Do Not Call Registry
Does the Do Not Call Registry stop spam calls?
The short answer
Partly. The free National Do Not Call Registry stops sales calls from companies that follow the law, within 31 days of registering, and it never expires. It doesn’t block calls and won’t stop scammers, and political, charity, survey and debt collection calls are still allowed. Register anyway, then use your phone’s and carrier’s filters for the rest.
Checked on the FTC’s Do Not Call pages, October 2026 · Updated October 18, 2026
- Time
- 2 minutes
- Cost
- Free, never expires
- Takes effect
- Within 31 days
- Stops
- Legal telemarketers only
Register your numbers
Free, for home and cell numbers.
Go to donotcall.gov and register up to three numbers, or call 1-888-382-1222 from the phone you want to register.
Your number appears on the Registry the next day; sales calls should stop within 31 days.
You don’t need to renew: registration never expires. Numbers come off only if disconnected and reassigned, or if you ask.
From the makers of this guide
Want the calls screened, not just silenced?
PhoneShield answers your calls first. Known scam numbers are refused before your phone rings, the people you know ring straight through, and everyone else is asked who they are and why they’re calling, so your doctor and the delivery driver still reach you.
What it stops, and what it doesn’t
The Registry is a list telemarketers must check, not a blocker.
Stops: sales calls from legitimate companies you haven’t done business with.
Still allowed: political calls, charities, surveys, debt collectors, purely informational calls, and companies you’ve bought from in the last 18 months or asked about in the last 3 months (unless you tell them to stop).
Never stopped: scammers, who ignore the law anyway. A robocall selling something is already illegal without your written permission.
Report calls that ignore it
Reports are how numbers get blocked and labeled.
Report unwanted sales calls at donotcall.gov. If you lost money or have details about a scam, use reportfraud.ftc.gov.
Include the number on your caller ID (even if it looks faked), any callback number, and the date and time.
The FTC shares reported numbers with phone companies every business day to help them block and label calls.
Beyond this setting
What else helps
Stop the rest on your phone
For scam calls the Registry can’t touch, turn on screening and spam filtering on your phone.
All the steps →Look up a number
The FTC’s Do Not Call complaints are public. See how often a number has been reported at isthisnumberascam.com.
Check a number →Got a specific number?
Check who’s been reporting it
See how often people reported a number to the FTC, what the calls were about, and what to do, at isthisnumberascam.com.
Questions
What people ask
Why am I still getting calls after joining the Do Not Call list?
Because most unwanted calls today are scams and illegal robocalls, which ignore the Registry, and some kinds of calls (political, charity, surveys, debt collection) are allowed. It can also take up to 31 days to take effect.
Does the Do Not Call Registry expire?
No. Registration never expires; you don’t need to re-register.
Can I put my cell phone on the Do Not Call list?
Yes. Cell phones can be registered at donotcall.gov, just like home phones.
Sources
Checked against
Every step is checked against the official instructions. Menus change with updates; tell us if one has moved.