Is your iPhone not making or receiving phone calls? Here is what you can do to fix the problem.
If your iPhone is not making or receiving phone calls, don’t worry! You can try a few fixes before turning to your cell carrier’s customer support line.
When you can neither make nor receive calls on an iPhone, the cause might be any number of issues. Here’s where to start when trying to get back on speaking terms with your phone.
There is nothing new about the problem of iPhone not making or receiving phone calls as it has existed on almost all iPhone models. The issue has affected many iPhone models, including iPhone 6, iPhone 6 Plus, iPhone 6S, iPhone 6s Plus, iPhone 7, iPhone 7 Plus, iPhone 8, iPhone 8 Plus, iPhone X, iPhone XR, iPhone XS, XS Max, iPhone 11, 11 Pro, 11 Pro Max, iPhone 12, 12 mini, 12 Pro, 12 Pro Max, iPhone 13, 13 mini, 13 Pro, 13 Pro Max, iPhone 14, iPhone 14 Plus, iPhone 14 Pro, iPhone 14 Pro Max and iPhone SE.
Getting a good hang of the problem is key to discovering the cause and finding a possible solution. In that regard, we have first discussed what could be the possible reason why some iPhones don’t make or receive phone calls before learning the different ways to resolve the issue.
Why Won’t My iPhone make or receive phone calls?
The first reason why your iPhone won’t make or receive phone calls may be due to a software glitch. Even a minor software bug could prevent you from making or receiving phone calls on your iPhone.
Finally, there’s also a possibility the cell service is to blame. Check the upper left-hand of your iPhone’s display. Does it show “No Service” error?
If your iPhone is displayinga “No Service” error, that may explain the reason why it can’t send or receive text messages. Our first troubleshooting steps in this guide will help you diagnose and fix network related problems your iPhone is experiencing.
What to Do When Your iPhone Isn’t making or receiving calls
1. Verify that you’re in network
While relatively rare, dead spots still exist. You might encounter this when underground (in a basement or on mass transit) or in a rural area. Reception issues can also happen if you’re near another country’s border and your phone thinks you’re roaming.
Sometimes, if you tried to make a call from your iPhone, you’ll find that it’s not going through, you can’t hear the outgoing dial tone, or the call attempt ends abruptly. Your iPhone may also show an error message, saying “Call Failed.” If this is happening to you, there’s a high chance that you’re in a spot that has bad cellular reception — good enough that your device thinks it has network coverage, and you’ll see a bar or two of signal strength at the top of your phone — but bad enough that it can’t actually complete a connection. If you’re indoors, go outside, or otherwise try moving to a different location and dial again.
2. See if Airplane mode is on
Airplane mode turns off all wireless antennas, including mobile data, Wi-Fi, and Bluetooth. It’s common to turn it on accidentally (or at least it happens to me all the time!). Go ahead and check if this happened to you. Swipe down from the top right of your iPhone’s screen to bring up Control Center, or go to Settings and look for Airplane mode. There will be a toggle next to it. Tap on it to turn it off.
Furthermore, turning airplane mode on and off can reset settings and bring everything back to normal. If your device wasn’t in Airplane mode, Turn on Airplane mode, wait a few seconds and then tap Airplane mode again to re-enable the wireless networks. Now check if that gets your iPhone making or receiving calls again.
3. Restart your iPhone
Sometimes the most obvious fix is the most reliable one. If your iPhone won’t make or receive calls, one of the first things you should try is turning your phone on and off.
On iPhone X and later models: Hold down the volume up/down button and the side button until the power off slider shows up. After that, drag the power off slider to shut down your device. Then, press and hold the side button until the Apple logo appears.
On iPhone 8 and earlier models: Press and hold the side/top button and then drag the power off slider to turn off your device. After that, press and hold the side/top button to reboot your device.
Alternatively, you can go to Settings > General > Shut Down.
4. Force Restart Your iPhone
Force restart (also known as hard reset) flushes out the cache and deletes useless temporary files, which often works in fixing many software bugs, on your iPhone. Thus, you should give this nifty solution a chance if your iPhone is not making or receiving phone calls.
- On iPhone 8 or later: Press the volume up button. Then, quickly press and release the volume down button. After that, press and hold the power button until you see the Apple logo on the screen.
- On iPhone 7/ 7 Plus: Press and hold the power button and the volume down button simultaneously until you see the Apple logo on the screen.
- On iPhone 6s/ 6 Plus or earlier: Hold down the power button and the home button at once until the screen goes black and the Apple logo appears.
5. Check Your Mobile Plan
As we’ve already pointed out, you need an active mobile plan with sufficient call credit or minutes to make a phone call using your iPhone’s phone app.
Therefore, check with your network to see if your mobile plan has expired or has insufficient credit. If this is the case, simply reload your account, switch to a more suitable plan if needed, and you should be able to start making calls again.
6. Take out and readjust your SIM card
If your iPhone still won’t make or receive calls even after trying the steps above, the problem might lie in an ill-positioned SIM card. Eject it using the SIM card removal tool and carefully reposition it in its tray. Be careful when inserting it back into your iPhone. Once you’re done, your iPhone should start making or receiving calls. If you see other SIM card issues, such as an “invalid SIM” or “no SIM card installed” error, it’s best to contact your network carrier and get a replacement SIM.
7. Make sure the number isn’t blocked
Is your iPhone not receiving calls from a specific phone number? If this is the case, it’s possible you’ve blocked that particular phone number. Here’s how to check for any blocked contacts on your iPhone:
- Go to Settings.
- Scroll down and tap on Phone.
- Tap Blocked Contacts.
- Scroll through the list of blocked numbers (if there are any) and look for the phone number you are not receiving calls from.
8. Check for a carrier settings updates
If you’ve tried everything up to this point in the article and you’re still not able to make or receive calls on your iPhone, you might want to update your carrier Settings, if you haven’t already. This will fix fix network related glitches on your iPhone.
Start by connecting your iPhone to Wi-Fi or enable cellular data. Then, follow the steps below to update carrier Settings on your iPhone:
- Open the Settings app on your iPhone.
- Head into General.
- Select About.
- If an update is available, you’ll see a Carrier Settings Update prompt. Simply hit Update to begin the installation.
9. Check for iOS updates
While unlikely, it’s possible that an iOS update could fix your call problem. Check if there are any updates that need to be installed on your iPhone.
- Start the Settings app on your iPhone.
- Go into General.
- Hit Software Update and install any available updates.
10. Reset network settings
If you tried all of the above but your iPhone isn’t making or receiving calls, it’s time to take a slightly more drastic step. Resetting your network settings. Remember that this step will erase all network settings, including saved Wi-Fi networks, paired Bluetooth devices, and so on.
Here is how to reset network settings on your iPhone:
- Open Settings, then go into General.
- Find Transfer or reset iPhone. Tap on it.
- Select Reset.
- From the list, tap Reset network settings.
- You will be asked to enter your Passcode if you have one. Do so and tap Reset Network Settings to confirm.
11. Reset All Settings to fix iPhone not making or receiving calls issue
If you’ve tried everything else in this list and you still can’t make or receive calls on your iPhone, it might be time to reset all your phone’s settings.
Resetting iOS settings can be a pain, however, this might get your iPhone to start making and receiving calls again.
Here’s how to reset all settings on your iPhone:
- Open the Settings app.
- Select General.
- Go into Transfer or Reset iPhone.
- Tap Reset.
- Hit Reset All Settings and follow instructions to complete the process.
12. Perform a factory reset
A hard reset can take care of issues that a simple restart doesn’t, but make sure you’ve backed up important data before doing so.
13. Contact your cell carrier
Have you paid your bill? Even if you have auto-pay set up, that can fail due to problems with your bank or a technical glitch. Your carrier should alert you to this, but it may be via snail mail. If there isn’t a payment issue, technical support can help you check for other problems and alert you to area outages.
You can always contact your carrier through social media, but sometimes a good old-fashioned call might address your concerns better.
Here are the customer support numbers of the major US providers:
- Verizon Wireless: 800-922-0204
- AT&T: 611 from an AT&T phone or 800-331-0500
- T-Mobile: 611 from a T-Mobile phone or 1-877-746-0909 from another phone
- U.S. Cellular: 611 from a US Cellular phone or 1-888-944-9400 from another phone
14. Get your iPhone checked out for hardware problems
Sometimes, iPhone not making or receiving calls is due to a faulty hardware. If you’ve recently dropped your iPhone, that could have damaged the antenna or other internal components. Take it to an Apple authorized repair shop to get it checked out.
If your device is brand new, on the other hand, but still experiencing consistent call issues, you might have a faulty unit. Contact Apple support or carrier you bought it from immediately. You will have to send in your device to get it checked out. Make sure to backup your iPhone before handing it in. If faulty, you should get a replacement unit in a reasonable amount of time in most cases.
This is how to fix iPhone not making or receiving calls issue
iPhone call issues may be brought about by problem with your cellular provider or your phone. To fix the problem, you should toggle Airplane mode, restart your phone, and reset your SIM card. You can also reset your iPhone’s network settings, but that will erase passwords.
Did we manage to help you solve your iPhone call issue? Let us know in the comments section below.