How to report spam and block senders in Messages on iPhone

On an iPhone, you can report spam messages to Apple, recover messages from the Spam folder that were incorrectly marked as spam, and block specific contacts to stop receiving their messages.

What happens to a report depends on how the message arrived. With SMS, MMS, or RCS, reporting spam can share that information with your carrier and its affiliates, depending on your carrier and country or region. You can also check who you blocked.

Report spam messages

With iMessage, you can report spam messages to Apple. Spam that arrives with SMS, MMS, or RCS is different: Depending on your carrier and country or region, reporting it shares this information with your carrier and its affiliates.

1. Open the Messages app on your iPhone.
2. Do one of the following:
   • If you haven’t opened the message: Swipe left on the message, tap the Delete button, and tap Delete and Report Spam.
   • If you’ve already opened the message: A Report Spam link appears at the bottom of any message from any unknown sender. Tap Report Spam and tap Delete and Report Spam.
     Note: You can’t report a message after you’ve replied to it.
   • If you don’t see the option to report spam messages you receive with SMS, MMS, or RCS: Contact your carrier.

Report a message you received with iMessage, and it’s sent to Apple with the sender’s information, then permanently deleted from your iPhone. If you report and delete messages by accident, you can recover them. Since reporting spam doesn’t stop the sender from sending messages, block the contact if you want to avoid receiving their messages. And if you’d rather not get incoming messages from new numbers, you can filter them.

Recover messages in the Spam folder

Detected spam lands in the spam folder, so it doesn’t appear in your conversation list. You can check whether messages are inadvertently marked as spam.

1. Open the Messages app on your iPhone.
2. In the conversation list, tap the Filter button. Tap Spam.
3. Tap a message that isn’t spam and tap Not Spam. Tap Move to Messages.

The conversation moves to your main conversation list, where you can send a reply. Tap the Filter button, then tap Messages.

Spam filtering is on by default. To turn it on or off, tap the Filter button, tap Manage Filtering, then turn on or off “Filter spam.”

Block messages from a specific person or phone number

Messages from a contact or phone number you block aren’t delivered, and the sender doesn’t know their messages are blocked.

Note: Blocking a contact in Messages blocks them in Mail, Phone, FaceTime, Calendar, and other apps, too.

1. Open the Messages app on your iPhone.
2. Go to the conversation with the person you want to block and tap the person’s icon at the top.
3. Tap Info and scroll down. Tap Block Contact.

You can remove someone’s access to shared items.

Quick tip: Since you can’t block a group conversation, you can simply leave it or stop its notifications instead of blocking everyone in the group.

Check who you blocked

Not getting someone’s messages? Check whether they’re in your Blocked Contacts. Blocking a contact in Messages also blocks them in Mail, Phone, FaceTime, Calendar, and other apps.

1. Open the Settings app on your iPhone.
2. Tap Privacy & Security, tap Blocked Contacts, and do any of the following:
   • Unblock a number you’ve blocked: Tap [number] Unknown and swipe left on a number in the list. Then tap Unblock. Or tap Edit, then tap the Remove button.
   • Add additional contacts or numbers directly to the list: Tap Add Blocked Contact.

A sender can’t find out if they’re blocked.

Quick tip: Screen Time offers another way to prevent unwanted messages: When you block messages with it, allow your contacts only.