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Apple iPhone • Connections • 10 minutes

Set up and check voicemail — Apple iPhone

To dial into your voicemail as normal, press and hold 1 on the keypad. You'll hear your messages played one after another, and you follow spoken prompts to listen, delete, or save them. If you'd like an updated version that can be simpler to use and have more details, use visual voicemail. Instead of calling in, you see a list of your messages right on your phone, with who called and when. You can tap any message to listen to it in any order, and many phones also show a written transcript of the message. Voicemail is a carrier service, not just a phone setting. If a step below doesn't look like your phone, your carrier handles it differently, and calling them is the fix.

  1. Check for a software update

    Go to Settings, then General, then Software Update. If one is available, install it first.

  2. Set it up

    Open Phone, tap Voicemail (bottom right), then Set Up Now. Make a voicemail password and record a greeting, using Default or Custom to record your own.

  3. Listen

    Open Phone, then Voicemail, tap a message, then play. Tap the speaker button to hear it out loud.

  4. If you see "Call Voicemail" instead of a list

    Your carrier doesn't support visual voicemail. Tap it to dial in and enter your password when asked.

  5. Change your greeting later

    Phone, then Voicemail, then Greeting (top left). Change your password: Settings, then Phone, then Change Voicemail Password. If that setting isn't there, call your carrier.

  6. Missing voicemails from new numbers?

    Check Settings, then Phone, then Silence Unknown Callers. It sends unknown callers straight to voicemail, so their messages land here without ringing.

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