Does *67 hide your number in Nigeria?
No. *67 is a feature built for the North American numbering plan and its carriers. It isn't part of the GSM standard that MTN, Airtel and Glo run on, and multiple international carrier-support sources confirm it fails outside North America even when a caller dials it, sometimes causing the call to show as "Unknown" or fail to connect rather than simply hiding the number. If you've seen *67 recommended for a Nigerian line, it's a US-centric tip that doesn't transfer here.
The reliable method on both iPhone and Android is the phone's own Caller ID setting, covered below, which is documented directly by Apple and by device manufacturers rather than depending on a network code.
How do I hide my number on iPhone?
- Open Settings.
- Tap Apps, then tap Phone.
- Tap Show My Caller ID.
- Turn the toggle off.
With this off, your number no longer appears to people you call; most phones show "Unknown," "No Caller ID," or "Private Number" instead. Turn the toggle back on the same way whenever you want your number visible again. Per Apple's own support guidance, if Show My Caller ID is missing or greyed out on your line, your carrier may not permit disabling it, so contact MTN, Airtel or Glo customer care to check.
How do I hide my number on Android?
- Open the Phone app.
- Tap the three-dot menu icon, then tap Settings.
- Tap Calls (on some phones this is Calling accounts, where you then select your SIM).
- Tap Additional settings.
- Tap Caller ID and choose Hide number.
Exact wording shifts by phone brand. Some devices label it "Supplementary services" instead of "Additional settings," and some show your caller-ID choice as "Show my caller ID: Never" rather than a separate hide toggle. On a small number of devices or carrier configurations, this menu doesn't appear at all; that's a documented limitation, not something wrong with your phone.
This is a separate feature from the "Caller ID & spam" protection setting many Android phones also have. That setting controls whether unknown incoming numbers are identified and flagged as possible spam; it does not control whether your own number is shown when you call someone, per Google's own Phone app help documentation. Don't confuse the two if you're hunting through settings menus.
Is there a USSD code to hide your number on MTN, Airtel or Glo?
Nigerian phone and tech sites widely report a GSM network code for this: dialing *31# to hide your caller ID on all future calls, or entering #31# before a specific number to hide it for that one call only. This lines up with the international GSM standard for caller ID restriction (CLIR), and it's repeated consistently across many local sources.
That consistency is worth a caveat rather than treating it as confirmed: we could not verify this specific claim through MTN's, Airtel's or Glo's own official support channels, and the sources reporting it largely repeat each other rather than citing an operator source directly. If you want to try it, it should be harmless to test since network dialing codes either work or return an error, but rely on your phone's own Caller ID setting above as the method we can actually confirm works, rather than this code as your primary plan.
When can't you hide your caller ID?
- Emergency numbers. Calls to emergency services always show the calling number regardless of your Caller ID setting.
- Toll-free numbers. Businesses and services using toll-free lines generally require caller ID to be visible, and your hide setting is overridden for these calls.
- Recipients using call-screening or "silence unknown callers" features. A hidden number is more likely to be silenced, sent to voicemail, or flagged as spam by the person you're calling, since both Apple and Android's own unknown-caller tools treat withheld numbers with more suspicion than named or recognised ones.
People also ask
Will hiding my number work on WhatsApp calls too?
No. Show My Caller ID and Android's Hide Number setting only affect regular network (cellular) calls. WhatsApp calls run over data and use WhatsApp's own privacy settings, which are separate.
Can I hide my number for just one call instead of every call?
On iPhone, the Show My Caller ID toggle applies to all outgoing calls until you switch it back; there's no confirmed one-call-only option in Apple's own documentation. On Android, the same is generally true through Settings, though the commonly-reported #31# network code (unconfirmed for Nigerian operators specifically) is described as a per-call method if you want to test it.
Why does my number still show even after I turned off Show My Caller ID?
This usually means your network carrier hasn't enabled the underlying permission on your line. Apple's support guidance points to contacting your carrier directly if the setting doesn't take effect or appears greyed out.