To block someone on WhatsApp, open the chat, tap the contact’s name and choose Block, or add them under Settings, Privacy, Blocked contacts. To unblock, find them in the same Blocked list (Blocked on iPhone) and choose Unblock, or use the Unblock option in your old chat with them.
Blocking on WhatsApp cuts a contact off completely: no messages, no calls, no view of your last seen, profile photo updates or status. Unblocking reverses it, with one permanent exception around the messages sent while the block stood.
This guide covers the exact steps on every device, what a block does and does not do on both sides, what really happens when you unblock, and when reporting is the better tool. Blocks belong to the number, not the device, so they hold on every device linked to it, including a shared WhatsApp inbox such as Spun on your own WhatsApp number.
How to block someone
- 1
From the chat (Android)
Open the chat, tap the three-dot menu, tap the contact name to open contact info, then Block. Or: Settings, Privacy, Blocked contacts, Add.
- 2
From the chat (iPhone)
Open the chat, tap the contact’s name at the top, scroll down, tap Block Contact. Or: Settings, Privacy, Blocked, Add New.
- 3
On WhatsApp Web and Desktop
Open the chat, click the contact’s name to open their info panel, scroll to the bottom, click Block.
- 4
An unknown number
When a number outside your contacts messages you first, WhatsApp shows Block and Report options right at the top of the chat. One tap, no need to save the number.
What blocking actually does
- Their messages never reach you. On their side, messages show one grey tick and never a second one.
- Their calls never connect. It rings for them briefly; your phone shows nothing.
- They stop seeing your last seen, online status, profile photo updates, About changes and status updates.
- You disappear from their ability to add you to groups.
- The chat history stays on both phones. Blocking does not delete anything; it only stops new communication.
WhatsApp never notifies anyone that they were blocked. What the other person can do is read the indirect signs, the same ones anyone can read.
How to unblock someone
- 1
Via settings (all platforms)
Settings, Privacy, Blocked contacts (Blocked on iPhone), find the person, and choose Unblock (swipe left on iPhone, tap on Android, click on Web).
- 2
Via the chat
Open your old chat with the person and use the unblock prompt WhatsApp shows there, or the contact info panel’s Unblock.
- 3
A number you never saved
Unsaved blocked numbers appear in the same Blocked list by number, and unblock the same way.
What happens after you unblock
Unblocking restores normal messaging from that moment forward. The person is not notified, and nothing on their side announces the change.
The messages they sent while blocked are gone for good: WhatsApp never delivers them, not even retroactively. On their phone those messages keep their single grey tick forever. If they send something new after the unblock, it arrives normally.
One subtlety: if you had them saved as a contact and deleted them along the way, unblocking does not restore the contact entry; their number simply behaves like any unsaved number again.
Report vs block: when to use which
Block is personal: it stops one number from reaching you and tells WhatsApp nothing. Report is systemic: it flags the account to WhatsApp’s abuse systems and forwards the most recent messages from that chat to WhatsApp for review.
Use Report (or Report and Block, which does both and optionally deletes the chat) for scams, phishing, harassment and spam blasts. Accounts that accumulate reports face restrictions and bans, so reporting genuinely dangerous senders protects more people than quietly blocking them.
If you run a business number: stay off the blocked lists
Every block against a business number is a small vote against it, and reports are bigger ones; enough of them and WhatsApp restricts the number. The reliable way to stay off blocked lists is unexciting: message only people who expect it, keep broadcast frequency modest, answer quickly, and honor every opt-out immediately.