Got so frustrated when my calls kept showing as private and I had no idea why. My friend literally asked me to stop calling with a private number and I was like... I'm not doing that? Turns out it wasn't even something I changed on purpose.

So I started digging through my phone settings and realized the caller ID toggle was supposed to be on, but something was blocking it. Turns out there are way more reasons why your number shows private than you'd think. Sometimes it's your phone, sometimes it's your carrier, sometimes it's a feature you didn't even know existed.

If you're trying to figure out how to remove my number from private, it usually comes down to a few things. On Android, you go into the Phone app settings and look for Caller ID or Show number - the exact location depends on your phone brand though. Samsung puts it one place, Google Pixel another. Same with iPhone, just go to Settings > Apps > Phone > Show My Caller ID and toggle it on.

But here's the thing - sometimes that's not enough. Your carrier might be controlling it from their end, or you might have some privacy app that's interfering. I had to actually reset my network settings to get it working properly again.

If you're still stuck after checking all that, try dialing *31# to see if your caller ID is actually restricted at the network level. Some carriers have different codes depending on where you are. And if your SIM is super old, that could be the culprit too.

Took me way longer than it should have to figure out how to remove private from my calls, but now I know it's usually something simple you just have to find first.