How to Block All Incoming Calls on Android (and Still Make Calls) (2026)

Sometimes the goal is not one caller. It is every caller: a phone that should not ring at all, for an evening, for a work shift on a spare device, or on a child's phone until you decide otherwise. Android has five different ways to get there, and they are not interchangeable. One stops every incoming call at the network and lets you keep calling out. One just keeps the phone quiet while the call still arrives. One only catches callers hiding their number. Two stop every call in both directions, not just incoming. This guide walks through each, what it actually blocks, what keeps working, and exactly how to undo it.

NoDial: Block Outgoing CallsBlocks calls to numbers you choose

NoCall: Blacklist Call BlockerBlock unwanted calls before they ring.

Steps are current as of October 2026. Menu names vary by phone maker, carrier, and Android version. Carrier features depend on your mobile operator and plan.

1. The short answer

There are five ways to stop incoming calls on an Android phone, and only two of them genuinely bar calls rather than just muting or rerouting them:

• Carrier call barring, "All incoming calls" (BAIC) — a network service. The carrier refuses every incoming call before it reaches your phone. You can still make outgoing calls and emergency calls. Undone instantly with a four-digit barring password.
• Do Not Disturb — a phone setting, not a bar. Calls still arrive; your phone just doesn't ring, vibrate, or light up for them. Undone instantly from Quick Settings.
• Blocking unknown or private callers — a Phone-app switch that only catches callers with no caller ID. Numbers that show up but aren't saved in your contacts still get through.
• Airplane mode, or taking the SIM out — blunt. Blocks incoming calls, but also your own outgoing calls, texts, and mobile data. Undone in one tap.
• An app that blocks specific incoming numbers — runs on the phone. Good for a list of unwanted callers, not a switch for "every call."

2. Method 1 — Carrier call barring: "All incoming calls" (BAIC)

Call barring is a service your mobile carrier runs on its own network, defined in the 3GPP standard TS 22.088 that GSM and LTE carriers follow. The category you want here is Barring of All Incoming Calls, abbreviated BAIC and usually shown in the Phone app simply as "All incoming calls." Turn it on, and the carrier's network refuses every call aimed at your number before it ever reaches your phone — it doesn't even ring once.

How to turn it on in the Phone app:

• Samsung Galaxy — open Phone → the three-dot menu → Settings → Supplementary services → Call barring → All incoming calls → enter your barring password. Samsung's own support page lists "All incoming calls" among the categories on this screen and says to try 0000 if you don't know the password, then contact your carrier if that fails.
• Google Pixel and phones using the Google Phone app — open Phone → the three-dot menu → Settings → Calling accounts → your SIM → Call barring → All incoming calls → enter the password. Carrier device guides for phones using this version of the Phone app show the same Calling accounts → Call barring path.

How to turn it on with a code: dial *35*password# and press call. To turn it off, dial #35*password#. To check whether it's active, dial *#35#. There's also a roaming-only version — BAIC-roam, barring incoming calls only while you're abroad — turned on with *351*password#, off with #351*password#, checked with *#351#. Full code list and what each one means: Call Barring Codes.

The password is the same four-digit barring password used for every barring category on your line, issued by your carrier rather than chosen by you. What carriers publish as defaults, how to change it, and what to do if it's locked: Call Barring Codes: Full List, Password, and How to Reset It. For the full menu walkthrough and what to do when the screen or the code doesn't work: Call Barring on Android.

One thing barring does not touch is your own ability to call out. Per the 3GPP standard, an incoming bar leaves the line's ability "to originate calls" unaffected — so you can still place outgoing calls and emergency calls while every incoming call to you is refused. The person calling you, not you, is the one told the call is not permitted: the standard has the network send them an indication that the call "is not permitted and has been barred." You won't see a missed call or hear your phone; they get the message.

3. Method 2 — Do Not Disturb: it silences calls, it doesn't bar them

Do Not Disturb is often the first thing people try, and it's worth being precise about what it actually does: it doesn't block or refuse a call — it only decides whether your phone makes noise about it. Google's own help page describes Do Not Disturb as a way to "silence your device", with a People setting that decides which calls may still interrupt you. The call still arrives at your phone in the background; your phone just stays silent and dark while it does, and it typically goes to voicemail the same way an unanswered call always would.

How to turn it on:

• Swipe down from the top of the screen to open Quick Settings and tap Do Not Disturb.
• Or open Settings → Modes → Do Not Disturb → Turn on now.

Pixel's version of the same setting lets you carve out exceptions under People: choosing which calls get through (for example, only starred contacts, or none at all), and a separate Allow repeat callers toggle that lets a second call from the same number ring through if it comes within about 15 minutes of the first — useful if you want silence by default but don't want to miss something urgent repeated twice.

If what you actually want is every call refused rather than just hushed, Do Not Disturb is the wrong tool; use carrier call barring (section 2) instead. Where Do Not Disturb wins is that it needs no password, no carrier, and switches off in one tap — which also means anyone holding the phone can undo it in one tap.

4. Method 3 — Block unknown and private callers

If the calls you want to stop share one thing — no caller ID, shown as "Unknown" or "Private number" — both Google's and Samsung's Phone apps have a single switch for it, separate from blocking individual numbers:

• Pixel / Google Phone app: Phone app → ⋮ → Settings → Blocked numbers → turn on Unknown. Google's own help page is specific about the limit here: this blocks calls from private or unidentified numbers. A number that isn't saved in your contacts but still shows a caller ID is not covered by this switch — it keeps ringing through.
• Samsung: Phone app → ⋮ → Settings → Block numbers → turn on Block calls from unknown numbers, part of Samsung's Smart Call feature (naming and availability vary by region and carrier).

This is the right tool for a narrow problem — callers who deliberately hide their number — not for incoming calls in general. If a specific number keeps calling and it does show up, block that number directly instead: How to Block a Number on Android.

5. Method 4 — Airplane mode or removing the SIM

The bluntest way to stop incoming calls is to take the phone off the mobile network entirely. Airplane mode does this in one tap from Quick Settings; physically taking the SIM out does the same thing by hand. Both genuinely stop every incoming call — but neither is a selective block. Outgoing calls stop too, along with texts and mobile data. In airplane mode you can switch Wi-Fi back on, so Wi-Fi calling and messaging apps keep working, but anything over the mobile network is cut both ways.

Undoing it is exactly as fast as turning it on: one tap for airplane mode, or putting the SIM back for the physical route. There's no password standing between the phone and ringing again.

6. Method 5 — An app that blocks specific incoming numbers

The methods above either bar every incoming call or none of them. If the actual problem is a shorter list — a handful of numbers that keep calling, rather than every call you might ever receive — an app that screens incoming calls fits better than any built-in setting.

Android has a system role that lets one chosen app see every incoming call and decide, before the phone rings, whether to let it through. NoCall: Blacklist Call Blocker, XTV's companion app to NoDial, uses this role to block calls from the numbers you add to a list, before they ring — the kind of per-number filtering built-in blocked-number lists also do, run through an app instead of the stock Phone app.

This is not a way to block every incoming call at once; it only acts on the numbers you've put on the list. If what you need is "nothing rings for a while," that's sections 2 or 3 above, not this.

7. Side-by-side comparison

8. Which method fits your situation?

• You want no call to reach the phone at all, and you still need to make your own calls — use carrier call barring's "All incoming calls" (BAIC). It works at the network level and the caller is the one told, not you.
• You just want quiet right now — for a meeting, overnight, or while you focus — Do Not Disturb is faster and needs no password, but remember the calls still arrive; they just don't make noise.
• The nuisance is specifically hidden or private numbers — turn on the Unknown / block calls from unknown numbers switch in your Phone app, and accept that any legitimate caller hiding their number is caught too.
• The phone needs to be fully offline for a short stretch, incoming and outgoing both — airplane mode is enough, and reversible in one tap.
• It's a specific, recurring handful of numbers, not everything — a per-number blocklist app such as NoCall fits better than any switch above, since it leaves every other call untouched.
• You're worried about calling a bad number back rather than it calling you — that's the one job none of the above do; see the NoDial note in section 6.

9. Turning incoming calls back on

Each method is undone where it was set:

• Call barring — go back to Call barring in the Phone app and switch off "All incoming calls" with the barring password, or dial #35*password#. If the change is refused, the usual causes (wrong or locked password, an operator that manages barring itself, call forwarding being on) are covered in our call barring guide.
• Do Not Disturb — swipe down and tap Do Not Disturb again, or Settings → Modes → Do Not Disturb → Turn off.
• Unknown-number blocking — go back to Blocked numbers (Pixel) or Block numbers (Samsung) and switch the toggle off.
• Airplane mode — tap the airplane icon in Quick Settings. Put the SIM back if you removed it.
• NoCall — remove the number from your blocklist, or turn its entry off, inside the app.

10. FAQ

How do I block all incoming calls on Android?

Turn on carrier call barring's "All incoming calls" (BAIC) in the Phone app's Call barring settings, or dial *35*password#, where password is your four-digit carrier barring password. This refuses every incoming call at the network while leaving your own outgoing calls, texts, and data untouched.

What does BAIC mean?

BAIC stands for Barring of All Incoming Calls, a category defined in the 3GPP standard that GSM and LTE carriers follow. It's one of several call barring categories, alongside a roaming-only version called BAIC-roam that only applies while you're abroad.

Does Do Not Disturb block incoming calls, or just silence them?

Just silence them. Android's own help page describes Do Not Disturb as silencing your device, not refusing calls: the call still arrives and can still reach voicemail. To actually refuse calls at the network, use carrier call barring instead.

Can I still make outgoing calls if all my incoming calls are barred?

Yes. Carrier call barring's "All incoming calls" only affects calls coming in. The 3GPP standard leaves your ability to originate calls unaffected, and that includes emergency calls.

Will blocking all incoming calls also stop my texts or mobile data?

Not with carrier call barring, Do Not Disturb, or the unknown-caller switch — all three leave texts and mobile data working. Only airplane mode or removing the SIM stops texts and data along with calls.

How do I turn incoming calls back on?

Reverse whichever method you used: dial #35*password# or switch off "All incoming calls" for call barring, turn off Do Not Disturb from Quick Settings, flip the Unknown/Block unknown numbers toggle off, or tap the airplane icon off. Each is undone in the same place it was set.

11. Summary

• Carrier call barring, "All incoming calls" (BAIC): *35*password# on, #35*password# off, *#35# to check. Stops every incoming call; outgoing calls, texts, and data keep working.
• Do Not Disturb: silences the phone, doesn't refuse the call. Settings → Modes → Do Not Disturb.
• Unknown/private caller block: Phone app → Blocked/Block numbers → Unknown. Only catches callers with no caller ID.
• Airplane mode or removing the SIM: stops calls both ways, plus texts and data. Undone in one tap.
• NoCall blocks specific numbers you add to a list, before they ring — for a handful of callers, not every call.
• NoDial doesn't touch incoming calls; it stops your own calls to numbers you choose, including calling back a number you shouldn't have.

NoDial — stop yourself calling a number backOutgoing calls only. Emergency calls never blocked.

NoCall: Blacklist Call BlockerBlock unwanted calls before they ring.

Sources

• 3GPP TS 22.088 V13.0.0, "Call Barring (CB) supplementary services" (§2.1 and §2.3.8: the ability to originate calls is unaffected by an incoming bar; §2.3.8: who receives the barred indication for BAIC), ARIB copy of the 3GPP text arib.or.jp
• Samsung Support, "How to activate and use the call barring feature on my Samsung phone" (Supplementary services → Call barring path; All incoming calls category; default password 0000, then contact your carrier) samsung.com
• EE device guide, "Turning call barring on or off" (Calling accounts → Call barring path on phones using the Google Phone app) deviceguides.ee.co.uk
• Android Help, "Limit interruptions with modes and Do Not Disturb" (Do Not Disturb silences the device; People setting for calls; Quick Settings and Settings → Modes path) support.google.com
• Pixel Phone Help, "Limit interruptions with modes and Do Not Disturb on Pixel phone or Pixel Tablet" (People exceptions; Allow repeat callers) support.google.com
• Google Phone Help, "Block or unblock a phone number" (the Unknown switch blocks private or unidentified numbers only) support.google.com
• Samsung Support, "Block a phone number or contact on your Galaxy phone" (Block numbers path; Block calls from unknown numbers) samsung.com

Carriers and phone makers change these menus and policies over time. Check your carrier's and phone maker's current help pages if a step does not match what you see.