There are legitimate reasons why you might not want to reveal your phone number when making a call, but how do you make this happen?
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Whether it’s because you’re unsure about a number from a call you’re returning, or for more personal security purposes, having your number flash up on the display of the person you’re calling isn’t always the best strategy.
The methodology for doing so is the same across all networks if you just need it on an ad-hoc basis.
If you’re dialling from a fixed line phone, adding 1831 before the number will make your call come up as a private call with no caller ID attached.
If you’re dialling from a mobile, then add #31# to the front of your calls.
It’s also feasible to do this from within most phone settings, because that controls the sending of caller ID.
On iPhones, it’s found under Settings>Phone>Show My Caller ID
On Android devices it should be found by going into the menu from the phone dialler, choosing additional settings and then caller ID
On Windows Phone 8 devices, go to the dialler, choose the ellipses, then settings, then “Show My Caller ID”
On Blackberry devices, swipe down in the phone dialler and choose the cog icon. The default option is “Show my number”. Tapping on that should bring up “Allow My Number to Appear” which you can then switch to off.
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Comments
9 responses to “How To Hide Your Number When Making A Call”
Conversely, To take it off private it is 1832.
Also are you sure this doesn’t work on mobiles? It used to.
You’re right, it still does, Telstra and Optus at least – I used 1831 on both networks this morning.
I have to honestly say that I’ve never had the need to use it, so I was working off what all three of the telcos say you should do for fixed and mobile calls respectively.
Almost word for word the respone I was going to post 🙂
1831 prior to the number I use to call people to block my own number.
Used this for over 10 years successfully over Telstra, Optus and Voda
A good reason to NOT hide your caller ID is that people like me will probably not answer your call.
From my experience, callers with a blocked caller ID are usually telemarketers, scammers, or people chasing money. I can’t remember the last time I received a call from someone who had a “legitimate” reason to block their caller ID.
Consequentially, I usually let those calls go through to the wicket keeper. Because they choose not to display their ID, I choose to put them at the bottom of my priority list of things to do. If it is important, they can leave a message and I will get back to them at a time that is convenient for me.
I work at a hospital. The hospital’s number comes up as a “private number” because it’s silly to display every extension and for various other reasons.
This probably explains why most people don’t answer phone calls from the hospital, when we’ve been specifically asked to update them on their loved one’s condition.
+1 to dave_lord. Can’t say I can even recall the last time I answered a “Private Number” call.
“Call Control” on Android. Private/witheld numbers don’t even ring anymore and go straight to voicemail.
Now I can make prank calls
I had the Same idea Alpesh
How do u put ur number on private on a ZTE plz
its not working on moto 2’nd gen
Hi every time I try to dial a number the #31# automatically puts itself in front of my call. How do I stop it? Thank you so much for any help Cber