13 Ways to Fix iPhone Voicemail Not Working in iOS 16

If your iPhone voicemail isn’t working after iOS 16 update, use these troubleshooting tips to fix the issue.

Are you experiencing problems with visual voicemail on your iPhone running iOS 16? Several iPhone users have reported that their voicemails and/or their voicemail transcripts are not showing up. Other users have stated their voicemails suddenly vanish. Some users have said that they can see their voicemails but they won’t play. Finally, others users have reported that their voicemail stopped working after the iOS 16 update.

If voicemails are not working after iOS 16 update, you may need to set up or tweak your settings to get them working again. To help you, this article explains a few ways you can fix the iOS 16 voicemail problems so you don’t miss any important messages.

Fixes for voicemail not working on iPhone in iOS 16

Here are some tips that you may try to troubleshoot voicemail issues on your iOS 16 device. Note: information in this article applies to iPhone 13, iPhone 12, iPhone 11, iPhone X, and iPhone 8.

Before you start troubleshooting, it’s worth noting that you can use the visual voicemail feature if your carrier supports this, in the USA, most carriers including Verizon, AT&T, and T-Mobile support this.

Please also note that if the inbox of your voicemails is full, you will need to delete some voicemails.

1. Is voicemail set up on your iOS 16 device?

First, you should make sure that your voicemail is set up properly on your iOS 16 device. If you recently changed carriers (or even plans at the same carrier), you might need to do an initial voicemail configuration.

Have someone call you, can he or she leave a voicemail message? If not, make sure that you set up your voicemail. Follow these steps:

1. Open the Phone app on your iPhone to begin.
2. Tap the Voicemail tab located at the bottom of the screen.
3. to manually set up, tap Set Up Now and follow the onscreen prompts.
   If you don’t see the ’Set Up Now’ pop-up, your Voicemail has already been set up.

2. 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. Launch the Phone app.
2. Tap on the Voicemail tab located at the bottom of the screen.
3. Tap on Greeting in the upper-left of the Voicemail screen.
4. On the Greeting screen, you should see a checkmark for Default or Custom. If it’s currently set to Default, tap Custom to record a greeting.
5. Tap Record to begin.
6. When finished, tap Stop .
7. To complete, tap ’Done’ or ’Save’.

After recording a custom greeting, be sure Custom is checked and then tap Save.

3. Is call forwarding turned on?

Most of the time, call forwarding is useful. However, it could also be the reason Voicemail is not working in iOS 16. There is a high chance you set up call forwarding at some time in the past and forgot to turn it off. Incoming calls might be 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. Open the Settings app.
2. Scroll down and tap on Phone.
3. Select Call Forwarding to see if the feature is enabled or not.
4. If call forwarding is enabled, turn it off by swiping the button to the left.

4. Test your voicemail by dialing it directly

If you find voicemail not working in iOS 16 after trying the above solutions, there might be a problem with your voicemail service at the cellular carrier. You can easily check this for yourself using the Phone app on your iPhone.

1. Open the Phone app.
2. Tap on the Keypad tab located 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.

5. Turn your cellular service off and on again

While this may not necessarily fix your problem, it doesn’t hurt to give it a shot. You might be able to revive your voicemail by toggling the cellular radio off and back on again. Here’s how:

1. Swipe down from the top right of your screen to bring up the Control Center.
2. Locate the Airplane mode button and tap onit.
3. Wait for one minute or two and then turn off Airplane mode by tapping the button a second time.
4. Wait for the cellular radio to reconnect and check if your voicemail is working again.

6. Close and reopen the Phone app

You may be having this issue because the Phone app may not be working as expected. If you’ve gotten this far and your voicemail still doesn’t work in iOS 16, you may try restarting the phone app to see if this helps. If the app was suffering a minor software problem, it might now work.

1. Navigate to your Home screen and swipe up from the bottom of the screen to bring up the app switcher.
2. Swipe left or right until you find the Phone app preview.
3. Swipe up on the preview. This will close the Phone app.

7. Check for a carrier setting update

Cellular carriers sometimes update their settings. Usually, these updates are installed automatically and you don’t have to do anything. If an update didn’t get installed, though, it’s possible – not likely, but possible – that it could be interfering with your iPhone voicemail. You can check for pending carrier updates on your iPhone by going to Settings > General > About. If there is a carrier update, you will see an option to update. A popup will appear asking you if you want to update. Tap Update.

8. Restart your iPhone

As unexplainable as it may be, we find most iPhone issues are fixed with a simple reboot. A plethora of possible discrepancies could cause your voicemail problem, and chances are that if you are here looking for answers, your phone complication is a bit more complex, but it doesn’t hurt to remind you to try the good ol’ restart. It just might work.

To restart your iPhone: Press and hold the side (on the side of your iPhone) and the volume down or up buttons together until you see the power off slider. Drag the slider from left to right. Wait for about a minute and then press and hold the side button until you see the Apple logo on the screen.

9. Check for iOS updates

Make sure that your iPhone is running the latest version of iOS 16 beta. You can check for iOS updates by going to Settings > General > Software Update.

10. Voicemail transcripts not working in iOS 16

If your voicemail transcripts are not working in iOS 16, or if you are getting an error message like “Transcription not Available”. Siri may be the cause. Follow the steps below:

1. Go to Settings
2. Tap Siri & Search.
3. Tap to turn off Listen for “Hey Siri”.
4. turn off Press Side Button for Siri. Restart your phone.
5. Finally, turn on these Siri settings by navigating to Settings > Siri & Search.

11. Check your Cellular connection

Make sure that your iOS 16 device is connected to a cellular network. Visual VoiceMails require a strong cellular connection to work effectively.

You can restart your cellular connection by turning Airplane Mode on, wait for about a minute and turn it off. Airplane Mode will disable all of your device’s wireless functions. Turning on and off may fix your iPhone 13 voicemail issues.

12. Reset your network settings

If your voicemail service appears to be normal but it’s still not working in iOS 16, 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. Open the Settings app on your iPhone.
2. Go to General.
3. Scroll down and tap Transfer or Reset iPhone.
4. Select Reset.
5. Tap Reset Network Settings and confirm your decision.

13. Contact Your Carrier For Support

If your iOS 16 device voicemail still isn’t working, it could indicate an issue with the service provided by your network carrier. At this point, the best thing you can do is speak to your carrier to ensure that there isn’t a fault or issue that needs to be resolved with further technical support.

If there is a fault, your carrier can investigate and resolve the issue. They may also be able to offer additional support to set up and configure the voicemail on your iPhone 13 Pro, if required.

Fixed Voicemail not working on iPhone running iOS 16

You’ve fixed the problem and your iOS 16 device voicemails are now working again! Now let us know which one of the above tricks worked in solving this annoying problem on your device. Besides, if you’ve had success solving voicemail problems on your iPhone running iOS 16 another way, share in the comments below!