Ever sent a message, then had second thoughts and blocked the recipient, only to wonder later if they’d see it if you unblocked them?
It’s a tech puzzle many have grappled with. While blocking ensures some peace of mind, the curiosity about what happens to those ‘in-limbo’ messages can be nagging.
Let’s clear the air and answer this burning question, ensuring you’re in the know and can make informed decisions about your messaging choices.
So, Do Messages Deliver After Unblocking?
In the present time, we use social media a lot to share our feelings with known or unknown people through chatting or audio calls, or video calls. In this process, we can also interact with someone whom we dislike. So, what do you do then?
You can block them so that they cannot annoy you anymore. But what if there is a misunderstanding, and they try to express themselves while you have blocked them? Will their messages reach you?
If you block a person or anyone blocks you, the messages you send to them or the messages they sent to you during that period are not delivered at all—the news you sent remains in your chat history and is not given to the contact.
You can also observe from the chat thread that no double-tick or seen tag is visible. It is visible when the messages you send are delivered and seen by the other person.
Can You Check to See if a Blocked Number Tried to Text You?
Can you see if you’ve received any text messages from a blocked number? If a blocked number sends you a text, you won’t be able to read it. The text messages sent by the contact remain in the chat history of the sender only.
However, the sender does not get to know that you have blocked them, as the messages seem to go through as usual. It is because there is no tag of message failure or message undelivered. The UI remains the same as if they are sending the message.
The same happens when someone has blocked you. The only difference is that you can not see any “message delivered” or “message sent” tag in the chat.
But you may know if the message does not get delivered for a long time and if the person does not reply to the text.
How Can I Text Someone Who Blocked My Number?
What if there is some misunderstanding and the person already blocked you? How do you make yourself heard and clear the issue? Can you still text the person who blocked your number?
The answer to this question is very straightforward and known. You can not text someone who has blocked your number at all. The only thing you can do is wait for the person to unblock you. Then, only you can convey your message to the person.
If someone has blocked you, they have restricted you from communicating with them. It means they have forbidden you from texting or calling them unless they remove you from their block list.
How Can You Find Out if Your Contact has blocked you?
Your contact can block you from two places: social networking platforms such as Instagram or WhatsApp or by dialing the phone number directly.
There are different ways for each, using which you can at least guess if someone has blocked you. Let us have a look at them:
Social Media Sites
Suppose you suspect that someone on the social media site has blocked you. You can follow any of these steps to check:
- Check the profile picture of the contact. If it is not visible now, the person might have blocked you.
- Check for their online status. They might have blocked you if it is not visible or you cannot find their username.
- Try messaging the person. They might have stopped you from contacting them if there was no action.
- Social media platforms, including Instagram and Facebook, make communicating with someone who has blocked you impossible.
- Moreover, you need help searching for their username, which is blank.
Contact Number
Suppose you think that the person has blocked your contact number. Then, you can try these steps:
- Try calling that person if you hear the line is busy, your call gets disconnected, or they are out of the network coverage area. The person has blocked you.
- Drop a text message for that person and look for the “delivered” tag. If the title is not visible, the person may have blocked you.
Can You See if a Blocked Number Has Tried To Call You?
If you unblock them from your phone, the person will only know if the person has tried calling you. Their calls will not go through and will be dropped immediately. They can only contact you if you unblock them or they reach you using another number.
If you have blocked someone’s number and have your voicemail open, they can still leave a voice message, but you will not receive a notification.
Hence, you can react accordingly if you get back-to-back calls from that person. They may call you for a critical discussion, so you can unblock them and have a conversation.
How Can You Call Someone Who Has Blocked Your Number?
There are some ways to contact someone who has blocked you. Before calling them, ensure you do not bother them; doing so will not make them angrier. Here are the different ways in which you can call someone who has blocked you:
Hiding Your Caller ID/Contact Number: It is one of the most straightforward approaches, and anyone can do it. While using this to call the person, the device will not recognize your number and will appear as a “Private” or “Unknown Number” on their end.
iOS Users: Go to Settings > Phone > Show My Caller ID > switch OFF Show My Caller ID option
Android Users: Open the phone app> Tap the three dots in the upper-right corner to proceed > Go to Settings > Supplementary Services > Show your caller ID > Never
Other Devices: Open Google Voice > Tap the three horizontal lines in the upper left corner > Go to Settings > Switch on the Anonymous caller ID toggle
- Dialing *67: You can also dial *67 before the number while making the call to hide your caller ID.
- Generate a Random Phone Number: In smartphones, certain apps let you generate random phone numbers, and you can call the person using that phone number.
- Contact Them Using Another Number: You can use the mobile phone of someone you know or try calling with the landline from your home or a public phone booth.
Conclusion
We block people from our contact list or on social media for several reasons. So, do blocked messages get delivered when unblocked? The answer is no; they remain undelivered.
When someone has sent you those messages while they are on your block list, there is no way for you to see them. On the other hand, the person who sent the message will not see a visible tick that ensures the news has gone through.
It is similar to when you have blocked someone on social media, the messages will not push through, and the person will not be able to view your profile. Even if you have unblocked the person, their messages during that time will remain unsent.
On the other hand, they can still send you a voice message, but you will not get a notification. Moreover, the call will get disconnected if the person tries to contact you. They can use someone else’s number or hide their caller ID to contact you.