How to stop robocalls on any phone in 10 minutes (landlines too)

The phone rings during lunch. It’s “Medicare benefits” again, calling from a number one digit off from your own, and you have now heard about your car’s extended warranty more often than you’ve heard from some of your grandchildren. Here is how to stop robocalls on every phone you own, the cell in your pocket and the landline on the kitchen wall, in about the time it takes to finish a cup of coffee. We checked every menu against Apple, Google, Samsung, the carriers, the FTC and the FCC.

A little honesty first: nothing gets you to zero. Scammers switch numbers faster than anyone can block them. What you can do is turn the flood into a trickle and make sure the few that sneak through can’t hurt you.

Time needed

About 10 minutes

Cost

Free (paid upgrades optional)

Works on

iPhone, Android, landlines

Labels, blocks and screens

Every fix below is one of three things. A label puts a warning like “Scam Likely” on your screen but still lets the call ring. A block stops the call or sends it quietly to voicemail. A screen has your phone answer for you, ask the caller what they want, and show you the answer before you decide.

Labels are polite. Blocks are blunt. Screens are the closest thing to a butler most of us will ever have.

How to stop robocalls on iPhone

Apple added real call screening in iOS 26, released in September 2025. Check your version under Settings > General > About, and update under Settings > General > Software Update if needed.

1. Open Settings > Apps > Phone. Scroll down to Screen Unknown Callers.
2. Pick one of three options. Never lets every call ring as usual. Ask Reason for Calling has your iPhone answer numbers that aren’t in your contacts and ask who’s calling and why, before it rings you. Silence sends every unknown number straight to voicemail without a ring.
3. Turn on the spam filter. On the same screen, under Call Filtering, switch on the spam filter so flagged calls are silenced. Switch on Unknown Callers too, which tucks missed calls and voicemails from strangers into their own list.
4. Block repeat offenders. In iOS 26 and later, go to Settings > Privacy & Security > Blocked Contacts > Add Blocked Contact.

We use Ask Reason for Calling. Your phone rings with a written transcript of what the caller said, and you decide whether to pick up. Robots tend to give up. The consumer group U.S. PIRG found real gaps: you read a transcript instead of hearing a voice, a caller who just says “hello” can get through, and a patient scammer can learn the script. It’s still a big step up, and it’s free.

On an older iPhone that can’t run iOS 26, the setting is a single switch: Settings > Phone > Silence Unknown Callers.

How to stop spam calls on Android

Android phones vary by maker. Pixels and many others use Google’s Phone app; most Samsung Galaxy phones use Samsung’s own.

Google Phone app

1. Open the Phone app, tap the three-dot More menu, then Settings.
2. Tap Caller ID and spam and switch on See caller ID & spam.
3. Switch on Filter spam calls. Suspected spam stops ringing but still shows up in your call history, so you can check voicemail. (Phones with automatic Call Screen don’t show this switch; the screening handles spam instead.)
4. Set up Call Screen on a Pixel. Under Settings > Spam and Call Screen (on some phones just Call Screen), choose which callers get screened automatically, such as spam, possibly faked numbers and first-time callers. Google’s assistant asks who’s calling and why, hangs up on spam, and rings you with a transcript of everyone else.

Automatic screening works on Pixel phones in the US, Canada, the UK, Ireland and Australia. Some other Android phones in the US and Canada get a manual version: tap Screen call when a stranger rings.

Samsung Galaxy

1. Open the Phone app, tap the three dots, then Settings.
2. Tap Caller ID and spam protection, switch it on and agree to the terms. This is Samsung’s Smart Call service.
3. Turn on Block spam and scam calls, then choose Block all spam and scam calls (our pick) or Only block high-risk scam calls.

Smart Call isn’t available on every carrier or model, Samsung says. If you don’t see it, the carrier tools below do similar work.

The free blockers from your carrier

Each of the big three wireless carriers runs a spam filter that works on iPhone and Android alike. The free versions do most of the heavy lifting; the paid upgrades add extras like reverse number lookup.

Prices as listed on the carriers’ sites in October 2026. The two-minute moves:

• Verizon: open the Call Filter app or My Verizon and confirm spam calls are set to go to voicemail.
• AT&T: in the free ActiveArmor app’s Calls tab, choose to block spam or send it to voicemail.
• T-Mobile: dial #662# from your phone to switch on Scam Block, which stops calls flagged Scam Likely. T-Mobile warns it might catch a call you want, and you can turn it off any time.

On a smaller carrier or prepaid brand, the FTC’s advice is to check your provider’s website or call customer service and ask what call blocking comes with your plan.

How to block robocalls on a landline

Landlines are where robocallers still feel most at home. First figure out what kind of line you have. If the phone plugs into a cable or internet box, it’s VoIP (voice over internet protocol, a phone line that runs over your internet service). If it runs on the old copper wire from the phone company, it’s traditional.

• Nomorobo, for VoIP lines. Nomorobo stopped protecting landlines on January 1, 2026, then brought the service back at $39.99 a year per line. It needs a feature called Simultaneous Ring, which Verizon Fios, Vonage and most cable and internet phone services support. Copper lines generally can’t use it.
• A call-blocking device, for copper lines. The FTC suggests these small boxes that connect to your phone. Some use databases of known scam numbers, some use your own block list, and some make callers press a number before your phone rings, a task robots rarely manage.
• Your phone company’s star codes. On AT&T home phone service, for example, pressing *77 turns on Anonymous Call Rejection, which turns away callers who hide their number until they unhide it. Pressing *87 turns it off. Other phone companies offer their own versions, so call and ask.

What the Do Not Call Registry does and doesn’t stop

Sign up at DoNotCall.gov or call 1-888-382-1222 from the phone you want to register. It’s free and registration never expires, so if you signed up in 2003 you’re still on it. If you register online, click the link in the confirmation email within 72 hours.

The registry is a list that honest telemarketers are required to check. It can take up to 31 days for sales calls to stop. Political calls, charities, debt collectors, surveys and companies you’ve recently done business with can still call.

As for scammers, the FTC is blunt: being on the registry won’t stop them. It does hand you a useful tell. A recorded sales pitch is illegal unless you gave that company written permission, so the robot offering you a lower interest rate is a crook by definition, and you can hang up without a twinge of guilt.

How to report robocalls to the FTC and FCC

Reporting won’t make your phone quieter tomorrow. It does feed the machine: the FTC publishes reported numbers each business day so phone companies can block them, and law enforcement uses the reports to build cases.

• Unwanted call, no money lost: report it at DoNotCall.gov. Include your number, the number on caller ID (even if you suspect it’s fake), any callback number they gave, and the date and time.
• Lost money or shared personal information: report it at ReportFraud.ftc.gov, and call your bank right away.
• The FCC takes complaints too at consumercomplaints.fcc.gov, under Unwanted Calls/Texts. The FCC says it doesn’t resolve individual complaints, but the reports inform its enforcement.

The one rule that stops most phone scams

Hang up and call back on a number you look up yourself.

If “your bank” calls about fraud, hang up and dial the number on the back of your card. If “Medicare” calls, hang up and call 1-800-MEDICARE. If your grandson calls from a jail in another state needing bail money, hang up and call his mother. Real organizations will still be there when you call back. Scammers won’t, which is why they work so hard to keep you talking.

The FTC says the same: don’t call a number the caller gave you or the one on your caller ID. Scammers can put any name on your caller ID, including your bank’s, your grandson’s and the sheriff’s. And per the FTC, anyone who insists you pay by gift card, wire transfer or cryptocurrency is a scammer.

Scammers can put any name on your caller ID, including your bank’s, your grandson’s and the sheriff’s.

Your 10-minute checklist

1. Two minutes: add doctors, pharmacy, bank and family to your contacts.
2. Two minutes: turn on screening or spam filtering on your iPhone or Android.
3. Two minutes: switch on your carrier’s free blocker.
4. Two minutes: register at DoNotCall.gov, or confirm you already are.
5. Two minutes: try *77 or ask your phone company about landline blocking.

Then finish your coffee while it’s still hot.

Questions readers ask