Many people get harassed with unknown and unwanted phone calls on a daily basis. Whether you are constantly receiving sales calls or calls from debt collectors, the persistent random numbers popping up on your screen can become very stressful. You may choose to keep declining the unwanted calls or you could just simply block the caller so they can no longer contact you.

But how do you go about doing this? Below you will find detailed instructions on how to block a number from an iPhone and Android phone.

There are a couple of different ways you can block an unwanted caller on an iPhone. The first way is to open up the green Phone application > select “Recent” > select the “i” with a circle around it to the right of the number > select “Block this Caller”. After completing these steps, the caller will no longer be able to contact you.

If you have a number that is not in your “Recent Calls” section, but you have their contact saved, you can open the settings app > scroll down and select “Phone” > select “Call Blocking & Identification” > scroll down and select “Block Contact” > select the contact that you would no longer like to receive calls from.

The steps for blocking an unwanted caller on an Android may vary slightly depending on which device you have, but they should be relatively similar. You will begin by opening the phone application > select the three-dot menu at the top > select “Settings” > “Call Blocking” > “Block List” > and finally, add the number(s) that you no longer want to receive calls from.

You can also open the phone application > go to your “Call Log” > click on the number you wish to block > and select “Block Number.”

What if the same person is calling you from various numbers? It is still possible to block this caller; it could just take a little longer since you have to individually block each number by following the same steps above.

However, there may be an even better way. As long as you aren’t regularly expecting to receive calls from otherwise unknown numbers you can have your phone set up to only receive calls from people on your contact list. I have my phone set up like this all the time. Unless someone is in my contact list my phone will never ring with their call. I may still see that there was a missed call or voicemail but I can easily delete those. I don’t ever have to worry about receiving unwanted solicitation calls. Let’s be honest, almost anyone you actually want to talk to is in your contact list (or can easily be added) anyways.

You can set this up on an iPhone by going to “Settings” > “Do Not Disturb” > toggle the “Do Not Disturb” button on (to green) > then under “Allow Calls From” select “All Contacts”.

On an Android phone you can go to Settings (gear) > scroll down to the “Device” section and select “Sounds and Notifications.” Then select “Do not disturb” and toggle the button to green under “Turn on now.” You can then select “Allow Exceptions” and toggle the switch to green under “Calls” and select “Calls and/or Messages From” and choose “Contacts Only.”

Hopefully, after completing these steps, you will experience some relief when you hear your phone ring!