Hide your cell phone number options

VIA SBINSIDER TECH TALK | February 25th, 2024

Many of us get annoying spam phone\text calls. While you can remove your phone number from that particular caller, by using STOP as a reply, and you can block these by marking them as spam and then selecting “Block this number” but there is no universal anti-spam registry. 

Too, political texts\spam are exempt from any restrictions with which private companies must comply. Although most political callers don’t want to upset the recipients and do comply when you reply STOP.  

If you own an iPhone or Android device, automatically block your number by adjusting one simple setting. Your number will appear private for every call you make.

To block your number on iPhone:

1. Go to Settings, Tap Phone

2. Press Show My Caller ID

3. Use the toggle switch to show or hide your number

Note: Verizon Wireless does not allow this feature, but I’ll show you what you can do about that in the next step.

To block your number on Android:

1. Open the Phone app, and open the Menu

2. Select Settings, then Call settings

3. Click on Additional settings, then Caller ID

4. Choose “Hide number” and your number will be hidden

To reverse this feature on Android, choose “Show number” or “Network default”

You can also use *82 to unblock your number in case your call gets rejected temporarily. Some providers and users will automatically block private numbers, so using this code will override that.