My Phone Goes Straight to Voicemail – How to Fix it?

If your phone is on Do Not Disturb (DND) mode or has the Silence unknown callers feature enabled, it is possible for incoming calls to be sent straight to voicemail. This can be inconvenient, as you may miss important calls until you check your voicemail inbox. 

However, you can make a few tweaks to your device’s settings to ensure you properly receive the incoming calls.

Check Your Network Signal

If your mobile device does not have a strong network signal or you are in an area with poor coverage, incoming calls will go to voicemail. Make sure your mobile device has a strong network connection, otherwise these calls will go straight to voicemail.

To check the strength of the network signal inspect the status bar on your phone.

Toggle Off Silence Unknown Callers

If you turn on “Silence Unknown caller” feature, calls from unknown numbers or new numbers will go straight to voicemail and appear as a missed call. To allow unsaved numbers to contact you without going to voicemail, you will need to toggle off this feature.

On Android

1. Open the Phone dialer app.
2. Tap on the Three-dots. Then, Tap on Settings.
   
3. Tap Block Numbers.
   
4. Toggle off Block unknown/private number.
   

On iPhone

1. Open the iPhone’s settings.
2. Scroll down and go to Phone.
   
3.  Scroll down a bit and tap on Silence Unknown callers and toggle it off.
   

Disable Do Not Disturb

When your phone is in “Do Not Disturb” (DND) mode, it will silence alerts and notifications. This means the caller cannot reach you but can still leave you a voicemail. Therefore, you should check if you have put your phone in this mode.

On Android

1. Open the control center by swiping down from the top.
2. Find the Do not disturb shortcut. (Slide left or right if you don’t see it)
3. If the DND is On, tap once to turn it off.
   

On iPhone

1. Open the Control Center by swiping down from the Top-right.
2. If the focus mode is lit up, simply press on the Moon icon to disable it.
   

Check the Blocked Number

If a blocked contact tries to reach you, they will not be able to make the call. But they may still be able to leave you a voicemail. If you do not want to receive voicemails from blocked contacts, you will need to contact your network carrier for that. Besides, if you have mistakenly blocked a saved contact, you can check your list of blocked numbers and unblock them.  

On Android

1. Launch the phone app.
2. Tap on the Three-dots and Go to Settings.
3. Now, tap on Block numbers to find your blocked contacts.
   
4. Then, tap on the (-) icon of the number you wish to unblock.
   

On iPhone

1. Launch the iPhone’s settings.
2. Go to Phone. Tap on Blocked contacts to see all the blocked numbers.
3. To unblock the number. Hit Edit.
   
4. Then, Tap on the (-) icon of the number you want to unblock.
   
5. Tap Unblock and Press Done to confirm.
   

Disable Call Forwarding

If you have enabled this feature, it may redirect incoming calls to voicemail if you have set it up that way. To fix this issue, you may try disabling the call-forwarding feature. However, some Android phones do not have this feature available. 

On Android

1. Open the phone Dialer app.
2. Click on the Three-dots and Navigate to Settings.
3. Tap on Supplementary services. (You may need to wait for a few seconds.)
   
4. Tap on Call Forwarding.
   
5. Tap Voice Call.
6. Then, tap on Alway forward. Tap Disable.
   

On iPhone

1. Open the iPhone’s settings app.
2. Go to Phone.
3. Tap on Call Forwarding.
   
4. Toggle off Call Forwarding.
   

Contact Cellular Service Provider/ Mobile Manufacturer

To determine whether the issue is with your phone or the caller’s device, you can try calling your number from a different phone. If you can’t receive calls on your phone, the issue may be with your device or your cellular service (like your SIM card). In such case, you may need to contact your service provider for assistance.