How To Stop Calls on iPhone Without Blocking 2024

You can easily stop calls on your iPhone without actually blocking numbers. There are several ways you can do this. They include: putting your phone on calling forwarding, switching on airplane mode, using a silent ringtone, and setting up “Do Not Disturb.” With these, all calls can be barred.  

Can you turn off incoming calls on your iPhone?

Do you have a vacation coming up, and you want to tune out all external noise? Do you have an exam coming up, or do you want to engage in deep work, and any form of distraction presently will be costly? Or you probably have a stalker or ex who doesn’t want to get the message. 

Well, you can turn off incoming calls without having to go through the rigours of blocking numbers. This is important because you might want to be off for a short time; with these methods, you can easily turn the noise on and off.

How do you stop receiving calls without blocking?

Below are very easy ways you can stop receiving calls without blocking. However, you have to note that these methods are classified into two categories: stop receiving calls when you’re using your phone and when you’re not using your iPhone.

Ok then, let’s get to business. You can:

Use a silent ringtone:

This method helps prevent you from getting notifications of calls when you’re not using your phone. It comes in handy when you want to sleep, study, meditate, or perform deep work. All you have to do is set your phone notification to silent. You have to note that the calls will still come in; however, you won’t hear a sound. 

Take these simple steps to put your phone on silent:

1. Go to your iPhone’s Settings and open Sound and Haptics.
2. Select Ringtone
3. Select Tone store.
4. Search and download a silent tone from the list that appears.

You can also use the Ring and Silent mode control switch at the top of the left side of your iPhone. This silent mode will still let you play music and watch videos.

Turn on “Do Not Disturb” mode:

The “Do Not Disturb” mode, also known as “DND”, can help you turn off all tones and notifications on your phone. Unlike the silent mode or ringtone, DND can help you shut out alerts even when using your phone. You should know that your phone receives all calls and notifications but doesn’t tell you about it.

Here’s how you can activate “Do Not Disturb” mode:

1. Swipe down on the screen of your iPhone to access your Control Centre.
2. Select the crescent moon (your phone automatically enters DND, but this might not include calls.)
3. Open Settings
4. Open the Do Not Disturb section
5. Under Allow Calls, change the settings from “Everyone” to “No one.”

The beauty of this function is that you can automatically schedule the time or set a duration for it. If you’re on vacation, for instance, and you put your phone on DND, you might as well not turn it off till it’s all over. If you do, all missed calls and notifications will come rushing like a flood.

Set up “Call Forwarding”:

If you’re trying to avoid a stalker, ex, relative, or someone you owe money to, this is the perfect method to avoid their calls without blocking them. Call forwarding directs calls to your number to another phone without disturbing or alerting you.

With this method, you can set all your calls to someone else, probably your secretary or some unknown number, if you’re being pestered. Don’t worry, you can easily turn this function on and off. Let’s show you how:

1. Go to your phone’s Settings.
2. Open the Phone section.
3. Under Calls, select Call Waiting and turn it on.
4. Select the number you’d like calls forwarded to.

Turn on Airplane mode

Another way you can stop incoming calls to your iPhone without blocking them is to put it on Airplane mode. In this mode, your phone and SIM are totally detached from any form of connection. If you want a total blackout from the outside world, this is your best bet.

No worries, you can still use your WiFi in this mode. So, if you’re on vacation, for example, you can still access the internet. To put your phone on Airplane mode, do these:

1. Swipe down to access your Control Centre
2. Tap on the airplane icon to initiate this process.

This process is easily reversible, so you don’t have to worry.

How to temporarily block incoming calls on iPhone?

The easiest way to block out calls temporarily on your iPhone is to use the Do Not Disturb option. This is because it doesn’t paint the picture that you’re unavailable; the calls all come into your phone, but you’ll not be notified of any of them.

If you have an important meeting by 5 PM, for instance, you can schedule your DND for 5 PM, and it will be automatically activated at that time. Whenever you’re free again, you can easily switch it back on.

Check out how to turn this function on and off by checking the Do Not Disturb section above.

How can you block calls from unknown numbers?

If you don’t want to receive calls from unknown numbers, you can simply turn it off. This feature automatically sends these calls to voicemail and prevents any alerts. However, if you ever need to check them out, you can find these numbers in your call logs.

This is how you block calls from unknown numbers:

1. Go to your phone’s Settings.
2. Open the Phone section.
3. Under Calls, turn on the Silence Unknown Callers option.

How can I make a caller think my phone is out of coverage?

Sometimes you’d like it to seem as if your phone is out of coverage. This means no calls will come in at all. There are several ways you can do this:

Airplane mode:

If you really want to go “incognito”, putting your phone on Airplane mode is your best bet. This is because it disrupts all connections to your phone and SIM’s network. It alerts the caller that your line is unreachable.

Manually select the non-functional network:

If you don’t want to go into a full incognito mode, you can easily disable your SIM’s network. This will alert your caller that your iPhone is out of coverage. 

Here’s how you can select a non-functional network:

1. Go to Settings
2. Select Cellular
3. Tap Cellular Options and turn off Automatic Network Selection.

How to set your iPhone to be busy?

If you want callers to receive a “busy” message when you’re on another call, you need to turn off call waiting. Most times, when people call you, and you’re on another call, you get the notification and the option to either accept or reject the call. 

Your caller, on the other hand, will be aware you’re on another call and be told to wait. This is how you can make them receive a busy message:

1. Go to your phone’s Settings.
2. Open the Phone section.
3. Under Calls, select Call Waiting and turn it off.

Conclusion

There you have it – answers to how you can stop calls on your iPhone without blocking.  When you want to implement any of these methods, don’t forget that it might also affect important calls, especially for Airplane and Do Not Disturb modes.

Was this article of any help to you? Do you know other methods you feel one can use to stop calls without blocking numbers? Let us know by dropping a comment below. Also, please share this post with friends and family who you think might need it.