How to set up Excluded Contacts

Excluded Contacts lets you choose which callers Clara never answers. Anyone you add to the list will always ring through directly to your phone — Clara won’t pick up, and the call won’t appear in your Clara inbox.

Use it for family, close friends, or any work contact you always want to handle yourself.

How to set it up

1. Open the Clara app and go to Settings
2. Tap Call Handling
3. Tap Excluded Contacts
4. When prompted, grant Clara permission to access your contacts
5. Your contacts list will appear — tap anyone you want to add

Changes take effect immediately. There’s no save button — tapping a contact adds them to the list straight away.

Your selected contacts appear in a Selected section at the top of the screen, so you can always see at a glance who’s on the list.

Searching for a contact

Use the search bar at the top of the screen to find someone by name or phone number. This is useful if you have a long contacts list.

Removing someone from the list

Tap their name in the Selected section at the top of the screen. They’ll be removed immediately and Clara will start answering their calls again from that point.

Adding a contact from a call you’ve already received

You don’t need to go through Settings to add someone. If a contact has already called you through Clara:

1. Open the call card from your Home Screen or Inbox
2. Tap the action menu (•••)
3. Select Exclude from Clara

You can also do this from a customer’s profile — tap the Excluded Contact checkbox in their profile.

What happens when someone on the list calls

Their call rings your phone directly, exactly as it did before you set up Clara. If you can’t answer, they’ll hear your normal busy or unavailable signal — the call doesn’t fall through to Clara.

Frequently asked questions

Does adding someone to Excluded Contacts affect anything else? No. Clara continues to handle every other call normally. The list only affects the specific contacts you’ve added.

Can I add or remove contacts at any time? Yes — the list can be updated whenever you like, with changes taking effect immediately.

What if I accidentally add someone? Just tap their name in the Excluded Contacts screen to remove them. No confirmation required.

I granted contacts permission but only some of my contacts are showing up (iOS only) On iOS, you may have chosen to share only specific contacts with Clara rather than your full address book. To expand the list, go back to Excluded Contacts and tap Manage Access to update which contacts are shared with the app.

I denied contacts permission by mistake — how do I fix it? Go to your phone’s Settings app → Clara → Contacts and grant permission from there. The Clara app will prompt you to do this automatically if permission was previously denied.

Still need help?

Contact us at [email protected].