iPad User Guide

Report spam and block senders in Messages on iPad

You can report spam messages to Apple, recover messages from the Spam folder that were incorrectly marked as spam, and block specific contacts to stop receiving their messages.

👁 A conversation list in Messages. All messages are shown, because no filter is selected in the Filter menu.

Report spam messages

When you use iMessage, you can report spam messages to Apple.

  1. Go to the Messages app 👁 Image
    on your iPad.

  2. Do one of the following:

    • If you haven’t opened the message: Swipe left on the message, tap 👁 the Delete button
      ,       then tap Delete and Report Spam.

    • If you’ve already opened the message: A Report Spam link appears at the bottom of any message from any unknown sender. Tap Report Spam, then tap Delete and Report Spam.

      Note: You can’t report a message after you’ve replied to it.

    • If you don’t see the option to report SMS, MMS, or RCS spam messages forwarded from your iPhone: Contact your carrier. Depending on your carrier and country or region, reporting spam forwarded from your iPhone with SMS, MMS, or RCS shares this information with your carrier and its affiliates. See the Apple Support article Wireless carrier support and features for iPhone.

If you received the message with iMessage, it’s sent to Apple with the sender’s information, and the message is permanently deleted from your iPad.

If you accidentally report and delete messages, you can recover them.

Reporting spam doesn’t prevent the sender from sending messages. To avoid receiving their messages, block the contact.

To avoid getting incoming messages from new numbers, you can filter them. See Screen and filter messages from unknown senders, above.

Recover messages in the Spam folder

When spam is detected, it’s moved to the spam folder and doesn’t appear in your conversation list. You can check to see if messages are inadvertently marked as spam.

  1. Go to the Messages app 👁 Image
    on your iPad.

  2. Tap 👁 the Filter button
    at the top of the conversation list, then tap Spam.

  3. Tap a message that isn’t spam, tap Not Spam, then tap Move to Messages.

    The conversation moves to your main conversation list, where you can send a reply. Tap 👁 the Filter button
    ,     then tap Messages.

Recovered messages are moved back to your conversation list.

Block messages from a specific person or phone number

When you block a specific contact or phone number, messages from that person or number aren’t delivered. The person sending the message doesn’t know that their messages are blocked.

Note: When you block a contact in Messages, that contact is also blocked in Mail, Phone, FaceTime, Calendar, and other apps. See Prevent contacts from communicating with you.

  1. Go to the Messages app 👁 Image
    on your iPad.

  2. Go to the conversation with the person you want to block, then tap the person’s icon at the top.

  3. Tap Info, scroll down, then tap Block Contact.

    You can remove someone’s access to shared items.

Tip: You can’t block a group conversation, so instead of blocking all the people in the group, you can simply leave it or stop its notifications.

If you’re still having trouble with unwanted messages, see the Apple Support article Block phone numbers, contacts, and emails on your iPhone or iPad.

Check who you blocked

If you’re not getting someone’s messages, you can check if they’re in your Blocked Contacts.

When you block a contact in Messages, that contact is also blocked in Mail, Phone, FaceTime, Calendar, and other apps.

  1. Go to the Settings app 👁 Image
     on your iPad.

  2. Tap Privacy & Security, tap Blocked Contacts, then do any of the following:

    • Unblock a number you’ve blocked: Tap [number] Unknown, swipe left on a number in the list, then tap Unblock. Or tap Edit, then tap 👁 the Remove button
      .

    • Add additional contacts or numbers directly to the list: Tap Add Blocked Contact.

A sender can’t find out if they’re blocked.

Tip: Another way to prevent unwanted messages is to allow your contacts only when you block messages with Screen Time.

To change how the notifications appear and more, you can set your notification options.

To pause notifications from Messages, turn on Do Not Disturb or another Focus.

To learn about other ways you can report and prevent unwanted messages, see the Apple Support article Recognize and avoid phishing messages, phony support calls, and other scams.

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