Skip to main content

Broken heart? These apps will help you erase and block your ex from your digital life

Be Yours: A gentleman’s guide to flying solo on Valentine’s Day
JaroPienza/Shutterstock
Valentine’s Day is that time of year when couples commemorate their love and spend more than $140 each to do so. But, if you find yourself on the lonelier side of the spectrum, and wish to not be reminded that your ex even exists, Digital Trends has compiled a list of tech tips to help you remove that person from your (digital) life.

Change all shared passwords

According to a 2014 survey conducted by Pew Research, 67 percent of couples share passwords. Imagine getting ready to drown your sorrows of another failed relationship in the warm comfort of a Friends binge marathon on Netflix, only to find a full season of FX’s The League was recently watched. You don’t watch The League, but the ex you have been trying to purge from your life does, and in that moment you realize you and your ex are still connected through shared accounts.

29194 (1)
Image used with permission by copyright holder

Luckily there is a Firefox extension, Mass Password Reset which allows users to change the password for numerous accounts at once. Users can change passwords based on Domain, Username, or Password. So, if you shared your Netflix, Hulu, and Gmail passwords with your ex, you can input the old password and change it to a new one for all the connected accounts.

Avoid all emails from your ex

On Gmail users can have messages from specific email addresses sent directly to the Trash once they are received. Click on the settings button on the upper righthand corner of your inbox. Once in Settings, click on the Filters tab, and then click on the Create a new filter button at the bottom:

Screen Shot 2015-02-09 at 6.35.13 PM
Image used with permission by copyright holder

To block all messages from your ex’s email address, simply input the address into the From section of the filter, select Create filter with this search, and then click on Delete It. After this, you will not have to worry about being emotionally coerced into rekindling your fizzled romance through an extensive email from your ex.

Screen Shot 2015-02-09 at 6.38.45 PM
Image used with permission by copyright holder

Block your ex on social media

Screen Shot 2015-02-10 at 10.08.06 AM
Image used with permission by copyright holder

Most social media platforms such as Twitter and Instagram allow users to block others simply by clicking the settings options on the user’s account and selecting Block. It’s pretty much just as easy to remove your ex on Facebook.

Facebook allows you to click on the 851548_427268774075825_1014901409_n button in the upper righthand corner and select, How Do I Stop Someone From Bothering Me. Next, you simply input either your ex’s name or the email address associated with their Facebook account, and that account will never be able to contact you or view your profile again.

Block your ex from calling or texting you

Any iPhone or iPad running iOS 7 or above can block phone numbers from messaging, calling, or entering into FaceTime. Simply scroll down your recent calls, find your ex’s number, click the “i” symbol, select Block This Caller, and they are automatically added to your block list. For most Android phones, the process is just as simple.

On Android phones running KitKat 4.4 or higher, simply go through your call log, find your ex’s number, hold down the selection for a few seconds, click Reject Call, and the number will be added to you Call Reject List.

For Android users looking to avoid unwanted text messages, there are numerous SMS blocking apps, but the easiest way is to make Google Hangouts your default SMS app, and you can then block the phone number. Either go to a recent text message from your ex or scroll down your contact list in Hangouts and click on the desired phone number. Once you do so, you will be taken to a text conversation window, wherein you will need to click on the three dot Settings button in the upper righthand corner. Click on People & Options, and you will be taken to Hangouts options, which include archiving all SMS and MMS from a specific contact.

Block them from the Web

block-your-ex-625x1000
Image used with permission by copyright holder

For those that want a one-stop shop for removing an unwanted ex from your view online, Block Your Ex is gold. Block Your Ex is a Chrome and Firefox-based plugin that allows you to remove an ex’s Twitter, Facebook, and blog from your view by simply inputing the corresponding information into Block Your Ex, and then adding that ex to your list. If you’re a serial dater with a sizable list of exes you wish to banish from your online life, be aware that Block Your Ex only allows up to five exes to be blocked.

Keith Nelson Jr.
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Keith Nelson Jr is a music/tech journalist making big pictures by connecting dots. Born and raised in Brooklyn, NY he…
Visible just made its unlimited 5G plan better than ever
Visible wireless phones and plans featured

Digital wireless service provider Visible has announced upgrades to its premium Visible+ phone plan. The highlight is a new Global Pass feature that allows Visible customers to use their phones in 140 countries worldwide.

The Visible Global Pass offers unlimited talk and text services, along with 2GB of high-speed data, for a flat rate of $10 per day. Visible+ members can also enjoy a free Global Pass usage day every month. The activation process can be done through the Visible app.

Read more
The OnePlus Watch 2 is the Wear OS smartwatch I’ve been waiting for
Person wearing OnePlus Watch 2 with a green strap on their left wrist.

The OnePlus Watch 2 -- the company's first Wear OS watch -- has entered a market that Samsung dominates. However, OnePlus' popularity as a smartphone brand can be expected to bring small, yet meaningful changes that benefit not only OnePlus users, but all of the Wear OS segment in general.

For almost a decade, Samsung and Apple have predominantly been the default options if you want a smartwatch that is actually useful and goes beyond flashy features. With Samsung shifting gears and migrating from its own Tizen OS to the (relatively) more universal Wear OS platform and Google releasing its own Pixel Watch after struggling with an identity crisis in the smartwatch world, the platform has much more traction than it did a few years ago. As OnePlus carves its way into the segment, it has the opportunity to entice people who don't wish to live within Samsung's limitations when using a Galaxy Watch with another brand's phone.

Read more
Buying an iPad Mini today? You need to know about this deal
The Apple Pencil attaches to the iPad mini magnetically.

If you've had an eye on iPad deals for the latest model of the Apple iPad Mini for a while now, this may be the offer that you've been waiting for -- a $100 discount from Best Buy on the tablet's Wi-Fi, 64GB model, slashing its price to $400 from $500. It's still pretty popular years after its release, so we don't expect stocks of the device for this sale to last long. If you're thinking about taking advantage of this bargain, you better push through with your purchase as soon as possible to make sure that you don't miss out on the savings.

Why you should buy the Apple iPad Mini 2021
The latest generation of the Apple iPad Mini was released in 2021, but it's still featured in our roundup of the best iPads because it's the model that you should buy if you want a smaller and more compact version of Apple's tablets. Its 8.3-inch Liquid Retina display is smaller than the screens of its peers, but it's still big enough to enjoy watching streaming shows and browsing websites, while allowing you to use the device with one hand. Unlike its predecessor, there's no Home button, so the Touch ID sensor is instead built into the power button at the side of the Apple iPad Mini 2021.

Read more