How to Block Your Exes and Coworkers on Tinder

Meeting people on dating apps can be fun, but the last thing most people want to see while swiping is a face from their past. Luckily, avoiding your ex—or anyone else you don’t want to see on Tinder—is easy thanks to the app’s new blocked contacts list.

There are two ways to block someone on Tinder: Block contacts saved in your phone’s contacts, or add their phone number or email address to your blocked list.

You can add people to your blocked list on Tinder even if they don’t have a Tinder account, and if they do, they won’t be notified when you block them. They simply won’t see you on the app, and you won’t see them—unless they sign up with a different phone number or email address from the one you blocked.

How to block contacts saved in your phone

The quickest way to block someone on Tinder is by adding their contact info from your phone.

1. Open your Tinder profile in the app.
2. Tap Settings, then scroll down and select “Block Contacts.”
3. Grant Tinder access to your contacts when prompted.
4. Select the contacts saved in your phone, then tap “Block Contacts” to add them to the list.

Note that this gives Tinder access to your phone’s contact information (Tinder explains how it uses this data in its privacy policy). However, you can disconnect your contacts at any time without deleting your blocked list.

1. Go to Settings > Block Contacts.
2. Tap the menu icon in the upper-right.
3. Select “Disconnect Contact List.”

Again, disconnecting your phone contacts does not delete your blocked contacts. According to Tinder’s support page, “for your privacy, we’ll keep those contacts blocked, until you tell us to unblock them.”

If you decide to unblock someone, you can remove them from your blocked contacts by going to Settings > Block Contacts > Blocked, then select the name and tap “unblock,” or tap “unblock all” to delete all blocked contacts.

How to block names, phone numbers, and email addresses

You can also block someone on Tinder by manually adding their phone numbers or email addresses to your Tinder blocked list. This blocks the person even if they’re not saved in your phone, and can be done without sharing your contacts with Tinder.

1. Open your Tinder profile page.
2. Go to Settings > Block Contacts
3. Tap “+” to create a new blocked contact.
4. Fill out their contact info, then tap “Done” to add them to your blocked list.