How do I silence an incoming call from an unknown number?

Unwanted calls from unknown numbers are an increasingly common nuisance that many people want to stop. Americans receive an estimated two billion spam calls per month, with the average person getting 14-18 of these disruptive calls monthly. These unwanted calls are not only annoying, but can also enable scams and fraud if personal information is divulged.

Having your phone constantly ringing from unfamiliar numbers can make you hesitant to answer at all. But there are ways to take back control and stop these spam calls. This article will provide a comprehensive guide on how to silence incoming calls from unknown numbers on an iPhone. By setting up call blocking, activating silent mode, and leveraging other tools, you can stop getting interrupted and frustrated by spam callers.

Identify Unknown Callers

An unknown caller refers to any incoming call that does not display a name or number that you recognize in the caller ID. Here are some examples of what qualifies as an unknown caller ID:

Blocked numbers – These show up as “Blocked”, “Private”, or “No Caller ID”
Private numbers – Calls that are intentionally blocked from revealing any caller ID
Unfamiliar area codes – Numbers with area codes from places you don’t know or recognize

Unlisted numbers – Calls that do not show any number at all

According to a Pew Research study, at most only 25% of Americans answer calls from unknown numbers. Most people will not pick up if they don’t recognize the caller ID name or number.

Default iPhone Settings

When you receive an unknown call on your iPhone, by default the call will ring through normally without any restrictions. The iPhone doesn’t have any built-in settings activated that will automatically silence or block unknown callers unless you enable them. Your iPhone comes configured to allow all incoming calls to ring even if the number is not saved in your contacts.

According to Apple support, the iPhone will ring and display the incoming phone number even if it doesn’t recognize the caller. There are no enabled options for blocking unknown numbers, sending them to voicemail, or silencing the ringer unless you specifically configure your iPhone to enable those settings.

Silence with Do Not Disturb

The Do Not Disturb feature on iPhone allows you to block incoming calls and notifications while it is enabled. When turned on, Do Not Disturb will send all calls directly to voicemail unless you have specified exceptions.

To enable Do Not Disturb on iPhone, open the Settings app and tap “Do Not Disturb”. You can schedule Do Not Disturb for certain times and allow calls from certain contacts by tapping the “Scheduled” and “Allow Calls From” options.

However, Do Not Disturb has some limitations. Even with it enabled, calls from the same number within a 3 minute period will still ring through, as will calls marked as emergency or government calls [1]. You can prevent repeated calls by turning on Silence Repeated Calls under Do Not Disturb settings.

Block Specific Numbers

If you want to block calls and messages from a specific number on your iPhone, you can block individual contacts or numbers directly from the Phone app. This allows you to selectively block any numbers that have called or texted you before.

Here are the steps to block a number on an iPhone:

Open the Phone app and tap Recents to see your call history.
Tap the Info button next to the phone number you want to block.
Scroll down and tap Block this Caller. Confirm by tapping Block Contact when prompted.

Once blocked, you will no longer receive calls or texts from that number. To unblock the number later, go to Settings > Phone > Blocked Contacts.

Note that this method only works for numbers that have actually called or messaged you before. You cannot preemptively block unknown numbers that have never contacted you. For other ways to deal with calls from unknown numbers, keep reading.

Source: Apple Support

Use a Call Blocking App

The call blocking features built into iPhones have some limitations. For example, you can only block specific numbers manually, not entire categories of unwanted calls like telemarketers or robocalls. The native tools also don’t provide options for more advanced call blocking based on area code, time of day, call frequency, and other factors.

To get around the limitations of iPhone’s default call blocking, using a third party call blocking app can help. Popular options include RoboKiller, Call Control, and Hiya. These apps maintain massive databases of known spam numbers and use smart algorithms to automatically block most unwanted calls.

Key features of call blocking apps include:

Automatically blocking known spam callers
Community reporting tools to identify new spam numbers
Ability to block calls by category, time of day, frequency and more

Reverse lookup tools to identify unknown numbers
Call screening and filtering options

For comprehensive protection beyond the iPhone’s native controls, a dedicated call blocking app is a smart solution.

Activate Silent Mode

One method to silence incoming calls, including from unknown numbers, is to activate Silent Mode on the iPhone. Silent Mode mutes all incoming calls and notifications, not just those from unknown callers. By default, toggling the physical Silent Mode switch on the side of the iPhone to the silent (down) position will mute incoming calls and alerts.

To customize Silent Mode behavior, go to Settings > Sounds & Haptics on the iPhone. Under the “Silent Mode” section, you can choose whether to always mute calls and notifications in Silent Mode, or just alert sounds while still allowing calls to ring [1]. This allows flexibility for muting unknown callers while still receiving expected calls when in Silent Mode.

Keep in mind Silent Mode mutes all incoming calls, not just those from unknown numbers. For selective muting of unknown callers only, other options like Do Not Disturb may be preferable.

Send Unknown Calls to Voicemail

One of the easiest ways to silence calls from unknown numbers on an iPhone is to automatically send them to voicemail. This feature is enabled by default in iOS 13 and newer.

To enable it:

Open the Settings app on your iPhone.

Tap on “Phone”.
Toggle on “Silence Unknown Callers”.

With this setting turned on, any calls from phone numbers not in your contacts will go straight to voicemail. You’ll still get notifications for these calls, but your phone won’t ring. The calls will show up in your recent calls list with “Silenced” next to them.

This feature uses Siri intelligence to allow calls through from numbers you recently contacted, numbers in your Mail and Messages, and numbers that may be important like doctors offices or schools. But it blocks all other unknown callers.

It’s an easy way to stop annoying robocalls and telemarketers without having to block specific numbers manually. Just toggle it on and let iOS handle sending those unknown calls to voicemail automatically.

Contact Your Carrier

Major phone carriers like Verizon, AT&T, T-Mobile, and Sprint offer call blocking and spam call detection services to help identify and block unwanted calls. Contact your carrier to enable these services on your account:

Verizon offers Verizon Call Filter, which screens calls and automatically blocks high risk spam calls by sending them to voicemail.
AT&T provides AT&T Call Protect to block fraud calls and warn you of suspected spam calls.
T-Mobile customers can use Scam Block to identify scam likely calls.

Sprint offers Premium Caller ID to detect and block spam calls.

A limitation of carrier-based solutions is that they only work for calls on that carrier’s network. Spam calls coming from outside the network may still get through. Also, keeping the blocking list updated across all customers requires ongoing effort from carriers.

Conclusion

In summary, there are several effective ways to silence calls from unknown numbers on an iPhone. The best options are to use Do Not Disturb mode to silence all calls during certain times or to block specific numbers that you want to avoid. You can also download call blocking apps that will automatically screen and block robocalls and spam calls from numbers not in your contacts.

To stop unwanted calls for good, be proactive about adding unknown numbers to your block list whenever you receive an undesirable call. Take advantage of the native iPhone blocking features as well as call blocking apps to ensure your phone only rings when you want it to. With a combination of iPhone settings, third party apps, and contacting your carrier, you can eliminate disruptive spam calls from anonymous numbers.

Don’t let spam calls constantly interrupt your day. Take back control of your iPhone and employ these techniques for silencing and blocking unwanted calls from people you don’t know. Your time is valuable – stop wasting it on nuisance calls and get your productivity and peace of mind back.