Phone

You can view your call history on your iPad and delete all your recent calls or just specific calls. You can also get more details about your call history with a caller, and to recover a deleted call history, you can restore your iPad from a backup you made before.

Delete your call history

1. Start the Phone app on your iPad.
2. Tap the Filter button and tap Calls, Missed, or Spam.
3. Do one of the following:
   • Delete calls one at a time: Swipe a call all the way to the left.
   • Delete multiple calls: Tap Edit, tap Select, tap the calls you want to delete, and tap Delete.

Recovering a deleted call history means you’ll have to restore your iPad from a backup made before the data was deleted.

Get more details about your call history

1. Start the Phone app on your iPad.
2. Tap the Filter button, then tap Calls or Missed.
3. Tap a name or number in your call history to view information about the caller, and your call history with the caller.

Note: More information about deleted calls or older call histories may be available from your carrier.

See also

• Screen and block calls on iPad
• Answer or decline incoming calls on iPad

There are a number of ways you can make a phone call on your iPad: dial the number on the keypad, choose a favorite or recent call, or choose a number in your contacts list.

You can also redial or return a recent call, add or remove contacts from your Favorites, and view information when you make a call. And Siri can call or dial a number for you, if you speak each digit separately.

Note: If the Phone app isn’t on your iPad, you can download it from the App Store.

Dial a number

Siri: Ask Siri to call or dial a number. Speak each digit separately—for example, “four one five, five five five….” For the 800 area code in the U.S., you can say “eight hundred.” Learn how to use Siri.

Or without using Siri:

1. Open the Phone app on your iPad.
2. Tap the Circle Grid button in the top-right corner. Then do any of the following:
   • Enter the number using the keypad: If you make a mistake, tap the Delete button.
   • Redial the last number: Tap the Call button to see the last number you dialed and then tap the Call button to call that number.
   • Paste a number you’ve copied: Tap the phone number field above the keypad and tap Paste.
   • Enter a soft (2-second) pause: Touch and hold the star (*) key until a comma appears.
   • Enter a hard pause (to pause dialing until you tap the Dial button): Touch and hold the pound (#) key until a semicolon appears.
   • Enter a “+” for international calls: Touch and hold the “0” key until “+” appears.
3. Tap the Call button to start the call.

To end the call, tap the End Call button.

View information when you make a call

With Apple Intelligence, a Call Context card with related information may appear when you start a call. This can include an upcoming or recent birthday when you call a contact, or it can include tickets, orders, or confirmation numbers when you call certain businesses. Tap the card to view the information in the related app, such as Mail or Wallet.

To turn Call Context on or off, do the following:

1. Open Settings, then tap Apps.
2. Tap Phone, then tap Siri.
3. Turn Show When Calling on or off.

To find related information like confirmation codes or reservation numbers, Call Context identifies the business from the phone number you dial and then searches Mail, Messages, Wallet, and Calendar.

Note: Apple Intelligence on iPadOS 27 or later is available on an Apple Intelligence-enabled iPad mini (A17 Pro) and iPad models with M1 or later. Apple Intelligence is not available in all languages or regions. Usage limits may apply.*

Add or remove contacts from your Favorites

1. Open the Phone app on your iPad.
2. Tap the Filter button, then tap Calls.
3. To add a contact to your Favorites, tap Edit in the top-left corner of the screen. Then do one of the following:
   • If you’re adding your first Favorite: Tap Add Favorite.
   • If you’ve already added a Favorite: Tap Edit Favorites and then tap the Add button.
4. Tap a contact and choose the default method of communication (for example, message, call, or video) and the preferred number. Tap the Done button.
5. To remove a contact from your Favorites, tap Edit, tap Edit Favorites, tap the Remove button in the upper-left corner of the contact you want to remove, and tap the Done button.

To contact someone in your Favorites, tap their name.

Redial or return a recent call

1. Open the Phone app on your iPad.
2. Tap the Filter button, then tap Calls.
3. In the Recents list on the left side of your screen, tap a name or number.

   Information about the call or caller appears on the right side of the screen.

4. To redial or return a call, tap the Call button below the caller’s name or number on the right side of the screen.

Call someone on your contacts list

Siri: Ask Siri something like “Call Eliza’s mobile.” Learn how to use Siri.

Or do the following:

1. Open the Phone app on your iPad.
2. Tap the search field in the top-right corner of the screen, type the name of the contact you want to call. Tap their name when it appears in the search results.
3. In the contact card on the right side of the screen, tap the Phone button. Then tap the number you want to call.

WARNING: For important information about avoiding distractions that could lead to dangerous situations, see Important safety information for iPad.

*Apple Intelligence is available with Siri and device language set to Chinese (Simplified), Chinese (Traditional), Danish, Dutch, English, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Norwegian, Portuguese, Spanish, Swedish, Turkish, or Vietnamese. Some features may not be available in all regions or languages. Some devices may not be available in all regions. Siri AI is available in beta in iOS 27, iPadOS 27, macOS 27, watchOS 27, and visionOS 27 and requires an Apple Intelligence–enabled device set to a supported language. Available in English to start. Siri AI will not be initially available in the EU on iOS, iPadOS, and watchOS. Certain Apple Intelligence features that rely on server-side models are subject to daily usage limits, including but not limited to Siri AI, Intelligent Photo Editing Tools, Image Playground, and AFM 3 Cloud models in Shortcuts. Daily limits may vary by feature, request complexity, system demand, system policies, and other factors. Expanded access to such features will be available for a fee in the future. Use of these features is subject to the Apple Intelligence Terms and Conditions.

See also

• Use iPhone to allow calls and text messages on your iPad
• Answer or decline incoming calls on iPad

In your Phone settings on iPad, you can hide your Caller ID on outgoing calls, prioritize caller identification apps, turn on Dial Assist, and change the default calling app. Dial Assist then automatically determines the correct international or local prefix when you’re dialing.

Hide your Caller ID

You can prevent your Caller ID information from showing on outgoing calls on iPad.

1. Open the Settings app on your iPad.
2. Tap Apps, then tap Phone.
3. Tap Show My Caller ID and turn it off.

Note: A missing Show My Caller ID option may mean your carrier doesn’t allow you to turn off your caller ID information.

Prioritize caller identification apps

Caller ID information on iPad comes from several main sources, listed here:

• Contacts app: The people in your contacts app.
• Name and Photo Sharing: Callers who have turned on Name and Photo Sharing in Settings > their name > Personal Information.
• Carrier Call Directory: Caller information identified by supported carriers.
• Business Call Identification: Caller information identified by Apple Business Connect or your cellular provider.
• Call Identification apps: Any caller information identified by supported caller ID apps.

If you’ve installed additional caller identification apps, you can rank them for identifying incoming calls and change their order at any point. Say you want one caller identification app to be the preferred one, with the rest used only when the primary app can’t identify the caller.

1. Open the Settings app on your iPad.
2. Tap Apps, then tap Phone.
3. Tap Call Blocking & Identification. Tap Edit at the top of the screen.
4. Drag the Sort button to reorder the priority of the apps.

Turn on Dial Assist

Dial assist automatically determines the correct international or local prefix when dialing.

1. Open the Settings app on your iPad.
2. Tap Apps, then tap Phone.
3. Scroll down, then turn on Dial Assist.

Change the default calling app

Rather than the built-in Apple Phone app, you can choose an alternative, third-party app as your default for making and receiving phone calls. First, confirm the app you want to switch to supports these features, and contact the app developer if you aren’t sure.

1. Open the Settings app on your iPad.
2. Tap Apps, then tap Phone.
3. Tap Default Calling App. Tap the app you want set as the default.

See also

• Use iPhone to allow calls and text messages on your iPad
• Change the default apps on iPad

You can answer, silence, or decline an incoming call on iPad. If you decline a call, it goes to voicemail, and you can also respond to a call with a text.

You can still answer a silenced call, too, until it goes to voicemail. Before deciding whether to answer, you can even ask the caller for more information, and their reply will appear on your screen as text. In some countries or regions, though, declined calls are disconnected without being sent to voicemail.

Answer a call

When a call comes in, you can answer it in either of these ways:

• Tap the Answer Call button.
• If your iPad is locked, drag the slider.

Silence a call

Press the top button or either volume button when a call is coming in.

You can still answer a silenced call until it goes to voicemail.

Note: You can also have iPad automatically screen and silence calls from unknown numbers. See our article, Screen or silence unknown numbers.

Decline a call and send it directly to voicemail

To send an incoming call to voicemail, do one of the following:

• Press the top button twice quickly.
• Tap the Decline Call button.
• Swipe up on the call banner.

You can also swipe down on the call banner for more options. Do any of the following:

• Tap Remind Me, then choose when you want a reminder to return the call.
• Tap Message, then choose a default reply or tap Custom.

  To create your own default replies, go to Settings > Apps > Phone > Respond with Text, tap any field below Respond With, then type your own reply.

Note: In some countries or regions, declined calls are disconnected without being sent to voicemail.

Ask a caller for more information without answering a call

Before deciding whether to answer a call, you can type a message that asks the caller for more information.

Tap Type to Reply, then type the message you want your iPad to say to the caller. Their reply will appear on your screen as text.

See also

• Use iPhone to allow calls and text messages on your iPad
• While on a call on iPad