Problem Summary:
Calls are diverting straight to your voicemail without your phone ringing, even when you hold the phone in your hand, or place it nearby when expecting a call. This problem can be random and intermittent as some calls may ring and come through, but majority of calls to phones with this problem goes straight to voicemail. You may experience this problem even with the latest model of iPhones, and versions IOS.
My iPhone 4 on Orange network had this issue, and it was the most frustrating problem I have ever had with a phone – missing very important calls for weeks, as I searched for solutions, and tried recommended fixes by my carrier – Orange. I found out quite a lot of people with different service providers like O2, Three and Tesco were having similar problem with their iPhones 4 and 5. And many on later models of iPhone have also been hit with calls going straight to their voice mail.
The cause and resolution in the end was quite simple. But first here are suggested fixes that did not work for me, so don’t waste your time on them if you have an iPhone with call going straight to your voicemail.
Suggested Fixes that Do not Work!
1) Switching off 3G on your
2) Turning off Bluetooth
3) Resetting your network to factory default
Some people claim that some of the above fixes worked for them, but only temporarily.
Cause of Problem
The problem of calls diverting to voicemail on iPhones is caused if Do Not Disturb is enabled on the phone. IOS updates on phones seems to have enabled this features, without users noticing it. Or you may have turned it on and forgot to switch if off.
In my case, I think the culprit is an IOS7 update. To quickly check if you have “do not disturb” sign enabled on iPhones running IOS 7 , look at the top right corner of your phone, and if you see the quarter moon sign on your your phone – do not disturb sign is enabled.
The Fix that Resolved All Calls Diverting to Voicemail
The resolution of this frustrating call divert, is to simply turn of “do not disturb” on your phone. That is exactly what resolved the problem on my iPhone 4, and also fixed the issue on friends iPhone 4S and 5 that were on different service providers.
How to Turn off Do Not Disturb on iPhones
I turned off the manual and scheduled Do Not Disturb on my iPhone, and this resolved my problem:
- Go to Settings Scroll down to Do Not Disturb (quarter moon icon)
- Click on the right arrow to expand the settings, showing the picture above
- Use the slider to switch off Manual and Scheduled Do Not Disturb
In my case, I also switched off the Repeated Calls. I didn’t want to take any chance of missing important calls again, indeed ever, after the grieves and frustrations it caused me!
I hope this fix will work for you as it has done for me, and many of my friends. If however, you are not lucky with the fix, please leave a comment below and let us know if any other resolution has worked for you.
Updates
If the Do Not Disturb sign is not at the top right corner of your iPhone as show in the picture above, or the fix did not resolved your problem, one reader (Mcfly) has kindly left a feedback about a solution that worked for him – which is, by switching off Call Forwarding feature on iPhone.
Any if your iPhone has LTE (used mostly in USA and Canada) enabled and the fix did not work for you, Ziggy, another user, has kindly shared a solution that worked for him. Look it up in the user comments.
How to Switch of Call Forwarding on iPhone
Switching off Call Forwarding on iPhone has worked for those who have used this feature, and then may have forgotten to switch it off. This feature may also have been automatically set to your voice mail number by some iPhone IOS update. Below is how to check if this feature is set, and how to turn if off.
- Tap Settings on your screen
- Scroll down to Phone icon, then expand it by tapping on it
- Scroll down to Call Forwarding icon, and tap on it
- Use the slide to switch it off.
If Do Not Disturb fix fail to resolve your iPhone calls going straight to your voice mail, I hope the Call Forwarding solution or Switching off LTE will fix it for you – if they are applicable to your phone settings.
Turning Airplane Mode on and off
If options above did not work for you, turning Airplane Mode off and on again has worked for one of our reader. Thanks to Tommo for sharing this fix that worked for him. Though Airplane Mode when turned on will typically stop you making or receiving calls and other services, it is a setting that can be easily overlooked or accidentally turned on, so it is worth checking your Airplane Mode.
- On iPhone, swipe up from the bottom of your Home screen to open Control Center
- Tap the Airplane icon to turn the setting on or off
- You can also go to Settings > Airplane Mode and tap the slider to turn it on or off.
Airplane Mode can also be turned of from iPhone Control Center. If it is on, tap on the airplane icon to turn it off.
Switching off Do Not Disturb worked for me. This must have gotten turned on during an iOS upgrade, as I’ve never turned it on myself. Thanks for this. Very helpful!
Hi Lauren,
Thanks for the feedback. Good to know this fix worked for you. Yes, you are right the change in iPhone Do Not Disturb settings most likely was caused by an IOS update. This is certainly what happened in my case.
Regards
Jeff
Thank you Jeff I couldn’t understand why it was not ringing I had completely forgotten I had put Do Not Disturb on it but if I switch it off then it will be quiet.
Just a simple fix which helped a lot
Hi Gaye,
Good to know switching off Do Not Disturb worked for you.
Jeff
Your advise re Missed Incoming calls on I phone 4 just solved my problem . All my Incoming Calls were going straight to answering service . Thanks Jim
Hi Jim,
I am glad the fix resolved the problem with your iPhone missing incoming calls. Thanks for the feedback.
Jeff
I was having the same problem with my iPhone 6Plus. I was not on Do Not Disturb or Airplane Mode and had done a ‘cold restart’. Nothing seemed to work.
RESOLUTION: After reading many threads online, I came across a note to turn off Call Forwarding by dialing *73.
BINGO. Now, my phone is ringing and my calls are coming thru.
Hi Chuck,
Thanks for sharing the solution that worked for you. Turning off call forwarding is certainly one of the first thing I would recommend to try.
Jeff
Thank you for your help. My I phone 6 was going straight to voicemail. I tried all the other suggestions and the only one that worked was dialing *73. When I called it the recording said this was not a valid number so I hung up and tried to call my phone and it rang. So thanks again for your help!!!!
Thanks for sharing how you resolved iPhone missed calls.
Jeff
My iPhone 5 started the calls diverted to voice mail today,no indication anything was wrong just no. calls read all the comments and solutions nothing worked. I did not have the crescent symbol displayed,phoned my son ,his solution Switch on airplane mode ,turn airplane mode off.Bingo it worked
Hi Frank,
Thanks for sharing that switching airplane mode on and off fixed iPhone calls going straight to your voice mail. That solution is new to me, and I bet others will find it helpful.
Jeff
Thanks. My phone went to VM with the new update. I tried everything else; this worked.
CYF
Great to know it work for you.
Jeff
I checked every suggestion provided and all my settings are the way they should be but the problem persists. I had my son call me Friday while standing beside me. The first call went straight to voicemail with no ring or record of the call and the second a few minutes later came through. The only difference was that my phone wasn’t locked the second time. There is no pattern and it doesn’t matter who is calling and where they call from.
Hi Mike,
I suggest you contact your service provider if you have not done so already. Some other thing may be wrong with your incoming calls.
Jeff
I tried all the other do not disturb settings methods to no avail but turn on airplane mode and turn it off has sorted my phone out, thank you !
Hi Tommo,
Great to know turning airplane mode off and on resolved your problem. I will add it as an options folks should try, as I can see how this setting can be easily overlooked if it has been accidentally turned on.
Jeff
thank you so much for this – the do not disturb button was turned on – no recall of doing that. Such an annoying problem that you have solved for me
Sheila
Hi Sheila,
Pleased to know the do not disturb fix worked for you. Thanks for the feedback.
Jeff
Yes I️ agree!! VERY helpful! Same issue here and this fixed it!! Thank you for posting this read!
Thanks for the feedback Rhonda.
Jeff
Jeff, this fixed the problem! Thanks – RLA
Thanks RLA for the feedback. Good to know the fix resolved your iPhone call forwarding to voice mail problem. So many of my friends with the same issue were also so pleased with the fix.
Jeff
Thankyou so much, Apple replaced my faulty iPhone for the second time and I didn’t even know about this and was going crazy missing all my calls. They also replaced my unblocked phone with a blocked one at the Apple Store and I wasn’t aware of that either until I tried to use the phone with another SIM card abroad so I had to call my old mobile phone company who I had left 2 years ago to get them to unblock it again.
Hi Margaret,
Thank you so much for the feedback. Just like you, I was frustrated for over a week with missing calls, and my service provided did all their resets without a solution. It was magic when I found this fix for calls going straight to voice mail on iPhones, and I am glad it is helping so many.
Regards
Jeff
Thank you…my do not disturb was also somehow turned on. I really appreciate your help. Like you and many others, I was quite tired of this and was weighing the option of getting a new phone. Glad I checked here first!
Hi RFW,
I almost changed my iPhone too after and a whole week of missed calls! Glad you found this simple fix help resolved your iPhone calls going straight to voice mail.
Jeff
Hooray! It worked. Thanks so much.
Hi Midge,
Great to hear the solution worked for you. It is such a joy to start getting calls again as normal on iPhone after applying this simple fix.
Thanks for your feedback, it will encourage others to trust that the fix will truly help them resolve iPhone calls that simply go straight to voice mail!
Regards
Jeff
Thank you so much.
My frustrating calls-to-voicemail situation was resolved!
I retrospect, I did notice the moon icon that was now on my screen… but it never occurred to me to inquire what it was.
Hi Gabriel,
Thanks for your feedback. Great to hear the simple fix keeps helping more people with calls going straight to iPhone voice mail.
Jedd
Jeff
I think you have saved my marriage! My husband has been so upset with me for weeks now because I’m never answering his calls or anyone else’s either! Even the very important ones, like another person said, that I had phone in hand waiting for the call! I’m sure it was an update issue. I was also thinking it was my phone and I needed to get a new one. Got rid of that half moon and all is good! Thank you thank you!
Marjorie
Hello Marjorie,
Wow! What can I say to hear this fix may have saved a marriage. I am absolutely thrilled and happy for you.
Thanks for the feedback.
Jeff
I was heading up to the apple store after calling them..they said to bring it right up and they will have tech go thru it….they didn’t bother to tell me what I found on your website.
Thanks a bunch
Thank you for the feedback. I am pleased that the fix worked for you, just as it has worked for many frustrated people that are not able to receive calls on their iPhones because of this annoying voice mail divert.
Jeff
Thank you! Switching off “Repeated Calls” worked for me. You saved me another 40 minute drive one way to the AT&T store for the second time!
Great to hear this simple fix has helped you too. Good idea switching off the repeated calls option as I did. Not a single call has been diverted straight to my iPhone voice mail since I turned off all the options.
Jeff
Thank you. You are a legend!
Thanks Jon for your comment. I am flattered!
Jeff
Hi Jeff, it seems your advice as been very helpful, I have a problem of calls going straight to voicemail too, I’ve cancelled the do not disturb setting, which i have used up to now without problems and the repeated calls option. I still do not receive calls! Very frustrating …can you help?
Thanks
Hi Cindy,
The problem with your calls routing straight to your iPhone voice mail may not be exactly the same issue this fix resolves, if you have been using the Do Not Disturb option before without problem.
There are two things you could try:
1) If your service provider is AT&T, I have heard that turning off LTE in the settings can be a solution. This can be done on your iPhone through Settings > General > Cellular > LTE off
2) If the fix above is not applicable to you, you may try resetting your network. This can be done also on your iPhone through Settings > General > Reset > Reset Network Settings
I hope either of the solutions above will work.
Jeff
Hi Jeff, the reset network settings is what has fixed this for me here in NZ. thank you!!! I didnt know such a thing could even happen, and I have been missing calls for a week.
Hi Jennifer,
Thank you for the feedback. I am pleased to hear a reset of network settings fixed your missed calls problem on iPhone.
Jeff
Thanks for the great tip! Saved a lot of hassle today.
Hi Wolf,
Good to hear the fix worked for you. It saved me a lot of hassle too!
Jeff
My iPhone 6 stopped receiving calls at my house, just goes straight to voicemail. The cell provider is virgin mobile. This has been happening for 16 days…. Help. They have reset my phone I have tried everything on your message boards. I am at my wits end, please help!
Hi Deb,
If you have tried all the solutions in the post and Virgin Mobile customer service is also not able to help you, I would suggest you reset your iPhone to Factory default, and go through the process of setting it up as you would do with a new phone.
Jeff
Thanks. That fix worked. Must have been the recent update that caused the problem
Thanks for the feedback Bill. Nice to know this straight forward fix resolved your iPhone calls going straight to voice mail.
Jeff
FANTASTIC!!!!
Thanks Happy. I can see you are very excited the fix worked for you.
Jeff
Thanks Jeff. Saved my bacon.
Missed a bloody job interview because of this bug and was very very close to walking aaway from Apple as a result.
Hi Leon,
I am pleased to hear this fix saved your bacon! Really sucks to have missed an interview because of this iPhone missed calls problem.
Jeff
Thanks a mill – I had no idea why this was happening :)
Hi Maria,
Thanks for the feedback. This problem baffled me also, just as it is still doing to many that have not found this fix.
Jeff
Thank you so much!!!!!!
Thought I had an hearing problem missing all those calls. Checked the volume setting several times they were switched on. Strange thing was my phone rang when I called it using the house phone…
Several arguments on due to not answering my phone, I now have now excuse. LOL…. Thank you
Hi Lee,
I feel your excitement getting this frustrating iPhone calls to voice mail problem resolved. I was also beginning to doubt my hearing before discovering the solution!
Jeff
Hi Jeff
You’re a lifesaver! So happy I found your post! That was such an easy fix, but who knew..except you! My issue too must have arrived with an update, and I’ve suffered weeks of missed calls.
Thanks SO much for posting this!
Beverly
Hello Beverly,
What an excitement! I am very pleased this fix resolved your iPhone missed calls problem.
Jeff
None of the fixes work for me. *73 worked temporarily a few times, but, now it doesn’t even work. Any other suggestions?
Thanks.
Hi David,
Disappointed to hear this fix has not worked for you. *73 is your call provider feature that will disable call forwarding. Have you checked that you do not have Call Forwarding enabled on your iPhone? Check my update at the end of the solutions on how to disable Call Forwarding on iPhone.
If that still fail to fix your phone call issue, check that you have the latest IOS on the phone. If you don’t, update to the latest, but if you do and continue to have calls going straight to voice mail, consider resetting the phone to factory default – after of course taking a good backup.
How to Check Your IOS Version on iPhone:
1) Click on Settings
2) Scroll to General
3) Click on Software Update
4) Your phone will check if there is a new version of IOS, or tell you that your phone is up to date. It will also show you the IOS version number
How to Reset Your iPhone to Factory Default:
1) Tap Settings
2) Then, General
3) Scroll down until you see Reset, tap on it
4) You will see various Reset options available
5) Select Reset All Settings to bring your iPhone back to the original Factory settings
6) You will be requested to enter your pass code to proceed if you have set one on your iPhone.
Good luck!
Jeff
If I do this reset will I lose all my messages ,photos etc ?
Hi Linley,
You will loose your data and settings when you reset your iPhone. You should always backup your phone so you can restore your data after a reset.
Jeff
Unfortunately, I’ve tried all of the above and still nothing. Would you have any other idea of what else it could possibly be?
Hi Emma,
It must be even more frustrating to find out that this fix that has helped many did not work for you. The problem with your iPhone may be entirely different and deeper than what this fix can resolve.
You may want to consider resetting your iPhone to factory default, and if you do, follow the instructions I have given to David.
Good luck
Jeff
Your “do not disturb” suggests did not solve my problem.
However, I found there is another setting:
Phone
> call forwarding
And for some reason this was set to on, with my voicemail number entered. I don’t think I did this accidentally, since I do not know the long international form of the voicemail number which it was set to. I can only assume that this happened during a backup & restore operation which I had to do recently!!
McFly
Hi Mcfly,
Thanks for the feedback on the fix that resolved your call missed calls on iPhone. I will add this solution to the article.
Jeff
Thank you for your brilliant fix which has solved my daughters problem phone and saved me a packet as I thought I was going to have to buy a new one!!! Who would have thought a half moon icon would cause so much trouble xx
Hi Sarah,
Thank you for the feedback. I am pleased that this fix resolved your daughter’s iPhone calls going to voice mail, and saved you a bundle :)
Jeff
Hi Jeff
I notice under Do Not Disturb on my phone is a “Silence” option of “Always” or “Only while iPhone is locked” indicating incoming calls and notifications will be silenced while iPhone is locked. I’m unable to uncheck both of these options. After 5 minutes my iPhone automatically goes into lock mode (due to Company requirement)—-Any suggestions?
Hi Cindy,
I just checked my iPhone settings and I am able to check and uncheck both options. Is your phone a company iPhone? If it is, a company restriction may have been applied on the iPhone that will not allow you to make a changes. My iPhone is set at “Only while iPhone is locked”, and I do not miss any of my calls.
Jeff
Or… does that only matter if my phone is in the Do Not Disturb mode
Hi Cindy,
Yes, this fix applies only if your phone is in the Do Not Disturb mode, and all your calls are going directly to your voice mail.
If your phone is not in the Do Not Disturb mode, you may want to check that it is not in Call Forward mode as I explained at the end of the solution.
Jeff
Yes, this is a Company issued phone so that may explain why I’m unable to make changes. Thank you for your time and efforts! If I figure anything out, I’ll let you know.
Thanks Cindy for the feedback. Let us know how you get on with the iPhone.
Jeff
Thank you! This was EXACTLY what I needed to fix my problem. No idea how those switches got moved, but your information was fantastic….well written……easy to follow.
Thanks Debbie for your feedback. It is very pleasing to know that this fix, once again, has helped somebody to resolve the frustrating problem with iPhone calls going straight to voice mail.
Jeff
Thank you so much! So many other solutions on the internet failed, then I saw your solution, and was thrilled to find a moon icon in the upper right corner. From that point on, I knew my worries would soon be over.
Great to know this fix worked for you Sue, and thanks for the comment.
Jeff
I have been missing calls for weeks (they were being routed directly to voicemail), and getting more and more frustrated. Now I understand that the Do Not Disturb button had somehow been activated. I followed your tips and the problem has been fixed! Thanks so much! Janet
Hi Janet,
I am happy to hear my simple to follow instruction fixed your iPhone going straight to voice mail problem.
Jeff
Delighted to say it cured the problem immediately – most relieved, Many thanks!
Thanks for the feedback.
Jeff
Thank you for the post. It worked. Had no idea what the problem was
Hi Everett,
Thanks for letting others know the fix worked for you.
Jeff
Thanks a million for this. Over the last 3 days I’ve spent 4 1/2 hours on the phone to Virgin trying to resolve my phone going straight to answer machine without ringing. Within 30 seconds of reading your piece, I’d ‘fixed’ the problem myself.
I’d used the torch on my phone recently and must have touched the half moon button in error. ( amazed Virgin didn’t latch on).
Again, thanks a lot, I was on the verge of returning the phone !.
Hi Neil,
Great to hear the fix helped you resolve your iPhone calls going straight to voice mail. Orange couldn’t help me too when I had the same problem, which is what motivated me to publish the fix.
Jeff
I have not switched my business service to Boost Mobile because of this problem. My wife has Boost and the problem was just resolved. It was the Iphone 5S settings causing the problem. I always thought it to be Boost Mobiles issue. The minute I changed the “Do Not Disturb” settings the problem was resolved. I will probably be switching to Boost soon!!
Glad you were able to resolve your wife’s iPhone 5S calls diverting to voice mail with this fix. It is still causing so many people so much pain.
Jeff
Thanks for taking the time to share this, saved me a ton of aggravation.
Hi Rich,
Good to know you were able to fix your iPhone call problem with this solution.
Jeff
Sorting the Do Not Disturb setting made no difference to me. Neither did restoring network defaults. I’ve just managed to resolve the problem hopefully) by disabling 4G and I’m now getting calls again.
Hi Arnold,
If disabling 4G resolved your iPhone calls going directly to voice mail, that is a new fix to me, and thanks for the feedback.
I wonder if you could let us know the model of your iPhone and your service provider?
Jeff
Hi, it’s an iPhone 5C and the service provider is O2-UK
Thanks Arnold. Folks, if you arr on O2-UK and my suggested fixes did not work for you, perhaps you should try turning of 4G as this seems to have worked for Arnold.
Jeff
After trying every other fix for months, turning off 4G to 3G seems to have fixed the problem on my girlfriends Orange France iPhone 5s. The problem seemed to Occur after a change of supplier using the same number or a system update at a similar time.
Hi Lane,
Thanks for the feedback. Good to know turning off 4G to 3G worked on your girl friends iPhone.
Jeff
Thank You very much!!!!
Hi Karen,
I am pleased the solution fixed your calls going straight to voice mail on iPhone.
Jeff
Thanks for the help being frustrated about it going to voicemail always and you solved the problem
Thanks for the feedback Clare. Good to know the solution fixed your calls going straight to iPhone voice mail.
Jeff
Jeff my wife was driving me nutts with the missed call i owe you one buddy thanks!!
Thanks buddy for the feedback. I know how you feel. My wife drove me bunkers too until I found the fix for my iPhone missed calls. Hang in there buddy!
Jeff
Thank you so much for a great fix, I was missing calls all the time on my iPhone 6 plus, but now that I’ve read your post, I’m not missing important phone calls, especially when I run a business and I don’t want to miss customer calls, again thank you, you were a great help to me.
Take care – regards Walter Winiana
Fantastic Walter! Good to know this fix is still helping folks sort their missed call hassles on iPhone.
Jeff
I bought, leased rather, 2 iPhone 6+ phones January this year. Mine works just fine. my wife’s, however, misses calls which go straight to voice mail. The phone doesn’t even register these calls on the screen as missed calls. I took the phone back to Sprint, where I’d bought it. They recommended shutting off the “Do to Disturb” feature and checking that the numbers were not blocked. Of course, I had done my homework already and neither was the case. They recommended updating the phone to the most current software (which I had already done, too.)
I took the iPhone to the Apple Store, where they were also stuck on it being a software problem and recommended doing a full restore, thus wiping al the data and setting up the phone as a “new virgin” iPhone. I did that, but same problem. I could even dial her number from the same room and the calls would go right to voice mail.
Here’s what worked for us:
Turn Of the LTE in the Cellular Settings. If the switch is enabled, turn it off. It’s that simple. For some reason the LTE (I think) interferes with the normal function of certain iPhones. I don’t know and can’t explain exactly why. But since I disabled LTE, and restored her phone with all of her original data, pics, etc. everything works fine. No more missed calls.
I hope this helps some of you.
Hi Ziggy,
Thank you for sharing how you resolved your carrier LTE enabled iPhone calls going straight to voice. LTE (Long Term Evolution) is a cellphone technology that is widely used in USA and Canada, but not yet adopted in many countries.
If your carrier has LTE enabled on your Cellphone and you are missing calls as Ziggy has so kindly shared in his comment, please try his solution. I know it works for some iPhones with LTE enabled.
Thanks Ziggy.
Jeff
I solved my (and my wife’s) problem by switching off LTE. Afterwards, I happened to be at the Apple Store and spoke with someone at their “Genius” counter. I found out that LTE is primarily used to optimize internet and web services. LTE isn’t as ubiquitous as 4G. It’s more concentrated in major service areas, like LA, San Francisco, etc. When there’s an LTE and a 4G station in close proximity to your iPhone 6, the iPhone prioritizes the LTE bandwidth. LTE doesn’t handle phone calls well, though, so they go right to voicemail and you don’t even know it. This technology is still relatively new. So with time, it will get better. But for now, I hope this helps clarify why calls go to voicemail when LTE is enabled.
When I want to optimize my internet use on the iPhone, I switch LTE back on. Seems like a hassle to switch back and forth. Again… modern technology. Give it time. Don’t expect too much too soon.
Thanks Ziggy for providing additional information on LTE technology and how you are using it on your iPhone to avoid calls going straight to voice mail.
Jeff
Thanks for this! I’ve been having the problems exactly as described….intermittent ‘failure to ring’ even when I was literally sitting on the phone. Manual DND was on so I’ve switched off…..fingers crossed!
Thanks for the clear explanation!
Hi Mary,
I pretty sure the solution will fix your iPhone missing calls problem. But if it does’t and your network provider uses LTE, check out the fix Ziggy provided in the comment section. That solution is known to work on LTE enabled iPhone.
Jeff
Yay! You helped me quickly fix my problem!
Thanks for the feedback Anne.
Jeff
I spent a lot of time searching through comments and nothing helped. Until I noticed (allow calls from) in the do not disturb section had switched to favorites instead of everyone.
Thanks for the feedback Cody. Glad you found the switch that fixed the problem for you.
Jeff
Thank you, this was what my problem was. The “allow calls from” was turned on. I didn’t adjust that.
Hi,
Tried all suggestions and calls are still going to voicemail………..HELP!!!!!!!
Hi Caryl,
If you have tried all suggested solutions and your carrier has not come up with a fix for calls going straight to voice mail on your iPhone, perhaps it is time to bite the bullet and reset your iPhone to factory default and set it up again with your Apple id.
Back up your iPhone
Sign out of iCloud
Go to Settings > General > Reset, then tap Erase All Content and Settings..
Set up your iPhone again with your iCloud or Apple ID, and restore your data. This will hopefully fix your problem.
Jeff
I had the issue of intermittent calls going to vm for sometime. Followed ur instructions, and found DND on…I am sure it was the culprit. Thanks for sharing the fix.
Hi Singh,
Great to hear removing DND worked for you.
Jeff
dialling ##002# worked for me, just dismiss the notification and all is working again
Thanks Jamie. Pleased to hear you figured out what worked for you. If you are wondering what Jamie has done, ##002# is a GSM network code that will clear all call diverts you may have on your phone.
Jeff
I’ve done everything you have suggested and got to this and called and it said my phone has calling restrictions preventing my call from going through.
Hi Heather,
I hope your service provider was able to lift the calling restriction on your phone. There is not much you can do if the problem is with your service provider.
Jeff
Thanks to fixitdesk.com. I was able to solve my issue. Had not received any incoming calls that went straight to voicemail for over 2 days. I have an iPhone 6. Spoke with Sorint techs and escalation over the course. My last resort was to take into a Sorint repair store. After contacting the store, I found that I would have to leave the phone there. Something told me to google my problem one last time. Reluctantly, I stumbled on this site. After reading through the comments, I found one fix I hadn’t attempted. Making sure Enable LTE was turned off. Lo and behold, it was on. Turned it off, dialed my number and my phone rang aloud. Music to my ears!! Thanks again.
GO TO SETTINGS, CELLULAR, ENABLE LTE (switch off).
Sheila G.
Hi Sheila,
Thanks for the great feedback. I am pleased switching off LTE fixed your iPhone 6 calls going straight to voice mail.
Jeff
My do not disturb was already off and I was still having the issue. I am hoping turning off LTE will be the answer. Thanks for the suggestions.
Hi Lin,
I hope switching of LTE will fix it for you. You may also check that call forwarding is turned off.
Jeff
Had problem with my iphone 4 going straight to voicemail just resolved it by switching off call forwarding ( don’t know how it was put on ! ) thanks for the advice !
Hi Ann,
Great to know the tips helped you resolve your iPhone calls problem.
Jeff
I have had 4 iPhone 6 phones since January 2015. I just got my 4th one a week ago (June 2015). Had other issues but this problem has caused me so much stress and frustration because of missing important calls as they are going to voicemail. I went thru all kinds of fixes too but nothing worked. Because of this blog I just noticed LTE on and disabled it / also disabled Repeated call function / reset network settings again ….so I’ll know in a couple days if this worked for me. I feel like I have not had a new iPhone yet since I purchased it at the very beginning in Jan 2015
Hi Michelle,
Please come back and let us know if the options you have applied resolved the missed calls on your iPhone.
Keeping fingers crossed for you!
Jeff
I have new iPhone 5S IOS 9.1 and this happened to me. I tried everything you suggested. It appears turning off the LTE setting finally did it! Thank you!!! ????
Thanks Nancy for the feedback.
Jeff
I have been missing calls for 2 days. Your solution was spot on !
Thank you SO much !
Thanks Debbi for letting us know the fix worked for you.
Jeff
Mynew I Phone 6 was set to only receive calls from favourites, so all my calls then went to voicemail and my phone never rang. – dont know how that happened. So I reset to “everyone” and it worked Yaye..Rings perfectly now
Thanks Jeanette. Glad the fix worked for you.
Jeff
Thanks
My provider (telus) had not known of this fix so perhaps its not too common, however it’s strange that a year later after you posted the fix that this is still happening. I had the issue for about a week, tried LTE switch on and off, actually re set phone and restored and made sure i had yesterdays later update. Of course they all work temporarily because when I test the phone is not on the lock screen. It the lock screen that dod not disturb correctly recognizes and sends to voice mail. Question to your Jeff, Are we the users inadvertly choosing this setting or does the iPhone do this on its own?
Cheers
Steve
Hi Steve,
I am not quite sure how an iPhone that is working ok will suddenly start diverting all calls to voice mail. When it happened to me and a close friend, we did not recall changing any of the settings on our iPhone, and this drove us nuts for weeks! which was why I researched and posted this fix that worked for us. Others have added more solutions since my first post.
I suspect the change to an iPhone settings that results in calls diverting to voice mail may be happening when a new release of Apple IOS is updated on the iPhone. That is my personal suspicion that I have not been able to prove.
Many service providers have no idea how to fix this problem, and they will send you back and forth when you approach them for a solution.
Jeff
Worked for me!! Thank you!
Thanks Adrienne for the feedback. Good to know the solution worked for you.
Jeff
Thank You,This fixed our Problem it has been a real Headache THANK YOU !!!!!!!!!
Thanks Ronnie for the feedback. Good to know it worked for you.
Jeff
This has been driving me crazy on my iphone 6 (sprint) for about a month. I’d never turned on the do not disturb and never noticed it. if this works, you’re my new favorite person. Thanks!
Hi Adam, I am sure it will work for you. The fix has helped many.
Jeff
worked for me thanks. It was such a pain I could not take any call for 1 week
Thanks for the feedback Asha. Good to know the fix helped solved your iPhone missed calls.
Jeff
Here’s another variation: With Do Not Disturbed set to scheduled and a time zone change from Berlin to New York and back to Berlin the issue came up even though DND was not showing. Turning DND off and back on solved the issue.
Thanks Lemon for adding your variation of a fix for this frustrating issue.
Jeff
Thanks for solving that very annoying problem Jeff!
Thanks Annie. Glad the fix resolved your calls going straight to voicemail.
Jeff
None of this worked for me. Finally solved the problem by changing the cellular voice &a data setting to 2G. I’m in Africa with limited network – Edge only. Changing the setting worked.
Thanks Paul for sharing the solution that worked for you in Africa. For folks in Africa or countries with limited network, changing to 2G may be a fix that can work for you as well.
Jeff
Jeff,
I don’t know how I found you, but I’m glad I did. Fio today you are my White Knight. For you, my do not dusturb switch will be forever deactivated!!! Lol. Thank you for freely sharing your knowledge.
Deborah
Thanks Deborah for your compliments. I am glad my suggested fix resolved your iPhone calls going straight to your voice mail.
Jeff
Thanks! Was driving me bonkers.
Thanks Neilmacr for the feedback.
Jeff
Thank sooooooo much! I felt like an idiot missing out on very important calls! So glad I didn’t have to call customer service!
I am pleased the solution fixed the problem with your iPhone directing all calls to voice mail.
Jeff
Thanks a million! My dad kept accusing me of declining his calls. Now I can tell him what actually happened!
Thanks for the feedback Kate. I am sure your dad will now be pleased with you receiving her calls.
Jeff
Great solutions; unfortunately I tried them all & none worked, at least not permanently. The Do No Disturb option of only accepting calls from favourites had been enabled, I turned that off & it worked for 24 hours. Now all calls going to voice mail. I’ll reset & restart and see what happens, but I’m not hopeful. But I am grateful to see so many other phones with same problem.
Hi Heather,
Thanks for sharing your experience. Hope you find a fix that works on your phone.
Jeff
Super grateful for your posting. For my iPhone 6 it was the do not disturb settings turned on during the latest software update.
Thanks Jane your your feedback.
Jeff
Please use this comment. Last one had tons of lovely silly auto corrects. Sorry.
iPhone 6
Been happening to me over a month now. Do not disturb us off. Lte is set to data only. When it first started early October, I restored my phone, had apple install a new OS on it, switched the SIM card. Seemed to work until today. Got 2 hours straight at work only every third call or so would actually come thru. Otherwise it would ring twice and go to voicemail. My phone would not ring. I just got notification I had a voicemail. I kept testing it myself by calling from my work phone. Apple blames AT&T and they blame Apple. Tired of calling them both. Also had issues where every so many calls where the person on the other end could not hear me. I also could not switch my call waiting button on. AT&T did some sort of update that fixed that, and in 2weeks all calls could be heard so far, but this problem of straight to voicemail came back. AT&T has now disabled LTE to voice on my account from their end. So calls can not delay in switching from lte to 4g. Will see if it works. It only seems to happen when I am at work. Where I only have 1-3 tower bars. Missed important calls from my sons school nurse! This sucks. This couldn’t be the actual phone, could it? Seems more like a carrier problem to me. I also deleted all my voicemails on my phone. Read elsewhere this fixed if for someone. We shall see.
Thanks!
Sara
Hi Sara,
Thanks for sharing your experience in finding a solution.
Jeff
In the end, I only had LTE on for data only. I had to turn it off COMPLETELY and this resolved the problem. You would think AT&T would think to suggest that. Lol
I went through all the suggested fixes to no avail. I even called AT&T and they were not able to help. Then took a look at SETTINGS, PHONE, BLOCK and for some reason all my home phone numbers and my wife’s numbers were blocked. I do not know how this happened, but if you are having the same issues, try this.
Thanks Bob for sharing the fix that worked for you.
Folks, give Bob’s fix a try if other solutions fail to resolve your iPhone missed calls problem.
Jeff
Short story: turning off the 4G LTE worked for me! I’m getting lots of calls now. Even when connected to WI-FI.
Long story: I’m so glad I found this forum. I got a 6s last October and it worked fine at first but then people started telling me that they’d call me 3, 4, or even 6 times and all of them were sent straight to voicemail. Not all the people who’d call me were sent straight to voicemail. Most of the diverted calls occurred when my iPhone was connected to WI-FI, but the issue was very inconsistent.
I went to Telcel (my carrier in Mexico) about 6 times in a 3 month period, called a dozen times to their customer service also and they always had different suggestions and escalated the issue but nothing really worked. Even suggested to change my number. Then the Christmas holiday diverted my attention on the issue and it was finally until
January this year that I could really look up a way to solve my problem on the Internet and found this great forum. Turning off 4G LTE while connected to WI-FI worked great for me and now my phone rings every time I get a call! Hurrah!
Hi Ray,
Thanks for for sharing in detail how turning of 4G LTE fixed your iPhone calls going straight to voice.
Jeff
Thank you for this straight forward solution.
After upgrading my iPhone 4s , my calls went to voicemail without even ringing once .
This solved the problem .
Thanks.
Hi Marta,
Thanks for sharing how the fix resolved your iPhone voicemail problem.
Jeff
I just started going down the line of suggestions to attempt to prevent my calls going straight to VM. The only one that worked for me was dialing *73. So happy…can do my job without being able to receive phone calls!
Hi Jill,
Thank you for the feedback on the solution that worked for you. We have seen calls going straight to iPhone voicemail acting differently and a solution that worked for one person, may not work for another. Glad we have a range of solutions that have worked folks.
Jeff
Under the Do not Disturb settings, also make sure the “allow calls from” is set to “everyone” and not just your favorites like mine somehow got set to.
Thank you Darrell for mentioning that it is important to make sure that “allow calls from” is set to “everyone”
Folks check to make sure your phone is set to allow calls from everyone, otherwise your iPhone will only allow calls from your favorite numbers, or no calls at all if don’t have favorites.
Jeff
Hi, unfortunately none of the solutions has worked for me. Tried everything. Apple doesn’t give a shit replacing my phone as its out of warranty and as I was made redundant recently being reachable is more important than ever to me. iPhones are just getting worse every year.
Hi Claudia,
Sorry to hear none of the solutions worked for you. Did you try resetting your iPhone to factory default?
Jeff
Yes, I have. It worked for 24 hours, then the problem re-occurred. It’s definitely the phone, as my sim works fine on my sisters old Samsung she gave me. I’m sick of these apple issues.
Tried all suggestions and nothing worked for me. I happened to remember that I had blocked a number and decided to try unblocking it and 5 minutes later that number called me…annoying but it worked. I am able to get calls again. Not sure why blocking one number would keep me from getting calls from unblocked numbers and also I was getting calls after I blocked this number…stopped getting calls the day after. Anywho it works. Thank you for all your suggestions!!
Hi Rhonda,
Inexplicable things happen with iPhone settings as you have discovered. I am happy you were able to restore your calls by unblocking a number previously block.
Folks you may want to try Rhonda’s solution if you have a similar situation, and none of the fixes suggested here work for you.
Jeff
I tried all sorts of things than i saw someone post of repeated calls should be turned off. I tried it myself and got a friend to call me and it worked.
Hi Ilyas,
Thank you for the feedback. The solutions for the annoying iPhone calls going straight to voicemail can really be inexplicable.
Folks, if you have tried all suggested solutions, you want want to try turning of your Repeated Calls like Ilyas did. You can do this by:
1) Go to Settings
2) Click on Do Not Disturb
3) Slide Repeated Calls to the left to turn it off.
Hope that will work for some.
Jeff
omg thank you! only thing that worked for me was resetting network settings
Hi Agathe,
Thanks for the feedback. Good to know that resetting network settings fixed your iPhone calls going straight to voicemail.
Jeff
Thanks a lot for all your help! For me, among all tips, only calling *73 worked (although the call did not connect). However, after several calls coming in, they began to go to voice mail again. Then I called *73 again and calls began to come in successfully. I also unchecked repeated calls at the same time. This seems to help. I also ckecked auto-lock to “never”. Now it is working “almost always”…
JSA
Thanks Jorge for the feedback
Jeff
Thank you Mcfly!!! My Do Not Disturb was OFF and still my calls were going straight to voicemail!!! Checked Macworld.com (have iPhone 6) and all I got was that 64 % of users agree with me asking if I wanted to share on FB or twiter??? AAAGGHH!!!!
Mcfly you were right!!! I turned off the Call Forwarding and I am receiving calls again!! Hoorraahh! THANK YOU!!! And to Jeff Adams for including your very important contribution!!!
Hi Alex,
Thanks for the feedback and many thanks again to Mcfly for sharing the solution that worked for you.
Jeff
None of the fixes has worked for me. Do Not Disturb and Airplane Mode are OFF. I turned off LTE. Still all calls go straight to voicemail without even ringing on my phone. NOW WHAT??
Never mind. I figured it out. The phone number I was trying to call mySELF from, my work phone number, somehow got in my blocked numbers list. No idea how this happened. Once I unblocked the number the call rang on my phone. Weird, and wow, I can’t believe I figured it out!
Hi Dawn,
Good to know you figured it out.
Folks check your blocked numbers if all the options did not work for you. You may have blocked numbers like Dawn did :)
Jeff
Thanks for this. Call Forwarding was the culprit. Must have happened at upgrade
Hi Gerry,
Great to hear fixing call forwarding resolved your iPhone calls going straight to voice mail.
Jeff
IPhone 5s not receiving calls. Airplane mode ON then OFF. Phone now receiving calls.
Thanks John for sharing that turning off Airplane mode fixed your iPhone not receiving calls.
I will add it as a solution others can try.
Jeff
Switching airplane mode on then off worked for me when nothing else worked. Thanks for this!
Thanks Christina for letting us know that toggling airplane mode on and off worked for you.
Jeff
Thank you very much for this! I was confused at first. I recently upgraded my phone from the 6 Plus to the 7 plus and the 7 was still having the same problem with phone calls not coming through. As soon as I picked it up to do something, the phone would say “missed call from ______”. Well, I remember I did the system update on the 6 and that’s when the problem started. Here I was thinking it was just broken. But having the same problem with the new phone, I had to search to figure out what was going on. Thanks again for this helpful and simple fix!! They should warn people of this. My phone is very vital for my work and I almost lost my job because of this! Now I have an explanation for my boos.
Hi Sharda,
Thank you for the feedback and your interesting background story. I am really pleased my solution for iPhone calls going straight to voice mail may have saved your job :)
Jeff
I have tried all the suggestions and incoming landline calls are going to voice mail without ringing.
Hi Linda,
Have you called your mobile phone provider? They could check to make sure your setting is ok at there end.
Regards
Jeff
I have spoke with provider many times with no results. Would removing and reinserting SIM card be advisable. Do not disturb is off.
Could help Lindy. Your provider should really be able to help at this stage. Sorry for my late response.
Jeff