Blocking Texts

[Dave Fritz]

We have iPhones and get so many texts a day it's driving us nuts. Any calls that aren't in my phone book go to voice mail or just say spam call. I don't answer unless I know the person calling. I can block phone calls from the number. Texts are a different matter. I can't block texts and I'd love to. Now with election season it's worse than ever. I don't belong to a party, I'm an independent and no text is going to sway my vote. Incumbents have a record to inspect and challengers have history's that are pretty available on line. Can you block texts on an iPhone?

[Jamie Buxton]

google with "blocking texts iphone"

[Tony Joyce]

Short answer yes. You can block the number by tapping the number at the top of the text. Next screen tap info, scroll to block at bottom of the screen.
The caveat is political ads will just use different numbers. I was inundated with ads from political groups and must have blocked at least a hundred before I got it stopped.
Good luck.

[Tom M King]

I know about blocking individual numbers, but it would be nice to be able to block texts unless they were in the Contacts list, like you can do for phone calls. I'm never bothered with phone calls from people I don't know. If I didn't, I'd be on the phone a Lot, like I used to be, trying to be polite to someone wasting my time wanting free advice. No, I don't know who you can get to fix your roof, plumbing, electrical, HVAC, horse, dog, boat problem.

Those unwanted texts are really aggravating.

[Jim Becker]

Block the number and it also blocks texts from that number.

[Tom M King]

Yes, but there are almost an endless number of them. With the calls, there is a setting to "Block unknown callers", which blocks calls from anyone not in your Contacts list, but it doesn't block texts from anyone you haven't blocked individually. There should be something similar for texts like the calls thing. Maybe if someone knows where to send suggestions.

[glenn bradley]

Block the number and it also blocks texts from that number.

Yes, this. There is a misunderstanding here. I must have hundreds of numbers blocked over the years and live an undisturbed life ;-)

[Michael Schuch]

Now with election season it's worse than ever.

I always very politely reply... "There is no way I will EVER vote for any SCUM BAG candidate that not only condones but actively sponsors unsolicited text SPAMMING! I will be voting for your opponent ______!"

Unlike scam artists this has been amazingly effective with political candidate spam!

Something that I noticed when switching from Verizon to Mint mobile is that pretty much ALL spam calls and most spam texts have disappeared even though I have the same exact phone number. I used to get 1 or 2 spam calls every day with Verizon. I can't remember the last spam call I got since I switched to Mint a year ago. I still get an occasional spam call but it has been quite a long time, at least a couple of months, with Mint. What carrier are you on? I think that Verizon had a $3.99 a month paid service on top of their already outrageous rates to block spam.

[Kev Williams]

I found this online from 'Techradar'... Have no idea if it works, I don't do texts :)

How to block or filter texts from all unknown numbers
If you find yourself getting too many texts from unknown numbers, you may not want to bother blocking them one by one. Your best option, then, is to filter any texts that don't come from a verified Contact so you don't see them.

Go to Settings > Messages and scroll to the bottom of the menu. There, you'll see an option to 'Filter Unknown Senders', which sorts all unsolicited texts into a separate list.

Then, to find the hidden texts, tap the Filters button, followed by Unknown Senders. You'll then be able to semi-regularly check if any legitimate texts ended up where they shouldn't. Of course, this mode could also mean missing important texts unless you're diligent about putting new numbers into your contacts list.

Your other option would be to download a call blocker app like RoboKiller (https://apple.sjv.io/c/221109/473657/7613?subId1=trd-us-1052379683886056700&sharedId=trd-us&u=https%3A%2F%2Fapps.apple.com%2Fus%2Fapp%2Froboki ller-block-spam-calls%2Fid1022831885) (opens in new tab) or Hiya (https://apple.sjv.io/c/221109/473657/7613?subId1=trd-us-5069585454413426000&sharedId=trd-us&u=https%3A%2F%2Fapps.apple.com%2Fus%2Fapp%2Fhiya-spam-phone-call-blocker%2Fid986999874) (opens in new tab). Most folks use them to block robocalls automatically, but they also have tech for blocking texts from known spam numbers. That way, you don't need to auto-block texts from people you'll actually want to hear from.

[Jim Koepke]

I just realized there hasn't been a single phone call today from a marketer or anyone.

Makes me think the phone may be on the blink again.

jtk

[Tom M King]

I had done what Kev posted about texts. They are put in a separate list, but I still get the text chime alert that I'm getting one, so I have to look for nothing.

[Dave Fritz]

I have a list of numbers a mile long, I need to clean them out but don't know how right now. What about texts that come as emails? I didn't even know that could be done. I think the scammers are winning.

[Jim Becker]

Filtering only to known contacts is a good way to deal with this as has been mentioned. The downside, however, is that it then can limit you from getting valid notifications, such as for restaurant reservations and appointment reminders that come from a service that has multiple numbers. That will not matter for some folks but be of consequence for others. It's a "pick your battle" kind of thing...

[Brian Elfert]

I was getting texts from the xx campaign during the 2020 election season, but no idea how they got my phone number as I never contacted his campaign nor did I give any political party my phone number.

[Jim Becker]

I was getting texts from the xx campaign during the 2020 election season, but no idea how they got my phone number as I never contacted his campaign nor did I give any political party my phone number.
Political campaign calls and other communications are not part of any kind of "official "do not call" lists and they source the information in many cases the same way commercial businesses do...they buy information on the open market. Sometimes the demographic gets, um...misunderstood. They generally will remove you if you ask, however.

[Jeff Roltgen]

Most unwanted texts I receive as of late are directly from websites, not phone numbers = no option to block. Now what?

Michael:
Funniest hit I got was from a state senator in my personal email (no, I didn't sign up, nor belong to his political party)
Touting a new bill he sponsored "keeping the Fed out of small businesses". Yet, he used the same tactic to promote himself by sticking himself, a representative of the government, in my personal business.
I responded with basically: "you want my vote: TERM LIMITS".

It was just a robot, so the point was missed. Seems the more we use technology to connect, the more disconnected we actually are.


jeff


Disclaimer: this is not an attempt to go political

[Dave Fritz]

That's what I wonder too. How to block a text from an email address or a website?

[Gary Ragatz]

Political campaign calls and other communications are not part of any kind of "official "do not call" lists and they source the information in many cases the same way commercial businesses do... They generally will remove you if you ask, however.

This. I've received maybe 10 texts in the past few months from politicians or political action groups. They always include, at the end of the text, something along the lines of "Reply 'stop' to end these texts." I have done that each time and, so far, I haven't received any further messages from a campaign/group I've opted out of.

[Jim Becker]

That's what I wonder too. How to block a text from an email address or a website?
There is still a "phone number" associated with the text, even from those sources, as SMS rides on the telephony network. There is a gateway server of some form that's taking the communication from the web or email and funnelling it via SMS to phones as texts.

[Dave Fritz]

Thanks Jim, I guess the trick is how to find it.

[Michael Schuch]

I was getting texts from the xx campaign during the 2020 election season, but no idea how they got my phone number as I never contacted his campaign nor did I give any political party my phone number.

I have had the same thing happen multiple times. Never signed up with any political organization and never given my phone number to one. I wonder if they are getting them from voting records? They are probably paying some spam company to merge voting records with their spam victim database to generate the text message list. Which is the politician sponsoring the businesses who's whole purpose is to manage spam lists and promote spamming... many THANKS to the POLITICIANS! If you are completely void of reasons to not like politicians... here is a good one!

[Dave Fritz]

Ok, here's how I find the number to block on my iPhone:

Open the text
click on the > at the top on the right of the name
find information and open it
scroll down and block the caller at the bottom of the page

[Andy Haney]

I didn't read through all responses, so may apologies if this has been said. My carrier (T-Mobile) blocked texting for my number. Rarely a text gets through but not often, mayb once a month. I just swipe it away. I consider texting to be largely unnecessary and often frivolous. Many in my family are upset with me over this, so you may wish to check with those close to you.

Andy

[Rich Engelhardt]

20 some years ago, I had Verizon block texting on my cell also.
That was back when you had to pay extra for every text, whether you sent it or received it. There was zero incentive for the cell carriers to do anything about spam texts because they made a ton of money on them.

[Jim Becker]

20 some years ago, I had Verizon block texting on my cell also.
That was back when you had to pay extra for every text, whether you sent it or received it. There was zero incentive for the cell carriers to do anything about spam texts because they made a ton of money on them.
The irony of that is that SMS texting (which is a legacy construct at this point, despite still being universally used) is carried on an already there signalling channel...IE, it cost the carrier exactly zero to transport those texts. Pure profit.