable you to figure out the status of your contact’s phone number.
Now, here’s the test. If there’s nothing unusual about your call attempt, and you can hear the line ringing normally and continuously when you use the *67 before it goes to voicemail, this person has indeed blocked your number.
However, if you hear only one ring and/or your call automatically gets into the voicemail even with the *67 prefix, it could mean different things. There is a huge possibility that the phone is left unattended, out of coverage area, the phone battery is dead, or on Airplane mode. Therefore, don’t be too quick to assume.
7. There Is Dead Silence on the Other Line.
Network carriers usually have automated messages to inform a caller that the number they are trying to reach is unavailable. However, hearing nothing but dead silence on the other line is sometimes a clear indication that your call cannot get through.
For some networks, even the voicemail becomes unreachable, and you won’t even hear the usual “toot-toots” that signal an error in the connection.
Even a tech-savvy will find it difficult to know for sure if a phone number is blocked or not, especially if there is nothing but silence on the other line. This is a network feature that protects the privacy of mobile phone subscribers. Sadly, this feature may also leave you feeling clueless as to why you are unable to contact a person.
8. Ask the Person and Try to Get an Honest Answer.
The best way to find out if a person blocked your phone number is to pop the question upfront. It may be a bold move and perhaps, not the best idea for most individuals out there. However, you can always do things differently by not following the same path as the others.
Use a different phone number to call the person. If he/she takes the call, stay calm, and just ask the question straight away. You don’t have to find out the reason why because a simple “yes” or “no” would be enough to end the chase. If they hang up right away upon hearing your voice, their action says it all.
If they try to explain, just state that your intention is simply to get a “yes” or “no” answer to put an end to a rather awkward situation. This move may require you to keep your cool and to be gutsy. Still, it is far more conclusive than having to wonder for the rest of your life if this person has indeed blocked you or not.
The End Game of Blocking Calls
Are you still wondering how to know if someone blocked your number?
It doesn’t matter whether a person is avoiding your calls or has blocked your number completely. The intention is the same, and you simply have to accept the fact that they do not want to talk to you.
If you’ll ever find yourself in this situation, the best thing to do is to accept it and just move on. Do not spend a lot of time wondering why, because things like this happen most of the time. Yours is not an isolated case. It may leave you feeling bad and sorry for yourself, but there is nothing much you can do about it.
If it’s any consolation, being blocked doesn’t make you less of a person. It doesn’t decrease your worth. It’s just your pride that’s telling you that you do not deserve such treatment. So keep your head up and try to move forward. In the end, the people that matter most are the ones who are bound to stay and will never block you.
Lastly, even if you have strong suspicions that your number is blocked, there’s no point in jumping into conclusions right away. There are many possible reasons as to why your call cannot get through.
Issues such as network problems, phone is off, battery is dead, or the person is going through a difficult time are all possibilities. Therefore, be broad-minded enough to recognize that these things could really happen.
