Reporting and blocking a contact on WhatsApp are two separate actions that can be done together or independently, and understanding what each does helps clarify the outcome.
Blocking someone does the following:
- They can no longer see your last seen, online status, status updates (stories), or any future profile photo changes.
- They cannot call you or send you messages — attempted messages simply won't be delivered to you (the sender may or may not see an indication of this, depending on the app version).
- Any existing chat history with that person remains on your device unless you manually delete it.
- Blocking is silent — the other person is never explicitly notified that you blocked them, though they may infer it if messages stop showing as "delivered" (single grey check that never turns into two checks) and calls fail to connect.
- You can unblock the contact at any time from your settings.
Reporting someone does the following:
- Sends the last few messages exchanged with that contact (typically the most recent messages, since WhatsApp uses end-to-end encryption and can't see message content otherwise) along with basic account information (like phone number) to WhatsApp's moderation team for review.
- WhatsApp evaluates whether the account has violated its Terms of Service (e.g., spam, harassment, scams, illegal content).
- If WhatsApp determines the account violated policies, it may ban or restrict that account — but action isn't guaranteed or instant, and you won't necessarily receive feedback on the outcome.
- Reporting does not notify the reported user that they were reported.
When you do both together (WhatsApp often prompts "Block and Report" as a combined option):
- The person is blocked immediately (per the effects above) AND a report is simultaneously sent to WhatsApp for review.
- This is the most common way people handle spam or abusive contacts, since it stops further contact while also flagging the account for possible enforcement action.
Note that exact interface wording and available options can vary slightly by platform (iOS, Android, web) and app version, but the underlying mechanics described above remain consistent.