How to add your number to the Do Not Call Registry

What the registry is, in plain English

The National Do Not Call Registry is a free, government-run list of phone numbers that don’t want sales calls. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC), the federal agency that handles consumer protection, operates it. Once your number is on it, companies that sell things over the phone are legally required to leave you alone.

You can register a cell phone or a landline. Both are covered, and the rules are the same. No limit caps how long a number can stay on the list, and putting your number on it doesn’t expose you to anything. The FTC asks only for the number and an email so it can confirm the request is yours.

The registry is the official, single place to do this. You don’t need an app, a paid service, or a third-party “call blocker” subscription to get on it. Anyone charging you a fee to add your number is not the real registry.

Register online at donotcall.gov

The fastest way is the official website. The whole process:

• Open donotcall.gov in your browser.
• Choose to register your phone number (you can add up to three at once).
• Enter the number and an email address.
• Check your inbox for a confirmation email from the FTC and click the link inside to finish.

That confirmation step matters. Skip it and your number never gets added. The whole thing takes a minute or two.

Register by phone instead

Prefer not to use a computer? You can register by phone, with one catch:

• Call 1-888-382-1222 from the exact phone you want to register.
• For the TTY line (for people who are deaf or hard of hearing), call 1-866-290-4236.
• Follow the prompts. You get no confirmation email when you register this way.

Because the system reads the number you’re calling from, you can’t register someone else’s phone over the phone. Use the website for that.

What registering does (and doesn’t do)

Be clear about this, because a lot of people register, still get calls, and assume the list is broken. The honest breakdown:

• It stops legitimate telemarketers. Real companies that follow the law check the registry and drop your number.
• It does not stop scammers. Criminals running illegal robocalls don’t check any list. They’re already breaking the law.
• It doesn’t block every type of call. Charities, political calls, surveys, and companies you’ve recently done business with may still reach you under the rules.

So registering is worth doing. It isn’t a force field. The numbers that keep calling after you register are the ones worth paying attention to.

Blocking a call differs from making it illegal. The registry doesn’t physically stop a phone from ringing. Your carrier’s spam filters do that. The registry creates a legal duty for telemarketers to leave you alone, and a paper trail if they don’t. That paper trail makes the leftover calls useful, not just irritating.

How long until it takes effect, and why register at all

Under the rules, telemarketers have up to about 31 days from the date you register to stop calling. After that window, a legitimate sales call to your registered number generally isn’t supposed to happen.

Marketing calls that keep coming well past those 31 days aren’t just annoying. They can be a violation. The federal Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) lets you recover $500 per illegal call, up to $1,500 when the violation was willful. Those calls stack, so a steady drip of them can add up.

That answers the obvious objection. If scammers ignore the list, why bother? Two reasons. First, it clears out the legitimate noise. A real chunk of unwanted calls come from law-abiding companies, and registering stops those, making the illegal ones easier to spot. Second, it strengthens any future claim. A telemarketer that keeps marketing to a registered number is harder-pressed to argue it didn’t know better, which pushes damages toward the $1,500 end.

Calls didn’t stop? Your next move

Save what you’ve got: your call log, voicemails, and screenshots of any texts. Note the dates, and roughly when you registered. Then have an attorney look at it. Max Morgan, Esq. reviews these for free and works on contingency, so his fee comes out of any recovery rather than your pocket. No recovery, no fee. Every case is different and results vary, but finding out costs nothing.

Related: The Do Not Call Registry, explained · Still getting calls after registering? · Do Not Call violations · Do I qualify?