8 ways to fix your iPhone’s voicemail when it isn’t working properly

• If your iPhone's voicemail is not working, there are several simple troubleshooting steps you can take to get it working again.
• Start by making sure the voicemail and greeting are set up properly on the voicemail tab of the Phone app.
• You can also check to make sure call forwarding isn't turned on and make sure the voicemail service is working at the carrier by dialing the number directly.
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These days, most people take the iPhone's visual voicemail for granted, but for years it was one of the strongest selling points for choosing iOS over Android. At one time, only the iPhone let you see a list of incoming messages without listening to them all, one after the other.

In fact, it's easy to take voicemail for granted entirely, right up to the moment that it stops working for some reason. If your iPhone's voicemail isn't working – either some part of it is glitching or voicemail doesn't work at all – here's your one-stop shop for troubleshooting the problem and getting voicemail back up and running.

What to do if your iPhone's voicemail is not working

Make sure voicemail is set up on your iPhone

This sounds obvious – and it is – but you should make sure that your voicemail is set up properly on your iPhone. If you recently changed carriers (or even plans at the same carrier), you might need to do an initial voicemail configuration.

1. Start the Phone app.

2. Tap the Voicemail tab at the bottom of the screen.

3. If it hasn't yet been set up (or needs to be set up again), tap Set Up Now. Follow the instructions to create a voicemail password and choose or record a greeting.

Default greeting? Make sure you're using the custom greeting

If you notice that your outgoing voicemail greeting is a default message - usually an automated voice saying that the subscriber is not available, and to leave a message - rather than a custom, personal greeting recorded by you, it's possible it was accidentally toggled from custom to default. It's easy to correct.

1. Start the Phone app and tap the Voicemail tab at the bottom of the screen.

2. Tap Greeting at the top left of the screen.

3. On the Greeting screen, you should see a checkmark for Default or Custom. If it's currently set to Default, tap Custom.

4. To preview the greeting, tap Play. To record a new greeting, tap Record, speak, and tap Stop when you're done.

5. Tap Save.

Make sure you don't have call forwarding turned on

One of the most common reasons that voicemail seems to have stopped working is that you set up call forwarding at some time in the past and forgot to turn it off. Your calls are being directed to another phone number, so no calls ring through to the iPhone and record a voicemail message. Here's how to check your call forwarding status:

1. Start the Settings app.

2. Tap Phone.

3. Tap Call Forwarding.

4. On the Call Forwarding page, check your forwarding status. If call forwarding is enabled, turn it off by swiping the button to the left.

Test your voicemail by dialing it directly

There might be a problem with your voicemail service at the cellular carrier. Here's an easy way to check:

1. Start the Phone app.

2. Tap the Keypad tab at the bottom of the screen.

3. Tap and hold the 1 key until the phone dials your voicemail. You should hear your saved messages.

You can also go to the Keypad tab in the Phone app and dial your phone number manually, by entering all 10 digits. If you do that, you'll probably need to enter your voicemail four-digit pin or passcode.

If you don't remember your passcode and want to reset it or if your iPhone can't connect to your voicemail manually, contact your cellular provider's customer support to resolve the problem.

Turn your cellular service off and on again

To be perfectly transparent, this is unlikely to fix the problem - but it's very easy to do, so you should definitely try it before moving on to more time-consuming troubleshooting steps. You might be able to revive your voicemail by toggling the cellular radio off and back on again. Here's how:

1. Pull the Control Center down from the top right of the screen.

2. Tap the Airplane mode button at the top left of the screen.

3. Wait about two minutes and then turn off Airplane mode by tapping the button a second time.

4. Wait for the cellular radio to reconnect and try your voicemail again.

Close and reopen the Phone app

Often, a software glitch is easily solved just by restarting the device or the program that's misbehaving. If you've gotten this far and your voicemail still doesn't work, either turn your iPhone off, wait a minute and then turn it back on again, or close the Phone app and then start the Phone app a second time. If the app was suffering a minor software problem, it might now work.

Check for a carrier setting update

Cellular carriers sometimes update their settings. Usually, these updates are installed automatically and you don't need to think about it. If an update didn't get installed, though, it's possible - not likely, but possible - that it could be interfering with your voicemail. You can update your carrier settings manually through the Settings app.

Reset your network settings

If your voicemail service appears to be normal but it's still not working on your iPhone, you can reset your phone's network settings. This is a last resort because it will reset all your network settings, including your Wi-Fi networks and their passwords. If you want to try it, though, do this:

1. Start the Settings app.

2. Tap General.

3. Scroll to the bottom and tap Transfer or Reset iPhone.

4. At the bottom of the screen, tap Reset.

5. Tap Reset Network Settings and confirm you want to do that.

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