Three settings that do three different jobs
Your landline number has three separate controls:
- Ex-directory decides whether someone can look up your number, in a printed or online directory or through a directory enquiries service such as 118 500.
- Withholding your number decides whether the person you ring sees your number on their screen or can get it by dialling 1471.
- Caller Display (also called caller ID) decides what you see when somebody rings you.
Switching one on does nothing to the other two: an ex-directory number still shows on the screen of everyone you call unless you withhold it.
The two privacy settings are protected by law. The Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations 2003 (PECR, the UK rules on phone and electronic privacy) give you a free choice over directory listing and require a simple, free way to withhold your number, call by call or on every call. Provider steps below were checked in October 2026; if something looks different, your provider's help page is the final word.
Going ex-directory
Being ex-directory means your number isn't listed in the directories and directory enquiries services your provider supplies. BT and TalkTalk say it's free; Virgin Media's help page doesn't mention a charge.
What a directory listing means now
BT no longer prints its Phone Books, but it offers a free downloadable PDF version of each local A-Z directory of business and residential numbers. It also runs 118 500 directory enquiries (118 404 for the Welsh-language service), which can text a number to your mobile or connect the call.
Calls to 118 500 and 118 404 carry a per-call charge and a per-minute charge, plus your own phone company's access charge, so check BT's directory page for the current price before you ring; our guide to what home phone calls cost explains how access charges work. BT also runs a free 195 service, by registration, for people who find it hard to look numbers up because of sight loss or another condition.
BT's two options
BT offers two levels of privacy, and both are free:
BT option | What it means |
|---|---|
Ex-directory - No calls | Your number isn't in the Phone Book (now the downloadable PDF A-Z directory rather than a printed book), isn't given out by BT's 118 500 directory enquiries and isn't on BT's online directory. |
Directory Enquiries Only | Your number isn't in the Phone Book or on the online directory, but a directory enquiries operator can still give it out. |
You sign up for either by calling BT on 0330 123 4150, 8.30am to 5pm, Monday to Friday.
TalkTalk, Virgin Media and Sky
TalkTalk says ex-directory means your number won't appear in the phone book or the 118 directory service, and that it's free with nothing added to your bill. You set it yourself: sign in to My Account, go to Networks & Connections, then My Telephone Settings, tick "Ex-directory listing" and press Update. To be listed again, choose "Regular directory listing".
Virgin Media says it will remove your number from the phone directory if you call 150 from your Virgin Media landline, or 0345 454 1111 from another phone (Virgin notes that call costs may vary).
Sky: Sky's call-features page lists what's included with Sky Line Rental but doesn't cover directory listings, so ask Sky how to go ex-directory; the legal right to a free choice applies whoever your provider is. Our guide to UK broadband providers links to each provider's page.
How long it takes, and what it can't undo
Neither BT nor TalkTalk gives a firm timescale (TalkTalk says only that it "may take a little time"), so ask your provider if timing matters.
The bigger limit is that going ex-directory only works forwards. TalkTalk says it removes your number from future issues of the phone book but can't remove it from anything already published, and the law says the same: a withdrawal or correction doesn't apply to editions produced before the request was received. So, for example, a copy of a directory saved before your request will still show your old entry.
The provider pages above also describe only their own directories and directory enquiries services, not other websites. If your number appears on another site, your provider's change won't reach it. Where that site is a public directory of phone subscribers, regulation 18 (below) applies to whoever produces it, so ask that publisher to remove you.
Your legal rights over directory listings
PECR regulation 18 covers printed, online and directory enquiries listings. Its duties fall on whoever collects your details for a directory or produces it, which isn't always your phone provider:
- Your details can't be included unless you've been told what the directory is for and given the chance, free of charge, to decide whether to be in it.
- A directory that lets someone find your name from your phone number alone (a "reverse lookup") needs your express consent, not just a lack of objection.
- You can check, correct or withdraw your entry free of charge at any time, which also helps if you're listed with an old address or a misspelt name.
What ex-directory won't do
Going ex-directory stops people looking you up. It doesn't stop calls from people who already have your number, or from callers who dial numbers in sequence or at random; BT itself lists ex-directory as one of several tools against unwanted calls, not a fix on its own. For sales calls, the Telephone Preference Service and call blocking are the tools to use, and our guide to spotting, reporting and blocking scam and nuisance calls covers both.
Withholding your number when you call
Withholding hides your number from the person you ring: Virgin Media explains it won't appear on their caller ID or come up from their contacts, and 1471 won't reveal it. BT says both ways of withholding are free, and Sky lists both at no extra charge for Sky Line Rental customers.
One call at a time: 141
Dial 141 before the full number you're ringing. Only that call is withheld; the next call shows your number as normal. BT, TalkTalk, Virgin Media and Sky all use 141.
Every call: permanent withholding
If you want your number hidden on every call, ask for it to be withheld permanently:
- BT Digital Voice (BT's digital home phone service): order it in My BT, in the Privacy section.
- BT Home Phone Standard: call BT to set it up.
- TalkTalk: My Account, then Manage your plan, Call features, Privacy features; turn on "Withhold number", then Review and request, and Submit changes. Turn it off the same way.
- Virgin Media: contact customer services.
- Sky: Sky calls it Automatic Number Withhold; it's switched on only on request, at no extra charge for Sky Line Rental customers.
Once your number is permanently withheld, dial 1470 before a number to show it for that one call (BT, Sky, TalkTalk and Virgin Media all describe this): the code to remember for a GP surgery or anyone who rejects hidden numbers.
When withholding gets in the way
BT warns that some doctors and businesses won't accept calls from withheld numbers, and TalkTalk notes that some people block hidden numbers altogether. If your calls keep failing to connect, use 1470 or turn permanent withholding off. It cuts the other way too: Ofcom, as reported by ISPreview in July 2026, says withheld calls can include legitimate and important ones, so a hidden number on your screen isn't automatically a scammer.
What withholding never hides
Withholding hides your number from the person you ring, not from the phone networks. Caller ID information travels with the call along with a privacy marking that says whether the number may be shown to the person receiving it. That's why two legal exceptions work:
- Emergency calls. PECR regulation 16 says no one may stop your number being presented on a call to 999 or 112, so withholding doesn't apply to emergency calls.
- Tracing nuisance and malicious calls. Under PECR regulation 15, a provider may override withholding to trace malicious or nuisance calls when the person receiving them has asked and the provider is satisfied it's necessary. Virgin Media says it can trace 141 calls and asks customers to report nuisance calls from withheld numbers.
Caller Display, 1471 and hiding your last caller
Caller Display shows the number of whoever is ringing (and their name, if they're in your phone's address book) so you can decide whether to answer. BT says it's free for all BT Digital Voice and Home Phone Standard customers, Virgin Media includes it in its phone package as standard, and Sky lists it as included for Sky Line Rental customers.
The practical catch is that your phone has to support it: BT says it needs a fairly modern, compatible handset, and Virgin Media says you need a compatible Caller Display phone or unit. If your landline is moving to a digital service, our guide to which phones work with a digital landline explains what to check, and the digital landline switchover guide covers the timetable.
BT says numbers won't display for calls from payphones, some switchboards and "non-BT networks", or where the caller has withheld their number.
1471 tells you the number of the last person who called; if they withheld it, 1471 can't give it to you. Sky lists 1471 at no extra charge but charges for returning the call through it.
If you'd rather other people in your home didn't hear who rang last, 1475 is the code to know on two networks. Virgin Media says you can't switch 1471 off on its landlines, but dialling 1475 conceals the number of your last incoming call: after a confirmation call within a minute, 1471 reports "number withheld". Virgin adds that if your own number is withheld, you dial 1470 before 1475. Sky lists 1475 Last Caller Deletion, which removes the last caller from your 1471 list, at no extra charge for Sky Line Rental customers. The BT and TalkTalk pages we used don't mention 1475.
Going the other way, you can refuse calls from people who hide their number. Where caller ID is shown before you answer, PECR regulation 11 says your provider must give you a simple way to reject withheld calls, but not that it must be free; Sky, for example, lists Anonymous Caller Reject as an optional extra. Our guide to blocking scam and nuisance calls covers what to weigh up before you switch it on.
Spoofed caller ID: why the number on screen can lie
Caller ID is known in the industry as Calling Line Identity, or CLI. "CLI spoofing" means deliberately changing the number or name a call shows, either to hide who's calling or to look like a real company or person, such as your bank. BT is plain about the consequence: Caller Display does not guarantee where a call came from.
Not every mismatch is a scam. ISPreview explains that a call usually carries two numbers: a Network Number, showing where the call was made from, and a Presentation Number, showing who's calling. They're usually the same but can legitimately differ, for example when a business uses an outsourced call centre or shows one outbound number for all its staff.
What the rules now block
As reported by ISPreview, Ofcom has tightened the rules on spoofed numbers in stages:
When | What changed (as reported by ISPreview) |
|---|---|
15 May 2023 | Ofcom's General Condition C6 requires providers, where technically feasible, to identify and block calls whose caller ID is invalid, doesn't uniquely identify the caller or can't be dialled. Its guidance says caller ID should be a 10 or 11-digit number. |
29 January 2025 | Providers were expected to block calls from abroad that show a UK landline or non-geographic number as the Presentation Number, except in limited legitimate cases. ISPreview says this closed a loophole that still let scammers abroad pose as trusted UK organisations. |
July 2026 (guidance published; no date given for it to take effect) | Strengthened Ofcom guidance said providers should withhold the caller ID of calls that appear to come from a UK mobile roaming abroad unless they can verify it. |
These rules help, but they aren't a guarantee. The blocking applies "where technically feasible", and ISPreview notes that providers have to balance it against blocking legitimate calls. So a familiar-looking number can still be fake.
What to do if you think a call is spoofed
Treat the number on your screen as a claim, not proof. Virgin Media advises never giving personal information in response to an incoming call or relying on caller ID alone, especially where money is involved.
- Hang up without giving card details, passwords or security codes.
- Call back on a number you've found yourself, from a statement or the organisation's own website. Virgin Media suggests waiting at least five minutes so the line has cleared. For your bank, Citizens Advice says you can dial 159, usually charged at the national rate.
- Report it. In England, Wales and Northern Ireland, scams go to Report Fraud on 0300 123 2040; in Scotland, to Police Scotland on 101. Our guide to spotting and reporting scam calls lists where each kind of scam goes.
Some unwanted calls aren't scams but targeted and repeated. For malicious calls, BT suggests not answering with your name or number, keeping your answerphone message short and logging the date, time and number of each call, and reporting threatening or obscene calls to the police. That log is what your provider needs if you ask it to trace calls from a withheld number. BT's Nuisance Calls Bureau (0800 411422, Monday to Friday 8.30am to 5pm) investigates malicious calls, call spoofing and scam calls.
For broadband sold by phone or at the door, see our guide to doorstep and cold-call broadband sales.
If you need to stay hidden for safety reasons
If you've left an abusive partner or are being harassed, these settings matter more. Refuge Tech Safety says you can ask your phone provider to make your number ex-directory so it isn't listed with your address. Ofcom's guidance for people experiencing abuse (May 2025) says you can ask your provider to change your number or correspondence address to help keep you safe, and that it expects providers to treat victims of harassment or abuse fairly and sympathetically.
A sensible combination might be ex-directory, permanent withholding with 1470 for trusted calls, a new number if the old one is already known, and a log of unwanted calls so you can ask your provider about tracing them. Our guide to securing your broadband after domestic abuse covers the router, accounts and specialist helplines, including making changes without alerting the person harming you.
Quick reference: codes and routes by provider
From each provider's help pages, checked October 2026 (Sky's from its Sky Line Rental call-features page). A dash means the pages we used don't mention it, not that it isn't offered.
Provider | Withhold one call | Withhold all calls | Show number once | Clear last caller from 1471 | Ex-directory |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
BT | 141 | My BT (Digital Voice) or call BT (Home Phone Standard) | 1470 | - | Free; call 0330 123 4150 (Ex-directory - No calls, or Directory Enquiries Only) |
Sky | 141 | On request, no extra charge | 1470 | 1475, no extra charge | Ask Sky |
TalkTalk | 141 | My Account toggle | 1470 | - | Free; My Account, My Telephone Settings |
Virgin Media | 141 | Contact customer services | 1470 | 1475 (dial 1470 first if your number is permanently withheld) | Call 150 (from the landline) or 0345 454 1111 |
Provider pages: BT broadband deals, Sky broadband deals, TalkTalk broadband deals and Virgin Media broadband deals.
Questions to ask before you choose a phone and broadband deal
Privacy settings rarely appear in a deal headline, so before you sign, ask the provider:
- If I keep my number, will my ex-directory status and permanent withholding carry over, or do I need to set them up again?
- Can I go ex-directory and withhold my number permanently in my online account, or do I have to phone?
- Is there a way to clear the last caller from 1471, such as 1475?
- Will the phone I already own show who's calling, or do I need a new handset?
If you're keeping your number, our guide to keeping your landline number when you switch explains the transfer; check your privacy settings once it's done. To see bundles that include a landline, compare broadband and phone deals, or compare deals at your postcode. We compare deals through a partner's tool and don't switch you ourselves, so confirm call features with the provider before you order.
Landline number privacy FAQs
Is it free to go ex-directory or withhold my number?
Yes. The law says you must be given a free choice about whether you're in a public directory, and that you can check, correct or withdraw your entry free of charge; providers must also give you a free way to withhold your number. BT and TalkTalk say their ex-directory options are free, and BT says both kinds of withholding are free. Rejecting withheld calls is different: the law doesn't require that to be free, and Sky lists Anonymous Caller Reject as an optional extra.
Does going ex-directory stop nuisance calls?
Not on its own. Ex-directory stops people looking your number up, but not calls from anyone who already has it or who dials numbers at random. For sales calls, register with the Telephone Preference Service and ask your provider about call blocking; our scam and nuisance calls guide explains both.
How long does it take for my number to be removed from the directory?
Neither TalkTalk nor BT gives a firm timescale on the pages we checked in October 2026. TalkTalk says the change may take a little time, and BT's page doesn't say. It also only affects future editions: TalkTalk can't remove your number from anything already published, and the law says a withdrawal doesn't apply to directories produced before your request.
Will the emergency services see my number if it's withheld?
Yes. Under PECR regulation 16, number withholding doesn't apply to calls to 999 or 112, so your number is passed on even if you dial 141 or have permanent withholding switched on. Withholding also doesn't stop your provider tracing nuisance or malicious calls when the person receiving them asks and the provider is satisfied it's necessary.
Can a call showing my bank's number be fake?
Yes. Criminals can spoof caller ID so a call appears to come from a real organisation, and BT says Caller Display doesn't guarantee where a call came from. Ofcom's rules require providers to block many spoofed calls where technically feasible, but some still get through. Hang up and call your bank on a number from your statement or its website, waiting at least five minutes as Virgin Media suggests, or dial 159, which Citizens Advice says connects you to your bank.
Can I stop someone in my home seeing who called me on 1471?
It depends on your provider. Virgin Media says you can't switch 1471 off on its landlines, but dialling 1475 hides the number of your last incoming call, so 1471 then reports "number withheld" once a confirmation call has come back. Sky lists 1475 Last Caller Deletion at no extra charge for Sky Line Rental customers. The BT and TalkTalk pages we used don't mention it, so ask them.
