The iPhone’s visual voicemail has been a standard feature on iOS since it first launched and has since been extended to include helpful features likeLive Voicemail. Seeing a list of messages allows you tocheck your voicemail without wasting timeby deleting some you know are spam and seeing transcripts of others from friends, family, or work colleagues. But what do you do when your iPhone voicemail isn’t working?
Whether you’re struggling with glitches or the system is giving you trouble, several fixes will get it up and running. Here’s how to fix iPhone voicemail not working.
Troubleshooting iPhone voicemail problems
The first step to solving your voicemail problem is troubleshooting. Sometimes, a simple solution is the answer, such as ensuring you correctly set up your visual voicemail or clearing a full inbox. Other times, you might be dealing with something more complex, such as network disconnection or a damaged SIM card. Before youcontact Apple support, check some things on your own.
In most cases, it’s probably a straightforward fix. Here’s what to look for.
Make sure your iPhone’s voicemail is properly set up
When you change phone carriers or switch to a new phone plan, your voicemail may need to be set up before you can use it again. Or, if you recently changed from an Android phone to a new iPhone, such as theiPhone 15 Pro, you may not have gone through the entirevisual voicemail setupprocess.
To do this, follow these steps:
You don’t have a setup problem if you go to visual voicemail and see the optionChange voicemail password.
Force close your Phone app and restart it
A simple refresh may be all you need to get your visual voicemail back on track. Here’s how to force close the app:
Restart your iPhone if force closing doesn’t solve the problem.
Turn off call forwarding
One common reason your visual voicemail isn’t working is that call forwarding is turned on. It’s easy to forget that you turned oncall forwarding on your iPhoneand didn’t turn it off. If this is the case, calls on your iPhone are automatically sent to another number, so no voicemails come through.
Here’s how to check if this is your problem.
Make sure your voicemail isn’t full and delete old messages
If your voicemail storage is full, your iPhone doesn’t receive new voicemails from callers. Usually, you get a notice that your voicemail is full, but you might have missed it. Call your iPhone from someone else’s phone to see if this is your issue. If it says the voicemail box is full, do somevoicemail managementby following these steps to clean it up:
Call your voicemail to make sure there isn’t a carrier issue
This tip is for people that live in a region without Visual Voicemail of use a carrier that doesn’t support the feature.
Sometimes, your voicemail not working is a temporary issue with your service carrier. Here’s how to check:
This leads to the next troubleshooting option.
Make sure a carrier status update isn’t the culprit
While this doesn’t happen often, your carrier settings need an update occasionally. A required update can interfere with your iPhone’s functions, including your voicemail.
To see if this is the problem, head to your iPhone’sSettingsapp. From there, here’s what to do:
If a carrier status update isn’t available, check if an iOS software update is available. If you haven’t opted into automatic updates, this is one of the first places to check.
Try Airplane Mode or reset your cellular network
Your voicemails may arrive hours after people leave them, which can indicate an issue with your cellular service provider. When this happens, a cellular network reset might fix the problem. You can do this by turning off your iPhone and then rebooting it.
You can also skip turning your phone off and use thisAirplane modeworkaround:
Turn on Wi-Fi calling
You might have voicemail issues because you’re in an area with poor connectivity. Turn on Wi-Fi calling by doing the following:
Reset your network settings
As a last resort, reset your network settings. Try this if everything else hasn’t worked and your voicemail service still isn’t working on your iPhone. This troubleshooting tip resets all your network settings, including your stored internet information, Wi-Fi networks, and passwords.
Here’s how to do it:
How to quickly reset your network settings on Android and iOS
Unexpected network glitches bugging you out?
Time to contact Apple Support
If you’ve tried everything and are still having problems, you may want to contact Apple Support or make a trip to the Apple Store. You can also reach out to your carrier, as they can easily fix issues like gettingvoicemail transcripts via text messagein addition to Visual Voicemails.
