How To Unblock a Phone Number on iPhone: Complete Guide

Blocking phone numbers on iPhones is straightforward, but sometimes it gets a little tricky when you actually want to unblock someone. Maybe you accidentally blocked a friend, or a spam call turned out to be legit—you’re probably thinking, “How do I get this number back in the queue?” Well, the process is pretty simple once you know where to look. But here’s the thing—because iOS can be a bit of a maze with its settings, it’s easy to overlook some options. The goal here is to help you easily unblock numbers, whether they’re saved contacts, recent calls, or buried deep in settings. Expect to end up with calls ringing through again, and no more mystery caller blocking. Just a heads-up—this method works best if you’re okay with diving into the Settings app and contacts, not some quick toggle from the call screen itself.

How to Unblock a Phone Number on Your iPhone

Method 1: Unblocking a Saved Contact from the Contact List

If the blocked number is saved on your iPhone’s contacts, this is probably the most familiar route. It’s kind of weird, but going this way ensures you’re unblocking the right person and not just some recent caller. Why it helps? Because it targets specific saved contacts, which is handy if you’ve had to block multiple people or numbers. It applies when the contact info is saved, and you’re certain that you want calls from them back.

Open up the Phone app.
Switch to the Contacts tab.
Type in the first few letters of the contact’s name or number—you might need to search a bit if they have a common name.
Find the contact, then tap on it to open full details.
Scroll down a bit until you see Unblock this caller; tap it.

After doing this, the contact should be unblocked, and calls from them will ring through again. This method works well if you remember who you blocked and they’re in your contacts. On some setups, it might fail the first time, then work after rebooting—because of course, iOS can be a bit temperamental.

Method 2: Unblocking an Unsaved Number from Recent Calls

This one is often forgotten, but if you don’t have the number saved, the Recent calls list is your friend. It’s kinda weird how Apple handles this—if you block a number, it appears in the recent calls, but unblocking isn’t obvious. This applies if you came across a nuisance caller that you blocked but haven’t saved in contacts yet. Expect to see immediate unblocking, which is kind of a relief.

Launch the Phone app.
Go to the Recent tab at the bottom.
Look for the number you want to unblock. It should have a little “i” icon next to it.
Tap on the ‘i’ icon.
Scroll down on the details page and tap Unblock this caller.

That’s it—done. Sometimes this seems a bit strange because the unblock button is right there, but not overly obvious at first glance. One thing to note: on some iOS versions it’s a bit glitchy, but generally, it’s reliable enough once you get used to navigating the UI.

Method 3: Viewing & Unblocking Numbers via Settings

This is where iPhones hide most of their secret blockers. Because why would Apple make it that easy? Anyway, if you want to see all your blocked numbers in one shot, this method’s your best bet. It’s perfect if you don’t remember who you blocked or want to do a cleanup. Expect to spend a minute or two scrolling through the list and unblocking a few if needed. Also, note that this method applies to all blocked numbers, so it’s good for managing a blocklist. For the uninitiated, it’s kinda weird because you have to tap around in Settings—nothing like Android’s straightforward approach. But once you find the Blocked Contacts list, it’s pretty easy.

Open the Settings app.
Scroll down and tap on Phone.
Select Blocked Contacts.
You’ll see the list of blocked numbers. Tap on the Edit button on the top-right corner.
To unblock someone, tap the red ‘-’ (minus) icon next to their name. Then confirm by tapping Unblock.
Hit Done when finished.

Yeah, it’s kinda clunky, but it gets the job done. Expect some numbers to have a ‘minus’ icon next to them, which you can tap to unblock. Honestly, it’s a decent way to clear out a bunch of blocked contacts if privacy isn’t your main concern anymore.

Summary

Unblock saved contacts via the Contacts tab in the Phone app.
Remove unsaved recent calls by tapping the ‘i’ icon in the Recent tab.
Manage all blocklist entries through Settings → Phone → Blocked Contacts.

Wrap-up

If these ways seem a bit roundabout, well, that’s kind of how Apple rolls. It’s not super intuitive, but with a little poking around, full unblockage is possible. The main takeaway is that your blocked list isn’t some locked vault—you just need to know where to look. Expect some trial and error, especially with the recent calls method, but overall, it’s pretty manageable. Hopefully, this shaves off a few hours for someone digging through settings. Fingers crossed this helps to get calls ringing again from the people (or spammers) you want back in your life.