iPhone Calls Go Straight To Voicemail: How to Fix It

The phone never rings; callers land in your mailbox. This page explains what it does, how to use it on an iPhone and which carriers it applies to.

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Why does this happen and how do I fix it?

If the phone never rings at all, the call is being diverted before it reaches you. There are only a few things that do that: unconditional call forwarding set at network level, a Focus or Do Not Disturb schedule, Silence Unknown Callers, a blocked number, or a line that has dropped off the network so the network treats you as unreachable.

Call forwarding is the one people forget, because it can be left over from a code dialled months ago or set by a carrier's own voicemail configuration. Dial *#21# to interrogate it — the network answers with whether unconditional forwarding is active and where to. If it is on and you did not set it, ##21# clears it.

Silence Unknown Callers is the modern culprit. When it is on, anyone not in your Contacts or Recents goes to voicemail silently, which is exactly the reported symptom for callers you do not have saved.

Important: ##21# erases unconditional forwarding entirely. If you deliberately forward to another number, note that number down before you clear it.

What should I try, in order?

1. Dial *#21# to check for unconditional call forwarding. If it reports forwarding is active, clear it with ##21# (or *73 on Verizon and UScellular).
2. Open Settings, Apps, Phone, Call Forwarding and confirm the switch is off.
3. Check Settings, Focus, Do Not Disturb is off, and check that no Focus schedule is silencing calls at the times this happens.
4. Open Settings, Apps, Phone, Silence Unknown Callers. If it is on, anybody not in Contacts or Recents goes straight to voicemail by design. Check Blocked Contacts on the same screen for the specific caller.
5. On a dual-SIM iPhone, turn on Wi-Fi Calling for both lines. Apple documents that without it, calls to the idle line go directly to voicemail while the other line is in use, and you get no missed-call notification.
6. If it still happens with all of the above clear, ask the carrier to check for conditional forwarding provisioned on their side — some voicemail configurations set it and it does not always show on the phone.

Which carriers does this apply to?

Published for	any iPhone, Verizon, AT&T, T-Mobile and UScellular
Type	iOS setting
Good to know	The *#21# check works on AT&T and T-Mobile. On Verizon and UScellular use *73 to cancel forwarding instead, and check the Settings toggle.

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