How to Block an Outgoing Call: Methods, Settings, and What Actually Controls the Outcome

Blocking an outgoing call isn't always as straightforward as it sounds. Depending on what you mean — hiding your caller ID, preventing a specific number from being dialed, restricting calls on a shared or managed device, or silencing calls at the network level — the method changes significantly. Here's how each approach actually works.

What "Blocking an Outgoing Call" Can Actually Mean

The phrase covers several distinct goals:

• Hiding your number from the person you're calling (caller ID suppression)
• Preventing yourself or someone else from dialing a specific number
• Restricting outgoing calls entirely on a device (parental controls, MDM, etc.)
• Blocking calls at the carrier level for billing or compliance reasons

Each of these uses a different mechanism, and mixing them up leads to a lot of confusion when searching for solutions.

How to Hide Your Caller ID on an Outgoing Call 📞

The most common request is simply making your number appear as "Unknown" or "Private" to the recipient.

On iPhone: Go to Settings → Phone → Show My Caller ID and toggle it off. This applies to all outgoing calls until you turn it back on.

On Android: Navigate to the Phone app → Settings → Calls → Additional Settings → Caller ID, then select "Hide number." The exact path varies slightly depending on the manufacturer and Android version.

Per-call basis (any phone): Prefix the number with *67 before dialing (in the US and Canada). For example: *67-555-867-5309. The recipient sees "Blocked" or "Private Number."

Important limitation: *67 doesn't work on all carriers outside North America, and some recipients use services that unmask blocked numbers. It also doesn't prevent the carrier from logging the call on their end.

How to Block Outgoing Calls to a Specific Number

This is less commonly built into consumer devices but is achievable through a few routes.

Third-party call-blocking apps (available on both iOS and Android) can restrict outgoing calls to specific numbers. Apps designed for parental controls — like Google Family Link, Apple Screen Time, or dedicated apps — often include this feature. These tools typically require the app to be installed and granted appropriate permissions on the device.

Screen Time (iOS): Under Settings → Screen Time → Communication Limits, you can control who a device can contact. This is primarily designed for children's devices managed by a parent's Apple ID.

Google Family Link (Android): Offers similar controls for managed child accounts, including restrictions on contacts and communication.

Custom contact blocking via call apps: Some Android launchers and third-party dialers allow you to create a "blacklist" for outgoing calls, though this varies widely by app and Android version.

One practical gap here: most built-in phone operating systems are designed to receive blocking, not prevent dialing. Outgoing call restrictions tend to live in parental control or enterprise management layers.

Restricting Outgoing Calls on Managed or Shared Devices 🔒

For businesses, schools, or family setups where a device needs to be locked down:

Mobile Device Management (MDM): Enterprise MDM platforms (like Jamf, Microsoft Intune, or VMware Workspace ONE) allow IT administrators to configure call restrictions at a system level. This goes well beyond what consumer settings offer — including whitelisting only approved numbers.

Carrier-level restrictions: Most major carriers offer parental control plans or account-level call restrictions. These can block calls to premium-rate numbers, international numbers, or specific contacts, and they apply regardless of the device's own settings.

SIM-level PIN and call barring: Many carriers support call barring through the SIM card settings, accessible by dialing a USSD code (like *33*[PIN]# on some networks). This can block all outgoing international calls or all outgoing calls entirely.

The Variables That Change Everything

The right method depends on a handful of factors that vary from person to person:

Your goal: Hiding your number is different from preventing a call from being made at all. These use entirely separate systems.

Who controls the device: A personally owned phone gives you full access to settings. A carrier-subsidized, employer-managed, or child's device may have restrictions already in place — or may require admin credentials to change anything.

Your carrier: Not all USSD call barring codes are supported universally. Carrier apps and account portals vary in what controls they expose. Some prepaid carriers offer fewer account-level controls than postpaid plans.

Operating system and version: Caller ID settings moved in iOS 16, and Android manufacturers (Samsung, Pixel, OnePlus) sometimes bury or rename these settings differently. What works on one Android phone may take a different path on another.

Whether the restriction needs to be persistent: A one-time private call is very different from permanently restricting a device so certain numbers can never be dialed — the latter typically requires a management layer the average consumer phone doesn't have out of the box.

Why the Same Steps Don't Always Work

A frequent frustration is following instructions online and getting a different result. This happens because:

• VoIP apps (WhatsApp, FaceTime, Google Voice) have their own caller ID and restriction settings that are completely separate from your phone's native dialer
• Business phone systems using PBX or cloud telephony often override device-level caller ID settings
• Carrier differences mean *67 might work on one network but not another in the same country

If you're placing calls through an app rather than the native dialer, the solution almost always lives inside that app's settings — not in your phone's system preferences.

The combination of your device type, carrier, whether you're using a native dialer or VoIP app, and what you're actually trying to prevent all point toward meaningfully different configurations — and that's before factoring in whether someone else also has authority over the account or device.