Clearing large numbers of blocked contacts on iPhone

larryapplescam wrote:

Need to delete hundered of older blocked email so s to block NEWER ONES

hOW TO UNBLOCK ALL not one at a time.

As has already been explained at least twice in this thread, you can do it from a Mac. As long as the Apple Account is the same as what you are using on your iPhone, you can also bulk delete the blocked contacts in the Mail app on the Mac. Go to Mail > Settings > Junk Mail > Blocked, select one of the numbers and press Command - A to select all of them and push the delete button. They will then be removed from your iPhone.

However, there is no good reason to block 3000 numbers. Blocking numbers is not an effective way to mitigate spam texts or calls.

Do you have a Mac? If so, you can select multiple entries (or all) and delete them all at once on the Mac.

Blocking individual numbers in an attempt to prevent spam calls is largely ineffective.

The spam callers use spoofed numbers that are rarely ever reused.

Use call filtering instead.

There's no option to remove more blocked contacts than one on iPhone.

You can do it on your Mac with same Apple Account by going to System Settings - Privacy and Security - Blocked Contacts. Here you can select all of them by using ⌘A shortcut and press delete key.

It does appear you have a Mac from your previous posts, so as long as the Apple Account is the same as what you are using on your iPhone, you can also bulk delete the blocked contacts in the Mail app on the Mac. Go to Mail > Settings > Junk Mail > Blocked, select one of the numbers and press Command - A to select all of them and push the delete button. They will then be removed from your iPhone.

grandy1214 wrote:

VPN is turned off as often a VPN will prevent server synch on Apple's servers. So I'm at a loss to explain this one.

We have seen it reported multiple times that simply turning off a VPN will not always resolve a syncing issue and it should be removed to test. You can always install it again if you feel that is necessary or have a specific need for the VPN for tunneling into a Work or School server. This would apply to both the Mac and iPhone.

Please update if you do that for another confirmation. Don't expect the sync to occur immediately as the phone should be connected to power, on WiFi, and is done without user activity such as when the device is locked.

ktrelyea wrote:

Is there a similar way to do this operation if you do not have a Mac but use iCloud for windows?

Sorry, but evidently there isn't a way to do this on Windows.

You might want to let Apple know this is something you'd like to see in a future update --> Feedback - iPhone - Apple

I do not have the option to delete blocked numbers even one by one. I have over four thousand. Total BS they have to be deleted one by one. Then give programming to not av let a call from a person not on the list. I want that option and I would not have to block anyone. Now what **** is Apple going to do about the new imposed limits with no way of mass deletion.

Kingcrawf4rd wrote:

I do not have the option to delete blocked numbers even one by one. I have over four thousand. Total BS they have to be deleted one by one. Then give programming to not av let a call from a person not on the list. I want that option and I would not have to block anyone. Now what **** is Apple going to do about the new imposed limits with no way of mass deletion.

You can let Apple know your thoughts here:

Product Feedback - Apple

Tried the two methods of clearing large numbers of blocked contacts the Privacy and Security site and the Mail Spam blocked contacts site pulled them up pushed Command A Delete buttons nothing happened I have the latest updates on my Mac now what?

Flowermound wrote:

Tried the two methods of clearing large numbers of blocked contacts the Privacy and Security site and the Mail Spam blocked contacts site pulled them up pushed Command A Delete buttons nothing happened I have the latest updates on my Mac now what?

Before using Command A on your Mac, you need to first open the list of blocked contacts, then highlight the first contact you want to block, then go down the list as far as you want to remove, tap shift and all will be highlighted, then tap the - button to delete.

I have tried all the suggestions in the comments. I still can only delete a batch at a time because the settings app freezes. anyone have any solutions ? This will take me days to delete these blocked contacts

Flowermound wrote:

Ok thanks that worked. I was doing all ok except I was hitting the delete button not the - button now all I gotta do is get them off my pro 16 phone but not one at a time

You're welcome. As long as you sync contacts across both devices, when you delete blocked contacts on your Mac, they will automatically sync the same with your iPhone. It may take a while for the sync to complete.

Now, save yourself disappointment and stop trying to block spam calls. It's totally a waste of time.

My iPhone 15plus will only block 2,999 numbers. I don’t have a Mac Computer anymore just an iPad and iPhone. Does that mean I can’t block anymore numbers until I remove each of the 2,999 numbers and messages from my blocked list one at a time?