How to turn off voicemail on iPhone

Voice mail is an effective way to ensure that if you miss an important call, the caller can leave you a message. However, the way it works on modern smartphones seems a bit dated. Even on an iPhone, many carriers don’t support Visual Voicemail, leaving you with the old-fashioned system of having to dial your voicemail to play your messages.

The problem with voicemail is that you have no control over who can leave you a message. Your voice mailbox may be full of unwanted calls. It may get to the point where you decide you’d rather not have to deal with voicemail at all.

If this is the case, keep reading to learn more about how to turn off voicemail on your iPhone.

How to turn off voicemail on iPhone with MMI codes

You may be able to turn off voicemail on your iPhone directly using MMI codes. These are special codes that you dial in the Phone app that perform special functions. There are some MMI codes you can try that can turn off your voicemail on your iPhone, though they may not work with many carriers.

The easiest way to test if they have worked is to call your own number or call your number from another phone and not answer.

To disable voicemail on iPhone with an MMI code:

1. Open the Phone app on your iPhone.
2. enter the code ##004# and press the button Tick icon.
   
3. You should see a message that the setting deactivation was successful.
   
4. Try calling your phone to see if your calls are still going to voicemail.
5. If so, try the following codes to see if they work:

• • ##61# to disable call forwarding on no answer
  • ##62# to disable call forwarding when you are not available
  • ##67# to disable call forwarding when busy

6. Try calling your phone again. If you still get voicemail, you’ll need to try one of the other options below.

How to turn off voicemail through your provider

One of the most effective ways to turn off your voicemail is to contact your carrier and ask them to turn it off for you. As frustrating as it can be to be on hold to speak to someone, once you get through, your carrier is in the best position to turn off your voicemail for you.

You will need to find the contact number for your specific carrier, but below are some of the contact numbers for the most popular US carriers:

• T-Mobile/Sprint: 611 from your mobile or 800-937-8997 from another phone
• AT&T: 611 from your mobile or 800-331-0550 from another phone
• Verizon: *611 from your mobile or 800-922-0204 from another phone

How to set up call forwarding to bypass voicemail

Another way to prevent your phone from going to voicemail if you don’t answer or are busy is to set up call forwarding. Unfortunately, there’s no way to set your calls to forward only if you don’t answer or if you’re busy. It means that all calls you receive will be forwarded to the number you select.

If you want to be able to decide when calls are forwarded, you’ll need to contact your carrier and ask if they can set up conditional call forwarding.

To set up call forwarding on iPhone:

1. Open the Settings application
2. Scroll down and tap Phone.
   
3. Low callsselect call forwarding.
   
4. Lever call forwarding in.
   
5. Tap forward to.
   
6. Enter the number to which you want your calls to be forwarded.
   
7. Once you have entered the number, tap Back.
   
8. Confirm that the number you entered has been saved.
   
9. If you want to stop call forwarding, repeat steps 1-3 and change call forwarding off.
   

How to disable voicemail by filling it out

If you can’t get any of the above methods to work, there is one more option you can try. This is a hack, but it works for many people. The trick is to fill your voicemail with a message from yourself. Once your voicemail is full, no one else will be able to leave a voicemail in your inbox.

To fill your voicemail:

1. Dial your own number from your iPhone.
2. Please leave a short voicemail message. Just ‘hello’ will do.
3. Repeat the steps until you are informed that voicemail is full and you cannot leave a message.
4. Now your voicemail is full, no one else will be able to leave a message either.
5. Most providers automatically delete voicemail after a set period, such as 30 days. When this happens, you will need to repeat these steps to repopulate your voicemail.

More tips and tricks for iPhone

If you’re wondering how to turn off voicemail on iPhone, you’ll be surprised to find that it’s not as simple as you might expect. Often the best option is to call your provider and see if they can do it for you. If all else fails, filling up your inbox can be an effective solution, albeit a bit difficult to do.

As an iPhone user, there are many other useful tips and tricks that you should know about. If your contact list is getting out of hand, you can learn how to delete all contacts on iPhone. If you want to have a record of the calls you make, you can learn how to record calls on iPhone. You may also want to learn how to save audio messages on an iPhone.