Phones have evolved significantly from being just a device to call someone. They have gotten smarter, slimmer, and more versatile with features like wi-fi calling, flight mode, and call blocking/waiting.
These come in handy when you need a break from the daily incoming calls to browse the internet, watch a movie, or nap.
First, we will see how you can make your android, iOS, or Windows device unreachable by some manual/inbuilt settings.
1. Put your phone on Flight Mode.
Probably the simplest way to dodge an incoming call is by putting your phone on Flight Mode. This setting turns off all the radio-frequency enabled services like Bluetooth, wifi, and telephony.
Since turning ON the Flight Mode disables your mobile network, the network provider shows your number as unreachable.
This feature comes with every modern phone and is perfect for making you seem “out of coverage” to the caller.
2. Remove the battery without switching off the device.
This applies to phones that come with removable batteries. All you have to do is remove the battery while your phone is still working. Make sure you don’t remove the battery after switching off the phone, as this will show your phone as “switched off” instead of unreachable.
DO NOT try this on phones with non-removable batteries. Forcefully opening the back panel with a sharp tool can accidentally puncture the lithium-ion battery.
3. Select networks manually
Your network should get abruptly disconnected for this to work before your SIM registers your number to be switched off with the service provider. Sounds confusing? Here’s how you can do it.
For Android users:
- 1Go to “Settings”
- 2Select “Connection”
- 3Go to “Mobile networks”/ “More Networks”/ “More Settings.”
- 4Select “Network operators.”
- 5Go to “Select manually.”
- 6Connect to a different service provider than your current one.
For iOS users:
- 1Go to “Settings”
- 2Select “Carrier”
- 3Turn off the toggle button next to “Automatic.”
- 4Once your phone searches for available networks, select a different network provider than your current one.
If your network provider is JIO, the steps get much more straightforward. As JIO only supports the 4G network, changing your network preference from 4G to 3G/2G will automatically make your phone unreachable.
While flight mode and network change are good ways to make your phone unreachable, it has one major setback for the user. It renders your phone inactive. This means you cannot browse the internet, make calls, or send texts.
So, is there a way to make your phone unreachable without disrupting internet browsing or outgoing calls? Let’s see how you can do this.
4. Call forwarding
For anyone who gets bombarded with pesky phone calls, call forwarding is an excellent way to keep them at bay. Call forwarding essentially means to divert or reroute an incoming call to another number.
For instance, while you’re away from work (e.g. on vacation), you can redirect the call to your office number. The best part about this, you can operate your phone as you usually would.
For Android users:
- 1Go to the phone app and click the action overflow icon (three dots) on the top right corner.
- 2Select settings from the drop-down menu.
- 3Select call forwarding. If you can’t find it in the call settings, look for it in “Supplementary services.”
- 4Here you can choose between four main options.
- 5Always forward: Enabling this will redirect all the incoming calls to a specific number (which you assign). As this option overrides all other call forwarding alternatives, your phone doesn’t even ring when someone calls you.
- 6Forward when busy: This will automatically forward the call to a designated number where you’re busy on another call. You can also configure it to send a message to your voicemail.
- 7Forward when unanswered: Enabling this will forward all your incoming calls when you don’t answer your phone. Usually, such a call is sent to your voicemail.
- 8Forward when unreached: Incoming calls will be forwarded when your phone is either switched off, out of coverage area, or on flight mode. This setting will also redirect the call to voicemail.
- 9Set the forwarding number: Here, you can assign a designated number (home, another phone, or office) to which your calls will be forwarded. If you want to avoid calls altogether, just enter a number that is not in use anymore.
- 10Select “Ok/Enable” to activate call forwarding.
5. Call blocking
This is especially useful for frequent callers who you want to avoid. Many android devices today have a built-in call blocking feature. Here’s how you can activate it.
For Android users:
- 1Go to “Phone app” (where you type your number)
- 2Go to the “recent” tab where you can find your recent call logs.
- 3Find the number you want to block → Long press on it to open more options.
- 4Select “Block number.”
Alternatively,
- 1Go to the “Phone app.”
- 2Click the action overflow icon (three dots) on the top right corner.
- 3Select “Settings”
- 4Go to “Call blocking.”
- 5Add the numbers that you want to be blocked.
For iOS users:
- 1Open the “Phone app.”
- 2Go to the “Recents” tab.
- 3Find the number/contact that you want to block and click “ i ” (info icon)
- 4Scroll to the bottom of options and select “Block this caller.”
6. Third-party call blockers
Another way to dodge unwanted callers is to let a third-party application do it for you. You can find many free applications on the play store and apple store to blacklist specific numbers.
“Truecaller” is one such app that has various dial-in, call blocking and caller ID features. Another call blocking application is Mr. Number. You can also opt for Blacklist Plus, which lets you easily modify your blacklist. Here are some other OS-specific applications:
Android devices:
Apple devices:
7. Forcibly disable your data pack.
Although this might drains a lot of network data, it is smart to make your phone unreachable.
Just open as many tabs as you can on your browser (Chrome/Safari), applications, download multiple files, and put your app update to cellular data.
Doing all this will jam your network- rendering your phone unreachable.
How to enable cellular data update for your applications?
For Android users:
- 1From the application launcher, go to the “Play Store.”
- 2Tap the menu icon (three lines) on the top-left corner
- 3Select “Settings”
- 4Select “Auto-update apps.”
- 5Here, you can choose between two options: - “Over any network”- Allows you to update apps using both, wifi or cellular data.- “Over wifi only” - Lets you update apps only on wifi.
- 6Select “Over any network.”
For iOS users:
- 1Go to “Settings”
- 2Select “iTunes & App Store.”
- 3Find “Updates” under Automatic Downloads and toggle it to ON.
- 4Choose “ Use Mobile Data” to enable auto-update over cellular data.
8. Change The Network Mode.
As you might know, mobile networks come in different modes—for instance, LTE/3G/2G, etc.
If your phone supports 4G LTE and switches it to any other network mode, your phone will become unreachable. Here’s how you can change it.
For Android users:
- 1Go to “Settings”
- 2Go to “Mobile Networks.” Alternatively, go to “Connections” → Select “Mobile networks.”
- 3Select “Network Mode”
- 4Change your current 4G network to something else.
For iOS users:
- 1Go to “Settings”
- 2Select “Cellular”
- 3Select “Voice & Data”
- 4Choose an alternate network (other than 4G)
Besides the steps mentioned above, there are some unconventional ways to make your phone unreachable. Let’s have a look.
How to Make Phone Unreachable with Network
9. Place it in a steel container.
An easy way to make your phone temporarily unreachable is to place it in a steel container. This will block any signals (radio frequency) to your phone, thereby disabling any incoming calls.
Make sure you put your phone in silent mode (no vibration), or else you’ll have some nuisance at hand.
10. Cover your phone in foil
Yes, as ridiculous as it sounds, wrapping your phone in aluminium foil does make it unreachable. Just like the metal container, aluminium foil blocks all the radio signals to your phone.
Key Takeaways
As mentioned earlier, not all phones are the same. Depending on the device build, model, operating system, and network, you can find different ways from the list to make your phone unreachable.
A quick Google search on your device will help you decide which option works best for you.
