To unblock a number on an iPhone running iOS 26 or later, open Settings > Privacy & Security > Blocked Contacts, tap Edit, tap the red minus button next to the number, then tap Unblock. On iOS 18 and earlier, the same list lives at Settings > Apps > Phone > Blocked Contacts (or Settings > Phone > Blocked Contacts on iOS 17).
One list covers Phone, Messages and FaceTime, so a single unblock lets that person call, text and FaceTime you again. The person isn’t notified, and calls or texts they sent while blocked don’t come back. If you’re really trying to let unknown numbers ring through, that’s a different setting, covered further down.
How to unblock a number in Settings
This is the most reliable method because it shows every number, contact and email address you’ve blocked, even ones you don’t remember adding.
- Open Settings.
- Scroll down and tap Privacy & Security.
- Tap Blocked Contacts. You’ll see a list of every blocked number and email address.
- Tap Edit in the top-right corner.
- Tap the red minus button next to the number you want to allow again.
- Tap Unblock. The entry disappears from the list.
- Tap Done.
You can also swipe left on an entry and tap Unblock instead of using Edit.
Note: If you updated to iOS 26 and can’t find Blocked Contacts under Privacy & Security, check Settings > Apps > Phone > Blocked Contacts. Both paths open the same list.
How to unblock someone from the Phone or Messages app
If the number is still in your recent calls or messages, you can unblock it without going into Settings.
- In the Phone app, find the number in your recent calls and tap it (or tap the i button next to it). In Messages, open the conversation and tap the name or number at the top.
- Scroll to the bottom of the contact details.
- Tap Unblock Caller. On older iOS versions the button reads Unblock this Caller.
If you see Block Caller instead, that particular number or address isn’t blocked.
Why the person still can’t reach you
A single contact card can hold several phone numbers and email addresses, and each one is blocked separately. If you unblocked someone’s mobile number but they text you from an iMessage email address, their messages are still stopped. Go back to Blocked Contacts and look for any other entry with the same name.
If the list is clean and calls still don’t ring, one of these is usually the reason:
- Screen Unknown Callers is set to Silence, and the number isn’t saved in your contacts.
- A Focus such as Do Not Disturb or Sleep is on. You can change which people Do Not Disturb lets through.
- Your carrier’s spam or scam-blocking service, or a call-blocking app you installed, is stopping the number. These have their own block lists that your iPhone’s settings don’t control. Check your carrier’s app or account, or the settings of the blocking app.
How to stop blocking unknown numbers
Many people search for “unblock unknown numbers” when their iPhone is actually silencing callers who aren’t in their contacts. Those calls aren’t on your blocked list. Apple treats any number not saved in Contacts as unknown.
- Open Settings > Apps > Phone.
- Scroll to Screen Unknown Callers.
- Choose Never to let unknown calls ring normally.
The other two choices are Ask Reason for Calling, which asks an unknown caller why they’re calling before your iPhone rings, and Silence, which sends those calls straight to voicemail. On iOS 18 and earlier, the setting is a single switch called Silence Unknown Callers; turn it off. For FaceTime, go to Settings > Apps > FaceTime and turn off Silence Unknown Callers. Our guide to unsilencing unknown calls covers each option in more detail.
Texts from unknown senders work similarly. If Screen Unknown Senders is on in Messages, those texts are sorted into a separate list instead of your main inbox. To change it, open Messages, tap the Filter button at the top right, tap Manage Filtering, and turn off Screen Unknown Senders.
What happens after you unblock a number
- New calls, texts and FaceTime calls from that number reach you right away.
- The other person gets no alert that they were blocked or unblocked.
- Texts sent while they were blocked are not delivered later. Apple says messages sent to a blocked number “won’t be delivered,” so ask the person to resend anything important.
- Blocked callers can still leave voicemail; you just don’t get a notification for it. Look near the bottom of your voicemail list for a Blocked Messages section if your carrier supports visual voicemail.
- Emails blocked from Mail went to the trash, so check your Trash folder if you need an old message.
Changed your mind? You can block the number again from Recents or Messages at any time. Apple’s own blocking and unblocking guide covers the same controls for iPad.
Does unblocking on iPhone unblock the number on my iPad and Mac?
Usually, yes. Blocked numbers and email addresses are tied to your Apple Account, so a change on your iPhone generally carries over to other devices signed in to the same account. If a Mac or iPad still blocks the person, open the blocked list on that device and remove the entry there too. To review the list itself first, see how to see your blocked numbers.
Matthew Roberts is the founder and editor of ARS Digitech. He started the site to answer the iPhone questions his friends and family kept asking him, and it has grown into a library of iPhone and iOS how-to guides. Matthew writes and maintains every tutorial on the site, checking steps and menu names against Apple’s official support documentation and updating guides when an iOS release moves a setting.