How to Unsilence Calls on iPhone | Making iPhone silenced call notifications

Not hearing your calls on iPhone? Check out our guide on how to unsilence calls on iPhone for more details.

iPhones are some of the most reliable smartphones when it comes to software. They are stable, secure, and feature-rich. iPhones are least likely to have bugs and other glitches that can make the experience frustrating for users.

Related: How to Delete Multiple Contacts on Your iPhone

While bugs and glitches are unlikely, users can still run into issues like mismatched settings that can cause them a headache. One of such issues many of us would have faced is missing calls because we were not notified.

Silenced calls are not a bug or a glitch, but rather some settings that were activated/deactivated by mistake. To solve this issue, check this guide on how to unsilence calls on iPhone.

Here is the iPhone 14 guide to mute calls

How to Unsilence Calls on iPhone

To unsilence calls on an iPhone, follow these steps:

1. Check the physical mute switch on the left side of your iPhone to make sure it is not set to the silent position. If it is, flip it upwards to turn off silent mode.
2. If the physical mute switch is not set to silent mode, check the volume level on your iPhone by pressing the volume up button on the left side of the device. Make sure the volume is turned up to an audible level.
3. If the physical mute switch and volume level are both set correctly, check the “Do Not Disturb” settings on your iPhone. Go to Settings > Do Not Disturb and make sure that “Silence” is set to “Always” or “Only while iPhone is locked” and that “Allow Calls From” is set to “Everyone” or the appropriate contacts.
4. If none of the above steps work, try restarting your iPhone by holding down the power button until the “slide to power off” option appears. Slide the button to turn off your iPhone, then hold down the power button again to turn it back on.

If you are still having trouble unsilencing calls on your iPhone, you may need to contact Apple support for further assistance.

Why are calls being Silenced on iPhone

Before you learn how to unsilence calls on iPhone, check out why calls are silenced in the first place.

There are many reasons why you may not hear your ringtone for a call. These include Do Not Disturb (DND), Alert Slider, Silent Mode, and more. All these issues and their fixes will be explained below in detail. I have covered all possible issues, so hopefully, it helps you to unsilence your calls.

How to Unsilence Calls on iPhone – Alert Slider

The Alert Slider on the iPhone is a unique feature that is almost exclusive to iPhones only (OnePlus is the exception) and I love it. It is the most convenient way to put your iPhone on silent mode. Flipping the slider mutes/unmutes your iPhone.

While this simple solution to mute and unmute your iPhone is convenient, it can also be easy to miss calls if you have accidentally flipped it off. To unsilence your iPhone, make sure the Alert Slider is not showing the orange indicator. If the orange indicator is visible then flip the switch to unsilence your iPhone.

How to Unsilence Calls on iPhone – Check Volume

If your Alert Slider is not in the mute position, yet your calls are still silenced, then the culprit might be low ringer volume. The ringer volume might either be too low to alert you or even zero. If that’s the case then you can just increase the ringer volume by using the volume buttons on the side.

Note that you can configure your volume buttons to do other things than increasing ringer volume and in that case, you can change the volume in Settings. This will also work if your iPhone’s volume buttons are broken. To increase ringer volume from the Settings app, follow these steps,

Step 1 Open the Settings app on your iPhone.

Step 2 Scroll down and tap on the Sound & Haptics option.

Step 3 Check the slider under the ‘Ringer and Alerts’ option and make sure it is maximum or at least at a level where you can comfortably hear call ringtones.

How to Unsilence Calls on iPhone – Do Not Disturb (DND) mode

Having Do Not Disturb (DND) mode turned on can silence calls on your iPhone. DND settings can be configured to work as you want. Here’s how you can turn off DND mode.

Step 1 For iPhones with Face ID, swipe down from the upper right corner of your screen to bring up the Control Center. For iPhones with Touch ID, swipe up from the bottom of the screen to bring up the Control Center.

Step 2 Now, turn off the DND button (Crescent Moon icon) by tapping on it.

Alternatively, make sure to turn off any DND schedules you have, if you don’t want to silence your calls. To do this follow these steps,

Step 1 Open the Setting app on your iPhone.

Step 2 Scroll down and tap on Do Not Disturb.

Step 3 Here, switch off the Scheduled option. But if you want to set a DND schedule, you can but make know that during that period, all your calls will be silenced.

Note that you can also configure to allow calls from selected people or allow repeated calls through when on DND mode.

How to Unsilence Calls on iPhone – Silence Unknown Callers

On your iPhone, you have the option to silence unknown callers. This allows users to not be disturbed by spam callers. But if you don’t want this feature, you can turn it off, so that your alerts for unknown callers too. You can unsilence unknown callers by following these steps,

Step 1 Open the Settings app on your iPhone.

Step 2 Scroll down and tap on the Phone option.

Step 3 Now, scroll down and check if the ‘Silence Unkown Callers’ option is off, if not, tap on the setting.

Step 4 In here, you will see a toggle that you can use to silence unknown callers, in this case, toggle it off.

Now, you will receive alerts for calls from unknown callers too.

How to Unsilence Calls on iPhone – Check Bedtime Status

If all the above settings are fine but still calls are silenced, then you can try this. The Bedtime Status feature could silence calls on your iPhone. This is a recent feature introduced on iOS 14 that can track sleep.

The feature also puts your iPhone on DND mode to ensure that you get good sleep. But if you don’t want this to happen, then you can turn it off by following these steps,

Step 1 Open the Health app on your iPhone.

Step 2 Tap on the Browse option at the bottom of your screen.

Step 3 Now, scroll down and tap on Sleep.

Step 4 Here, check if you have any schedule setup.

Step 5 Tap on ‘Full Schedule & Options’ to see details.

Step 6 Turn off the ‘Sleep Schedule’ option here if you don’t want your calls to be silenced when you sleep.

Step 7 Alternatively, you can also turn off DND/ Bedtime mode from the Control Center whenever the feature turns on. Turning off Bedtime mode from your Control Center will only turn off the DND mode, it won’t affect your alarm.

How to Unsilence Calls on iPhone – Check Bluetooth Connection

Sometimes, your calls may be routed to a Bluetooth device like your AirPods but you might not be listening to them and so you won’t hear any calls you are receiving.

To receive calls on your iPhone, make sure you are not connected to any Bluetooth device. Do the following to unsilence calls that are routed to Bluetooth device,

Step 1 Oen the Settings app on your iPhone.

Step 2 Go to Bluetooth settings.

Step 3 Remove any connected devices.

How to Unsilence Calls on iPhone – Check Auto Answer Calls

iPhone has a feature called Auto-Answer Calls which receives calls and answers them on behalf of you. This can be a reason why you are missing out on calls. You can disable this feature using the following steps,

Step 1 Open the Settings app on your iPhone/

Step 2 Scroll and tap on Accessibility.

Step 3 Tap on the Call Audio routing option.

Step 4 In here, you will find an Auto-Answer Calls option. Make sure this is off.

Step 5 If the Auto-Answer Calls option is not off, tap on it and turn off the toggle.

Also, make sure that the Call Audio Routing feature is set to automatic. This can help unsilence calls on your iPhone.

How to Unsilence Calls on iPhone – Check Blocked Numbers

Blocking a number on your iPhone could lead to silenced calls. You may miss calls of a contact you accidentally blocked. To receive calls from blocked contacts, you need to unblock them. You can do this by,

Step 1 Open the Settings app on your iPhone.

Step 2 Tap on the Phone option.

Step 3 Select the Blocked Contacts setting.

Step 4 Swipe left on the number that you want to unblock, then tap on Unblock.

If all other settings are normal, then you will receive calls from contacts with sound.

If your iPhone is still silencing calls after trying all these methods, then try restarting and updating it. And if the issue persists, then you can contact an Apple Service Center for support.

Conclusion

So there you have it, all the possible problems and the fixes for how to unlicensed calls on iPhone. The main causes of silenced calls are either low volume or DND mode, so make sure to try them.

There are many fixes you can try so check them out one by one. If none of them work, then ask Apple for help. Hope this guide helped, check out below for similar guides and fixes related to iPhone.

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