iPhone Not Ringing: Here’s What To Do
If your iPhone won’t ring the way it should, don’t panic. There are a number of issues that you may be experiencing that you can fix on your own from the comfort of your own couch. We’re gonna walk you through troubleshooting these common problems to fix iPhone ringing issues.
The Quickest Fixes
There are a few very simple things that may be wrong that you can fix in seconds. These may seem painfully obvious to some of you, but let’s be honest, who hasn’t accidentally hit a phone app on their iPhone by mistake before (sometimes sending a Facetime Call to your boss)? Let’s just rule out these common culprits before we get into the nitty-gritty.
1. Check That Do Not Disturb Mode and Focus Mode Are Off
In order to receive incoming call notifications, you must turn off Do Not Disturb mode.
There are two ways to check this:
If you often have trouble navigating your phone, start by going to your settings app on your home screen or in your app library.
Next, select the menu titled “Focus.” The first option on this menu should be a moon icon followed by Do Not Disturb. Tap this. This will open up a window where you can not only turn this mode on and off, but you can also fine-tune what your iPhone does while Do Not Disturb is on.
You can also access the Do Not Disturb switch through your iPhone’s control center. From your Home Page, swipe up to open the control center. Then locate the moon icon (The Do Not Disturb icon), and tap it so that it is NOT illuminated. If the icon is illuminated in color, do not disturb mode is on. Tap it to switch it off.
If you have multiple Apple devices, it’s possible that this mode is turned on on one other device, impacting all your devices. Check on your mac and iPad just to confirm they’re not on Do Not Disturb mode.
2. Check That Silent Mode Is Off
If silent mode is on, your phone may be vibrating instead of ringing out loud. Instead of vibrating, it may also just be silently displaying incoming calls on your screen. Either way, the ringtone won’t be playing out loud.
Your iPhone has a physical switch on the left side of the phone. Above the volume button on the side of your iPhone, there’s a small switch to toggle ring/silent mode. If the silent switch is pushed down, and you can see a sliver of red, silent mode is on. If the switch is pushed up, toward the screen, and there is no visible red, your iPhone ringer is on. When you toggle the switch, you will also get a notification banner across the top of your screen telling you which mode you’ve enabled.
On the other hand, if you would prefer to keep your phone vibrate-only, you can change this in your settings and leave the silent mode switch in the downward position. Go to your settings, go to Sounds & Haptics, and make sure that Vibrate on Silent is switched on. Next, tap ringtone, and then tap the first field, Vibration, so you can customize the vibration patterns.
3. Check That Your Volume Is Up
Sometimes the simplest solution is all you need. Perhaps your volume is too low to hear the ringer when it rings.
Locate the volume buttons on the left side of your phone. They may appear as one long button, but that bar contains a button for volume up and a button for volume down. Press the top part of the bar, the volume up button, until the volume icon on-screen displays a reasonably high volume for your hearing ability.
You can also go into your settings app, and select the Sounds & Haptics menu. Under the field titled ringer and alerts, you can use the slide bar on your screen to adjust the ringer volume and turn on the ability to control this setting using the volume buttons. Under Sound and Vibration patterns, click ringtone. Click any ringtone to play it out loud. If you hear the tone, then your volume is not the issue, and you can rule out this issue. This is also the page from which you can set a custom ringtone.
4. Check That the Headphone Mode Is Off
If you remove your headphones often during the day, it’s possible that your phone is, in fact, ringing as normal; it’s just ringing in headphones that aren’t on your head.
If you keep AirPods or other Bluetooth devices for audio connected to your iPhone, there’s a good chance your incoming calls are ringing in those devices even when you’re not using them.
Complex Solutions
If none of the above has solved the problem, it’s time to break out the big troubleshooter tools. Many of these solutions are more time-consuming than quick fixes, but they’re still absolutely doable by any iPhone user at home.
1. Make Sure Your Phone Is Running the Most Recent iOS.
Oftentimes, when your iPhone is not running the most recent iOS, you’ll notice all sorts of little glitches. It’s important to update your operating system when possible so that you have the most up-to-date fixes for little glitches like this. A little software update, like updating from iOS 13 to iOS 15, goes a long way.
To update your iOS, navigate to your settings app, then select General, which has the gray gear icon. Next select Software Update from the top of the general menu. It’s a good idea to turn on Automatic Updates on this page at this time. If you have any iOS updates available on this page, select the Download and Install blue text button. You will have to restart your iPhone in the process. In the most age-old tech advice way, sometimes turning it on and off again works wonders.
2. Your Speakers Are Not Functioning Normally
If you’ve noticed that all audio on your phone is acting funny, or perhaps you hear no sound at all, you may have a hardware issue on your hand. Address this after checking your headphone mode; make sure your device is attempting to play through its own speakers. If you still hear nothing, or if the sound is warped, the issue may or may not be fixable.
If you look into your iPhone speakers, and they are full of lint, dirt, and other funk, that may be the issue. Use a small tool, like the tip of a safety pin to clear some of the debris. Be very careful not to shove the debris deeper into the device.
If you are unable to remove any or enough debris to revive your speakers, you may unfortunately have to take it to a professional to determine if the internal problem is fixable or not.
3. Determine if This Issue Is Impacting All Callers or Only Specific Callers
If this issue is only impacting a few callers, it's possible those callers may be blocked on your phone. If a caller is blocked, it means your phone will not allow calls from them to appear on your phone. The caller will not necessarily know they have been blocked.
You can check your list of blocked numbers by entering your Settings app, scrolling to the phone menu, then scrolling to select Blocked Contacts. You should see a list of all the phone numbers you’ve blocked. To block a new number, tap Add New at the bottom of the list. Then, you can select a name from your contacts.
If you decide those callers were blocked unintentionally, you can unblock phone numbers. When viewing your list of blocked numbers, tap the Edit button in the top right corner of the screen. Red minus buttons will appear next to each blocked number. Tap the minus button next to any numbers you would like to unblock.
If you wish to silence unknown callers, however, you can do this by entering your settings app, scrolling down to the green Phone icon, tapping the Phone menu, and scrolling down to select the Silence Unknown Callers option. These calls will still appear in your call log, and their callers can still leave voicemails.
4. Is Your Voicemail Affected as Well?
If you’ve noticed that not only is your phone not ringing on incoming calls, but your callers are unable to leave a voicemail as well, you have a much bigger problem than your phone not ringing. Missed calls should show up in your missed call log, but it can be extremely frustrating to get a notification that you missed a call when you didn’t even hear it ring.
What To Do if None of These Solutions Solve the Problem
Unfortunately, there are some issues that can only be solved by a professional. As a penultimate troubleshooting step before accepting that it’s time for a replacement, take your phone in person to an expert. At this point, there’s a significant chance that the cost to fix the issue could surpass your personal “worth it” threshold, and it may be time for a new phone.
If you’ve been considering getting a new phone for a while anyway, now’s the perfect time to shop for a new iPhone. All models of iPhone 12, iPhone 13, iPhone SE, and iPhone 14 are now available for more affordable rates than when they were released, and Red Pocket Mobile has some awesome, inexpensive data plans you could upgrade to when you upgrade your phone!
Sources:
14 Solutions for When Your iPhone Doesn’t Ring for Incoming Calls | Make Use Of
8 ways to fix an iPhone that's not ringing properly | Business Insider
