How to block someone on WhatsApp [6 Steps required]

Akindele Michael November 18, 2022September 10, 2024 7 min read

Knowing how to block someone on WhatsApp could help you to maintain your privacy and also eradicate unwanted messages. Or Are you a businessman who normally receives a couple of messages daily from different contacts? As a result, you find it difficult to recognize and reply to useful contacts. What are you still waiting for? Why not try this option?

Why You Might Want to Block Someone on WhatsApp

Blocking someone on WhatsApp is a useful feature for several reasons:

Avoid Unwanted Messages: You may want to stop receiving messages, calls, or updates from someone who is disturbing you.
Protect Your Privacy: Blocking ensures that the person can no longer see your profile picture, status updates, or last seen timestamp.
Control Your Communication: It allows you to take control of your WhatsApp experience by limiting who can reach you.

How to block someone on WhatsApp for Android

This method is applicable to all Android phones but may be slightly different from the iPhone. You can block someone in two different ways on WhatsApp. However, the second method may be a bit more difficult, but I find it easy. The following are the steps to block someone and avoid unwanted messages:

1. Open WhatsApp

The first step is to launch the WhatsApp application on your smartphone. This can be done by tapping the WhatsApp icon on your home screen or app drawer.

2. Navigate to the Chat with the Person You Want to Block

Once the app is open, find and tap on the chat of the person you wish to block. If the chat isn’t readily visible, use the search function at the top of the screen to locate it by typing the person’s name or phone number.

3. Access the Contact Information

After opening the chat, tap on the person’s name or phone number at the top of the screen. This action will lead you to their contact information page, where you can see details such as their profile picture, status, and media shared between you.

4. Select “Block” Option

Scroll down on the contact information page until you see the “Block” option. Tap on it, and a confirmation prompt will appear, asking if you are sure you want to block this contact.

5. Confirm the Block

To finalize the action, tap “Block” again on the confirmation prompt. Once confirmed, the person will be blocked, and you will no longer receive messages, calls, or status updates from them.

6. Managing Blocked Contacts

If you ever need to unblock the person, you can do so by following similar steps. Go to WhatsApp Settings > Account > Privacy > Blocked Contacts. From this list, you can unblock any contact by tapping on their name and selecting “Unblock.”

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How to block someone on WhatsApp (second method).

I love using this method in as much I have the contact on my contact list because you might have by mistakenly clear your chat history with the person you want to block, in that case, the above method may not work instead, use this method. The following is a step-by-step breakdown:

Log in to your WhatsApp account.
Without selecting any contact, tap the three-dot menu.
From the drop-down option, select Settings.
Select Account
Select Privacy
Navigate through the page and tap “Blocked Contacts.”
Next is to add the contact you want to block.
Tap the image icon in the upper right corner. Search for the contact and tap it.
You’re good to go… Bad luck to the contact because you’ve just successfully denied the contact from messaging you.

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On the iPhone, how block someone on WhatsApp.

Launch WhatsApp and log in
Tap the chat tab.
Select the chat of the contact you want to deny.
Tap on the person’s name, or if you don’t have the person on your contact list, it’ll display the phone number.
Tap the phone number.
On the contact info, tap block contact from the drop down option.

Implications of Blocking Someone on WhatsApp

Blocking someone on WhatsApp has several consequences:

1. Messages and Calls

The blocked person will not be able to send you messages or make calls to you. Any messages they try to send will not be delivered.

2. Last Seen, Status, and Profile Picture

The blocked contact will no longer be able to see your last seen, status updates, or profile picture. This keeps your activity on WhatsApp private from the person you blocked.

3. Group Chats

If you and the blocked person are in the same group, you will still see their messages in the group. However, direct communication outside of the group will remain blocked.

4. Read Receipts

The blocked contact will not see the blue ticks indicating that you have read their messages.

5. No Notification

WhatsApp does not notify the person that they have been blocked, so the action remains private.

Alternatives to Blocking on WhatsApp

Blocking someone is a strong action, and in some cases, you may want to consider alternatives that might suit your situation better:

1. Mute Conversations

If you don’t want to block someone but find their messages overwhelming, you can mute their conversation. This will stop notifications for new messages from that contact without severing communication entirely.

2. Change Privacy Settings

You can control who sees your last seen, profile picture, and status by adjusting your privacy settings. This allows you to maintain privacy without blocking.

3. Archive Chats

If you want to avoid seeing messages from a contact but don’t want to block them, you can archive the chat. This will move the conversation to the archived chats folder, out of your main chat list.

How to Tell If You’ve Been Blocked on WhatsApp

Sometimes, you might suspect that someone has blocked you. Here are a few signs that may indicate this:

1. Messages Are Not Delivered

If you notice that your messages to a contact always show only one grey tick (indicating sent) and never show two grey ticks (indicating delivered), this could be a sign that you’ve been blocked.

2. No Profile Picture Updates

If a contact’s profile picture remains unchanged for a long time, it might be because they have blocked you, preventing you from seeing any updates.

3. Unable to See Last Seen or Online Status

If you can no longer see a contact’s last seen or online status, it could indicate that they have blocked you. However, they might also have turned off this setting for everyone, so this is not a definitive sign on its own.

4. Calls Are Not Connecting

If your WhatsApp calls to a contact never connect, it’s possible that they have blocked you. However, this could also be due to other factors, such as the person being offline or having network issues.

How to Unblock Someone on WhatsApp

If you ever decide to restore communication with someone you’ve blocked, unblocking them is a straightforward process:

1. Open WhatsApp Settings

Tap the three dots in the upper-right corner of the WhatsApp home screen and select “Settings.”

2. Navigate to Privacy Settings

In the Settings menu, tap on “Privacy,” and then scroll down to “Blocked Contacts.”

3. Unblock the Contact

Here, you’ll see a list of all the contacts you’ve blocked. Tap on the name of the person you wish to unblock, and then select “Unblock” from the options that appear.

4. Re-establish Communication

Once unblocked, the contact will be able to send you messages, and you can communicate as usual.

With these, you get nothing to worry about any contact you don’t find interesting. Instead of bothering yourself or archiving the contact, you can just block such contact.