Some people are thinking about blocking a number, or have blocked a number and is thinking about unblocking the number. It is common that they want to know if they unblock a number, will they receive the old texts? This article is written to answer the question.
If You Unblock a Number, Will You Receive Old Texts?
The answer to the question ‘if you unblock a number, will you receive old texts’ varies, depending on the type of smartphone you’re using.
For instance, if you are an Android user, yes, you can receive old texts after you have unblocked a user because Android will put all the blocked messages and call to a folder named “Block & filter” or something similar. Once you unblock the number, the old texts will appear in the messages inbox. Even if you don’t unblock the number, you can still check the text messages delivered in the “Block & filter” folder.
However, iPhone users are not that lucky. If you block a number, all the messages won’t be delivered to your iPhone. There is no folder like the “Block & filter” folder on Android, so even if you unblock the number, you will not receive the old texts.
The following sections will tell you how to see the old messages or prevent them from disturbing you according to the platform of the phone that you have. You will also know how to block and unblock a user on both Android and iPhone.
How to See Blocked Messages on Android
As explained above, on Android phones, even if you block a contact, the messages that they sent/send are still saved on your device. These texts can be accessed by following the instructions given below. We will show the steps on an OPPO phone. They may be a little different on different Android phones.
- Go to the Messages app.
- Tap the More icon from the center-right of the screen.
- Tap Block & filter.
- On the next window, you will see all the messages from the blocked contacts.
How can you get the blocked messages back to your messages inbox?
- Once you’re on the ‘Blocked’ messages screen, tap the ‘More’ icon from the top-right corner.
- Tap Set rules and select Blocklist. You will see the blocked number.
- Now you can tap the ‘More’ icon at the top right corner, and click Edit.
- Select the blocked number, click Remove and confirm the operation to move the message from the blocked folder back to the inbox.
How to Not See Blocked Messages on Android
On some Android phones, you will get notifications saying that you have gotten messages from a blocked number. It is really annoying. If you don’t want to see any message notification from a blocked contact, you can follow the steps given below to get this done. Again OPPO phone is used here for illustrations.
- Use the process given above to get to the interface of the blocked message.
- Tap the More icon from the top-right corner.
- From the menu that appears, tap Set rules.
- On the next window, tap Blocklist notifications.
- You will see 3 options. Choose Hide notifications from blocked. This will help you stop seeing blocked messages on Android.
How to Block a Contact on Android
Because Android offers no means of stopping only the texts from a contact, the only way to prevent them from bothering you is by blocking their number altogether. When you do so, Android ensures that you no longer receive any calls or messages from them whatsoever. Although there are multiple ways you can get this done, we will introduce one of the easiest methods.
- Launch the Messages app on your Android smartphone (Samsung Galaxy Note 10+ is used here for illustrations).
- Tap to open the message thread of contact you want to block.
- Tap the More icon from the top-right corner.
- Tap Block contact from the options that are available in the pane that opens up.
- Tap Block on the Block contact confirmation box that appears at the bottom to prevent the contact from calling you or sending text messages in the future.
Note: Optionally, you can tap to select the Delete conversation radio button before blocking the contact to remove all their existing messages from your inbox.
How to Unblock a Contact on Android
The procedure requires you to get back to the ‘Messages’ app, locate the message thread of the user you want to unblock, and continue with the process. However, because surfing through several texts could be extremely tedious, you can locate the person from the ‘Contacts’ app and then get the task done. The method is described below:
- Open the Contacts app on your smartphone (Samsung Galaxy Note 10+ is used here for illustrations).
- Tap the Search icon (Magnifying Glass) from the right of the screen.
- Search the name of the contact you want to unblock (Annoying Contact here).
- Tap the contact once it’s found.
- Tap the Message icon from the contact’s screen.
- Tap the More icon (with three vertical dots) from the top-right corner of the contact’s message box.
- Tap Unblock contact from the menu that appears to unblock the contact.
Note: This process works only if at least one message from the contact is present in the ‘Messages’ app. If you’ve deleted all the messages, you must unblock the contact by going to their contact’s screen, tapping the ‘More’ icon from the top-right, and then tapping ‘Unblock contact’.
So, the answer to the question, if you unblock a number, will you receive old texts is, yes, you will get them while using an Android phone.
How to Block a Contact on an iPhone
As with Android, even iPhone doesn’t offer any way to stop only the messages from a contact, and therefore, you must block their number on your device. However, the good news is that things are not that complicated on iPhone. You either block a contact and stop receiving everything from them, or you unblock them to continue getting calls and messages. The process to block a contact on iPhone is given below:
- Open the Messages app on your iPhone (iPhone 13 Pro Max is used here for illustrations).
- Locate and tap to open the message thread of contact you want to block.
- On the contact’s screen, tap their name from the top.
- Tap info from the next screen.
- Tap Block this Caller when the next window appears.
- Tap Block Contact from the confirmation box that pops up at the bottom to stop receiving calls and messages from the contact.
How to Unblock a Contact on an iPhone
On an iPhone, you can either locate the message thread of the blocked contact from the ‘Messages’ app and follow the instructions given above to get to the contact’s window, or pick them from the ‘Phone’ app and continue with the steps explained below:
- Launch the Phone app on your iPhone.
- Tap Contacts from the bottom.
- Type the name of the blocked contact in the Search box at the top.
- Tap the contact once found.
- Scroll down to the bottom of the contact’s screen.
- Tap Unblock this Caller to unblock the contact to continue receiving calls and messages from them.
Conclusion
This guide has been prepared to address one of the most asked questions, ‘if you unblock a number, will you receive old texts?’. Well, after going through all the sections elaborated here, you might have learned that the answer majorly depends on the type of smartphone you are using. We hope the guide above helped you.
