How to Hide Your Caller ID

It’s harder than ever to keep your call anonymous in the world of smartphones. Even if a person doesn’t have your contact number, various third-party apps such as WhatsApp and Viber will give away your identity.

Nowadays, hiding your caller ID and protecting your privacy is becoming vital. Fortunately, there are still relatively easy methods that you can use to remain anonymous while making a call.

Most mobile service providers offer this feature, while some smartphones have this option in the ‘Settings’ menu. This article will explain how to hide your caller ID.

Hiding Your Caller ID Using a *67 Feature

There’s a simple trick that you can use to hide your caller ID. If you want to make an anonymous call, you only have to dial ‘*67’ before dialing the area code and the number you want to call.

Once you make the call, a ‘No Caller ID’ will appear on your contact’s display. The next time you make a call, your ID will appear as usual. This means that you’ll need to type ‘*67’ before every call where you intend to hide your caller ID.

Keep in mind that this feature is available only across the North America landline and mobile networks. If you’re living in another country, you may have to use a different code.

Hiding Your Caller ID Permanently

If the *67 function doesn’t work, or you want to permanently hide your caller ID, you can manually customize it in your device’s Settings app.

Hiding Your Caller ID on an iPhone

If you own an iPhone, follow these steps to hide the caller ID:

Open the ‘Settings’ app.
Select the ‘Phone’ menu.
Tap the ‘Show My Caller ID’ menu.
Toggle the option off.

Once you’ve disabled this feature, every time you make a call from your iPhone your caller ID will remain hidden. To display your caller ID again, follow the same steps and toggle the option back on.

Hiding Your Caller ID on Android

The process is similar and fairly straightforward for Android devices, too:

Open the ‘Phone’ screen (the one you use to make calls). It’s usually among the apps at the bottom of the Home screen.
Tap the ‘More’ icon (three vertical dots). It’s usually on the top-right of the screen.
Select ‘Settings.’
Tap the ‘Calls’ menu.
Select the ‘Additional Settings’ (or ‘Other Call Settings’ on some versions).
Tap ‘Caller ID.’ A new dialog box should appear.
Select ‘Hide number.’

If you want to make your ID visible again, just follow the same steps and select ‘Network default’ or ‘Show number’ instead.

Make Your ID Visible For a One-Off Call

If you want your ID to remain hidden, but you want to make a transparent call, there’s also a code you can type prior to the number.

So, instead of navigating through the settings to enable the feature and then disabling it again after the call, just dial ‘*82’ and the desired phone number. Your number will be displayed on the recipient’s screen.

Some providers require you to wait until you hear the dial tone after entering a code before entering the rest of the number.

Other Useful Vertical Service Codes

The ‘*67’ feature is also called the vertical service code. Most service providers offer not only an option to hide a number but also codes for various other features.

For instance, dialing ‘*60’ before typing the number will block it and you won’t receive calls or text messages from it.

The following are other service codes that you may find useful:

*69 – Dials the last number that called you. Although in the age of smartphones this feature is slightly less popular, it’s still useful on landline phones without a display.
*70 – Disable the call waiting option for a short amount of time.
*72 – Type this before a number that you want to forward calls to.
*77 – Rejects anonymous calls automatically.

Not All Devices Have These Features

The ‘*67’ vertical service code should work on both mobile and landline phones. However, if you live in a different country there’s a possibility that the vertical codes are different. If so, you should contact the customer support of your mobile service provider and inquire about the proper vertical service codes.

Also, some U.S. providers such as Verizon don’t have the feature to manually hide the caller ID via the device’s settings. It goes for both Android and iPhone devices. In this case, you should contact your service provider. Providers such as AT&T and Verizon can make your number anonymous for free.

Note that none of the methods above will hide your number if you call an emergency service such as ambulance or police, as well as 900 and toll-free numbers.

Protect Your Privacy and Respect Others

Keep in mind that you should only hide your caller ID if you want to protect your privacy. Occasional jokes and pranks with close people you are also OK.

Any other form of abusing the feature, such as harassment, blackmail, or other forms of malicious behavior can get you in legal trouble as the government can easily track the hidden ID. It is important to protect your privacy. However, it is also important to respect the privacy of others.

When do you need to remain anonymous? Is there any other way of hiding your caller ID? Leave a comment below and let us know.