iOS 26 Brings a New Way to Block Spam and Unknown Texts

With iOS 26, Apple has introduced a helpful feature designed to block spam texts and those from unknown senders. Are you tired of those endless spam messages asking for toll payments you never owed? Or the ones that claim a USPS package was undelivered due to insufficient postage? These types of spam messages often prey on your emotions to make you react impulsively.

For instance, a message pretending to be from your bank, warning of a large withdrawal, may cause you to panic and share personal details, putting your financial security at risk.

iOS 26 comes to the rescue with a new tool in the Messages app that helps prevent these types of unwanted messages. If you’re using the iOS 26 Developer Beta, you can try this feature right now. To enable it, tap the blue button in the upper-right corner of your Messages app and select the ‘Manage Filtering’ option. A menu will pop up, where you should toggle on the ‘Screen Unknown Senders’ and ‘Filter Spam’ options.

When ‘Screen Unknown Senders’ is activated, text notifications from unfamiliar contacts are hidden and moved to the ‘Unknown Senders’ list. Similarly, activating ‘Filter Spam’ will hide texts that are flagged as spam, sending them straight to the ‘Spam’ list.

Although you won’t receive notifications for texts from unknown senders or flagged spam messages, they are still accessible via their respective lists. To view them, open the Messages app, tap the blue button in the top-right corner, and select either ‘Unknown Senders’ or ‘Spam’ to access these messages. There’s also a ‘Recently Deleted’ section to review any deleted messages.

This handy feature will be available to all iOS users when iOS 26 officially releases in September, but those who have already installed the iOS 26 Developer Beta can enjoy it now.