My iPhone Won’t Ring! Here’s The Real Reason Why.

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.

change iphone volume with buttons

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) 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.

moon icon on iphone

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.

do not disturb off vs on in iphone control center

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 do not disturb ios 15

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.

turn off silence unknown callers on iphone

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!

About Author

I'm a former Apple employee and the founder of Payette Forward, and I'm here to help you with your iPhone.

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Joan Hugg
3 years ago

My I phone has a red bell with a line throug it. How do I fix that?

Kathleen
3 years ago

Thank you. Jolynn actually solved my problem?. It was operator error! Somewhere along the line I pushed the manual switch off. Duh.

Jolynn
3 years ago

OK so I got all the way to the park were what if my ringer still won’t work and started looking at my phone to see if there’s any gunk in it and I took my case off and noticed above the volume button there’s a teeny tiny little switch that you flip up or down and I flipped it up in my ringer came on so I don’t know if that helps anybody else but there you go, thank you so much!!

Jo Bishop
3 years ago

OK so I got all the way to the park were what if my ringer still won’t work and started looking at my phone to see if there’s any gunk in it and I took my case off and noticed above the volume button there’s a teeny tiny little switch that you flip up or down and I flipped it up in my ringer came on so I don’t know if that helps anybody else but there you go, thank you so much!!

Jack Green
3 years ago
Reply to  Jo Bishop

Wow !!!!!! Thank you so much. I have no idea how the switch got turned off and my phone is a protective case and the switch was not visible. I found it turned it on and now ringer works fine. Thanks again.

Pearl
2 years ago
Reply to  Jo Bishop

Jo Thank you so so much, I have been frustrated for months, since October, 2021 After reading your comment. I just checked for the teeny tiny little switch and flipped it up and my ringer came back in a less than a second. Thank you and thank you again and again

Lorraine
3 years ago

I have IPhone XR ringer not working.Bell symbol has a line through it showing that it is silenced but I don’t know how to unsilence it

Gretl
3 years ago

Thank you so much!! Very helpful and now my phone rings!!

Louise Fox
3 years ago

Thank you! I didn’t know about the ‘silence caller with an unknown number’ option.
superstar!

Ric
3 years ago

I have a brand new iPhone se. none of your suggestions have worked for me. Would Verizon have sold me a broken phone?

Carole
3 years ago

i have had a flip open, Beam me up Scotty phone for a loooong time. (2 of them already, in fact) my last one was “going”. everyone said GET WITH THE TIMES, GET AN iPhone. i didnt want to… but i did. i have had it for a week. i would like to say that i LOOOOOVE it, but if i knew how to return it and get 9 beam me up scotty phones to have forever i would do so right NOW. now that you know the background (and like i say to my nephews… STOP ROLLING YOUR EYES!!…… Read more »

Geraldine
3 years ago

My iPhone 11 Pro Max will not accept or make calls I have been through everything suggested and nothing works

G Volk
3 years ago

Thank you, I was at the vet (Covid-) waiting in my car to hear the results about my dog. I wasn’t getting the calls. They went straight to voicemail. I had been so proud that I had recently blocked unknown callers because of the election. Thank you for covering all the rabbit holes. g

Nate D
3 years ago

the Lightbulb for me was turning off the “Silence Unknown Callers” which I didn’t know existed until someone mentioned in the comments! It was driving me ape

Irene
3 years ago

Excellent, solved my problem, what a daft feature though, so easy to accidentally switch it on and believe you have just become Billy no mates.

Paul
3 years ago

What solved it for me was turning off the “Silence Unknown Callers” which I didn’t know existed until this posting. Thanks!

Ken
3 years ago

Thank you . Your advice cured my problem

Bill
3 years ago

I did EVERYTHING above, including gettin a new phone! Still doesn’t always ring??

JUDY
3 years ago

Hi, My iphone xr won’t ring. Do Not Disturb is not on.

Maribel
3 years ago

Dude yessss thank you so much for this my problem is solved you are awesome

Stephanie
3 years ago

Thank you, it was great help!

Rita Smith
3 years ago

My issue was the side silencing switch above volume on left side of phone. I changed cases and think I slid it down. Works fine now.

Carroll szymanski
3 years ago
Reply to  Rita Smith

Thanks soo much Rita. I never would have fixed it without you. You deserve something special for your help. I hope karma pays you a visit.

Glory
3 years ago
Reply to  Rita Smith

Thanks alot. This was my saving comment

Pete
3 years ago
Reply to  Rita Smith

Thanks Rita, Brilliant!!.

Rita Smith
3 years ago

No one told me about the left top side button
on my phone, to silence the ringer.

Chuck
3 years ago

Thank you!

Took me to the right level to resolve the issue

Jodi
3 years ago

Great help!!! Thank you!

Kerry
3 years ago

My phone is next to me and goes to answer phone. How do I rectify this please

NELLIE
3 years ago

You are awesome! I am that person that was yelling about missing calls as my phone was sitting right by me! So frustrating! Your solution in my case was “silence unknown caller”! Thank you so much!

Frances
3 years ago

I just got my iPhone XR about a week ago, it is my first iPhone. I have had an Android phone since forever, and my last one was 5 years old! You helped me a lot with the information here. Thank you so much!

Roslyn
3 years ago

My phone stopped ringing after the latest update. Under Do NOt Disturb it is checked under silence while iPhone is locked. It says incoming calls and notifications will be silenced when iPhone is locked. How do I unlock this?

Peter
3 years ago
Reply to  Roslyn

I have exactly the same problem. Have you had any joy getting this fixed? I would really appreciate you telling me how if you have.

Ed Pat
3 years ago
Reply to  Peter

Same here! Any tips would be greatly appreciated.
I think though that the ‘While iPhone is locked’ setting is valid only when the ‘Do Not Disturb’ is ON.

Last edited 3 years ago by Ed Pat
Renee
3 years ago
Reply to  Ed Pat

Exact same issue here. Hopefully they’ll get this fixed at the next update. I’m missing most of my calls.

Rita Smith
3 years ago
Reply to  Peter

I did not know there was an external side button. Mine had been silenced when I put on a new case.

Rita Smith
3 years ago
Reply to  Roslyn

Mine was the outside switch above volume controls. I had changed cases
and must have accidentally move the switch.

Victor Cuenca
3 years ago

Thank you so much for the tips. We had the issue of blocking calls not realizing this was going to block other calls.

Carole
3 years ago

Thank you I’d forgotten I’d pressed silence unknown calls (since having scam calls) nearly missed important hospital call

Sharrita Irvin
3 years ago

I love your channel!! Thank you for all the amazing tips and tricks.

Last edited 3 years ago by Sharrita Irvin
Sue Leifield
3 years ago

THANK YOU

helen
3 years ago

my phone iphone 7 does not ring at all, I turned on the silent and off the disturb

Natalya
3 years ago

Yes it was the side button. I forgot all about it. Thanks. I have a new iPhone 11 ProMax. It rings loudly and then immediately reduces in volume. Weird!

Kim
3 years ago

Thanks so much! I didn’t realize my iPhone was set to Silence Unknown Callers (was it automatically set with a recent upgrade? who knows? I just know I wouldn’t do that as I rely on the phone for business…), though I noticed a pattern of calls not coming through for people who were not in my list of contacts. I tried different options like the Do Not Disturb settings but nothing seemed to fix the issue until I read this article. <3

Sher
3 years ago

Thank you, I was wondering why all of sudden I wasn’t receiving calls and I checked my do not disturb, turns out the “Silence Unknown Callers” on… Thank you again.

Mary
3 years ago

Many thanks. Did not know about the ringer button – which was jammed.

Fizz
3 years ago
Reply to  Mary

Thanks for that switch to discover on the left top side of my iPhone that I just got. It took to learn all the Setting features on my iPhone To learn such a tiny switch to turn on to solve this Silent ring problem. I think the Apple product should make aware of such a simple problem to solve on such a high tech new device… ??
thanks to all solving problems together.,,love you all?

Karen
3 years ago

???Thanks so much.

Michael
3 years ago

i did everything iphone 11 till not ring? Why?

KAY
3 years ago

I have turned off the Silencing of unknown numbers. Now will all those robocalls ring? what about blocked numbers/

Kay
3 years ago
Reply to  KAY

Can you reply to this question ?

Tryce
3 years ago

Thanks so much! I’ve read other articles but yours is the only one that said the button is a “push/pull”. Reading the other articles, I thought it was an in/out button. (I can’t see the button well because it’s a (new to me) work-issued device and I am NOT to remove the case.) Again, thank you!

Elaine
3 years ago

Your awesome!

John Gonzalez
3 years ago

Seems like Apple likes to keep information hidden! Thanks for this tip!

Billie O'Rourke
3 years ago

Thank you! I was about to upgrade bc I constantly miss calls!!! You saved me so much money!!!

Steven Babb
3 years ago

I went through all the suggestions; still no ring. Just as I was about to contact Apple, I scrolled down about half way in setting and clicked the a Phone icon; there it was, another area, SILENCE UNKNOWN CALLERS and it was ON.
once I turned it off, my phone rings again.
i hope this helps

Steve B from Maine

NABEEHA
3 years ago
Reply to  Steven Babb

THANKS! I HAD THE SAME SITUATION AND NOW IT HAS BEEN SOLVED!

Jen
3 years ago

You saved my phone from being chucked at the cat! I had no idea about the switch.

Peter
3 years ago
Reply to  David Payette

Hi David, Unfortunately that information did not solve my problem. I have checked the ‘do not disturb’ is not on and also the ‘Silence unknown callers’ and both were NOT activated. Is there anything else you can think of that might be causing my 3 month old iPhone SE to not be ringing? My phone has recently had an update, could the problem lie somewhere within that?
Thanks in advance.
Peter

Jane
3 years ago

Great information. I have another tip. Settings>Phone> “Silence Unknown Callers” might be selected. I just found that after missing half a dozen calls.

Georgina
3 years ago
Reply to  Jane

OMG thank you! This is why I keep missing calls!

Chris
3 years ago
Reply to  Jane

That’s the ticket!! Thanks

Katrina Bolden
3 years ago
Reply to  Jane

Thanks Jane!!!!! I read the article and was like that doesn’t make sense if I hand anything plugged in the outlet would would display something on the screen but not make noise. Mine just pops up with a message missed call. Honestly I was probably messing around in my setting and clicked it and completely forgot smh. Anywho thanks Jane!!!!!!

Jon Brown
3 years ago
Reply to  Jane

OMG! This!!!! @David and Liam you need to add this to the article!

I’ve been trying for weeks to figure out why my phone kept acting like DND was on even when I turned it off. Turns out I had silence unknown callers set. Which is a great option, except those rare occasions I’m waiting for a call from shipping company or something like that.

Liam Shotwell
3 years ago
Reply to  Jon Brown

I’ll look into getting this added to the article. I’m glad this solution worked for you! As iPhone software changes over the years, our articles need to update as well!

Karen
3 years ago
Reply to  Jane

Thank you so much. This specific step resolved the issue. My IPhone SE is now ringing again

Steven Babb
3 years ago
Reply to  Jane

Sorry I didn’t read your post sooner.

Ross Cordy
3 years ago
Reply to  Jane

Brilliant that’s my problem thanks so much

Pam
3 years ago
Reply to  Jane

THANK YOU! THANK YOU!

Patty Hanenberg
3 years ago

I’m why can’t I uncheck the silent when phone is locked or Always . I don’t want either?

Jen
3 years ago

Same thing just happened to me. I’m trying everything. Let me know if you figure it out.

Barbara
3 years ago

I have an iPhone 6 Plus. When I test it from my landline it rings but other I/c calls don’t make my phone ring. The do not disturb is not on.

nanako
3 years ago
Reply to  Barbara

the same problem

Tara Sitaram
3 years ago

I have an iphone ten. i wish you would tell me if the silence all calls is on or off with the light background or the dark one.

David
3 years ago

We have a new iPhone. It rings loudly and then decends in volume. Any ideas? Thanks

Liam Shotwell
3 years ago
Reply to  David

Not really sure what that could be, but I wonder if changing the ringtone might help? Not sure