Picture this: You’re waiting for an important phone call. You’ve double-checked your iPhone to make sure the ringer is on and you’ve turned the volume all the way up. When the phone rings, you’re going to hear it. 5 minutes go by and you glance at your iPhone, only to find out you’ve missed the important call! Don’t throw your phone at the cat. In this article, I’ll explain why your iPhone won’t ring and I’ll show you exactly how to fix it.
Martha Aron inspired me to write this article when she asked, “My iPhone does not ring on all calls, I miss lots of calls and texts because of this. Can you help me?” Martha, I’m here to help you and everyone else that has missed incoming calls and texts because their iPhone isn’t ringing.
You Probably Know This, But Check Anyway…
If you’re reading this article, you probably already know that for your iPhone to ring, the Ring / Silent switch on the side of your iPhone has to be set to ring.
If the switch is pulled toward the screen, your iPhone’s ringer is turned on. If the switch is pushed toward the back of the iPhone, your iPhone is on silent and you’ll see a small orange stripe next to the switch. You’ll also see the speaker icon on the iPhone display when you flip the switch.
Once you’re sure the Ring / Silent switch is set to ring, make sure your iPhone ringer is turned up so you can hear your iPhone ring when you get a call. You can turn up the ringer volume by pressing the volume up button on the side of your iPhone.
You can also turn up the ringer volume by opening Settings -> Sounds & Haptics. Drag the slider under Ringer And Alerts to the right to turn up the ringer volume on your iPhone. The further you drag the slider to right, the louder the ringer will be.
If your iPhone isn’t making any sound at all, my article about what to do when an iPhone speaker stops working will show you how to fix that problem. If you’ve already done all this, here’s why your iPhone isn’t ringing:
Here’s The Fix: Turn Off Focus Or Do Not Disturb!
Most of the time, the reason an iPhone isn’t ringing for incoming calls is that the user has accidentally turned on Focus (iOS 15 and newer)Â or Do Not Disturb (iOS 14 and older) feature in Settings. Focus and Do Not Disturb silence calls, alerts, and notifications on your iPhone.
How Do I Know If A Focus Or Do Not Disturb Is Turned On?
The easiest way to tell if a Focus or Do Not Disturb is turned on is to open Control Center and look in the upper right-hand corner of your iPhone, just to the left of the battery icon. If a Focus is enabled, you’ll see the corresponding Focus icon there. If Do Not Disturb is enabled, you’ll see a small moon icon there.
You can schedule a Focus to automatically turn on by opening Settings and tapping Focus. Tap the Focus you’d like to schedule, then tap Add Schedule or Automation.
If you’d like to dive deeper into Do Not Disturb and set up an automatic schedule, instance, head to Settings -> Do Not Disturb to see all the options available to you.
How Do I Turn Off A Focus?
Open Control Center by swiping up from the very bottom of the screen (iPhones without Face ID) or down from the upper right-hand corner of the screen (iPhones with Face ID). Tap on the Focus icon to turn it off.
How Do I Turn Off Do Not Disturb?
Ever since Apple released iOS 7, it’s been easy to turn Do Not Disturb on and off. Open Control Center and tap the moon icon to turn Do Not Disturb on or off.
You can also turn off Do Not Disturb or Focus by going to Settings -> Do Not Disturb and turning off the switch next to Do Not Disturb. You’ll know Do Not Disturb is off when the switch is white.
If your iPhone is running iOS 15 or newer, open Settings and tap Focus -> Do Not Disturb and turn off the switch at the top of the screen.
Turn Off “Silence Unknown Callers”
One reason why you have an iPhone ringing problem may be because your block unknown callers feature is turned on. This feature is great for stopping telemarketers and robocalls in their tracks, but unfortunately it also filters out some people that you actually do want to talk to.
To turn this off, head over to Settings -> Phone and turn off the switch next to Silence Unknown Callers. Once you’ve done that, your phone should be able to ring again when someone who isn’t in your contacts tries to call you.
What If My iPhone Still Won’t Ring?
I’ve received a couple of comments from readers who have taken all of the suggestions and whose iPhones still aren’t ringing. If you’ve made it this far and your iPhone isn’t ringing, there’s a good chance you may have a hardware problem.
Often times, when gunk or liquid gets into one of the ports (like the headphone jack or lightning / dock connector), your iPhone thinks there’s something plugged into it, when in fact there isn’t. My article about how to fix an iPhone that’s stuck in headphone mode explains why that happens and how to fix the problem.
It’s a long shot, but you can take an antistatic brush (or toothbrush you’ve never used before) and try to brush out the gunk from your headphone jack or lightning / dock connector port. Antistatic brushes are helpful for cleaning all sorts of electronics, and you can pick up a 3-pack on Amazon for less than $5.
If you’re successful, the issue should resolve itself. Unfortunately, most of the time the damage has already been done. Something has shorted out on the inside of your iPhone, so the only solution is to visit your local Apple Store or use the mail-in options at Apple’s support website to have your iPhone repaired.
Now might also be a good time to upgrade your iPhone. Repairs can be expensive, especially if more than one thing is wrong with your iPhone. Rather than spending hundreds of dollars on a repair, you could use that money to purchase a new phone. Check out UpPhone’s cell phone comparison tool to find a great deal on a new iPhone!
Wrapping It Up
Do Not Disturb is one of those great features that comes in handy if you know how to use it, but it can be really frustrating if you don’t. To Martha and everyone else who has missed important calls or yelled “My iPhone won’t ring!” at an innocent bystander, I hope this article has you to solve your silent iPhone problem. If you have follow-up questions or other experiences to share, post them in the comments section below. I look forward to hearing from you!
Hi does this mini Google only work with I phones ? What if I have a att phone
thanks so much…so simple didn’t know about that switch….you’re the best!
THANKS!! I totally forgot about the switch on the side of the phone!!
Thank you! I always forget about that little switch!
Thank you. Never had noticed the switch before.
I tried all that and it still won’t ring. Why won’t it ring? Because it rings in my headphones via bluetooth. Make sure the ringer isn’t sounding in your headphones.
Same problem if you got any solution please explain the procure.. It will be help me too
Look at the Announce calls setting. Setting; Phone; announced calls.
This was very helpful to me and saved me from going into the iPhone store. Thank you!
My text message allert sound not working, but the phone does rings for an incoming call
Thank you for this explanation. Ive been going crazy for weeks trying to figure out why my phone wasnt ringing. This is such an easy fix, but I had no idea why I was having this problem!
Thank you!!!
It was that dam little half moon.THANKS!
Ty so much you helped me and saved my phone from destruction.
Embarrassed how easy that was. I feel like a numbskull. Thanks for at least sparing me the mortification of going to the Apple Store. Keep up the good work, David.
Thanks for your help, I really appreciate you assisting me. Have a blessed day!!
I didn’t know there is a “switch”! Lol thanks a lot
My iPhone SE wont ring when locked, only a choice of locked or silent! What do I do ??
YOU ARE A GENIUS!
My girlfriend texted me and I didnt know because I cant hear it ring ringer is on and do not disturb is off what do I do
awesome thank you – I had no idea
Thank you so much
That d*mn switch… thanxa lot!
Thank you!
thank you dumb me didn’t see it
Check the button on left side, if its down it means sound off………bring it up ringer will work
Thank you, my phone hadn’t been ringing for months and I didn’t know why. The mute switch was on.
Thank you!! Sure enough, the “silent switch” was in on position. I have an Otterbox Defender cover on the phone, so overlooked the obvious since it was covered up. Thanks again!
This list helped because my switch to turn the ringer on and off became sticky after I fell on my phone. I believed I had the switch on, but flipping the switch on and off did not produce any icons on the screen – that was the useful tip. There was some dirt between my case and the phone, so I cleaned my case and turned the switch on and the icon showed that the ringer was back on. I think there was some dirt that was preventing the switch from moving *all* the way to the front.
Thank You ! I tried the do not disturb button and that was not the Problem but when I read that tip about the headphones I new I that was the problem because I never use that option therefore if I had used that option it would clear from time to time! As soon as I plugged in the headsets the sound started working thanks again for the tip !!
Hi David hope you can help my iPhone is giving the message the other person has cleared when people are ringing me and I dont get a missed call notification. Its doesnt seem to be the do not disturb button. how do I stop this thanks Wendy
You are a genius. Actually, what helped me was going to another one of your articles, this one on the iPhone being stuck in headphone mode. That wasn’t my problem, but the first suggestion, to do a hard reset worked for my problem, the loss of the ringtone. I haven’t had it for months, and checked out every one of your suggestions about Do Not Disturb and the silencer button on the side of the phone. If all that doesn’t work, try the hard reset. And thanks!
Somehow long ago I must have bumped the “Moon” when swiping up for the flashlight or calculator. I often wondered what the moon meant, but was conveniently distracted. Now, putting two and two together, I feel a bit silly at all my frustration. Thank you David P.
Taking a stiff wire brush to it while showering every morning does wonders. And remember a little elbow grease never hurts. Happy iphoning.
Wow , thanks a lot. Much appreciated. It was so much help,
I was actually getting worried that my iphone x was no longer working
Thanks,I just purchased my first iphone & it rang when I bought it,but stopped after I bought a protective case.When I placed the iphone x into the case it flipped the switched & I had no idea it was an on/off switch.
brilliant x
I tried everything with no success. What finally worked for me was shutting off the phone and then restarting it.
Thanks a lot! I’m very new to the iPhone and it was the switch that had got the ringer off 🙂
THANKS! I suffered off and on for weeks.
i really love you for this help it was the button ont he side all this time i just got a new boyfriend so he was complaining he had to call and call
Useless Information
Good afternoon. If is try to setup a ringtone it says ” unfortunately the process android.process. media has stopped” why does it say that. Please help
You probably just saved my life. My Mrs was sure that I just refused to fix her phone for her. LOL
Thank you ! Have fixed my prob
I meant Life Saver!!!
Thanks David, you are a lige saver.
Thanks! I think it’s way too easy to accidentally turn this feature on. Also, the icon is so faint that I didn’t even notice it.
thanks I thought I bought a broken phone, didn’t read much on it, probably why. thanks
Check the Mute button, most probably this is also one of the major cause of phone not ringing.
If it’s showing “unmute” – then this is reason, tap on “Unmute” icon and you are done.
I sure didn’t know about Do Not Disturb, thank You so much.