Phone Not Ringing So You're Missing Incoming Calls?

Molly K. McLaughlin has been a technology editor and writer for over a dozen years. She runs product reviews for Lifewire, overseeing the process from hands-on testing to publishing.

• Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College

Jessica Kormos is a writer and editor with 15 years' experience writing articles, copy, and UX content for Tecca.com, Rosenfeld Media, and many others.

Missed calls are annoying, but, in most cases, there’s an easy fix.

What Causes Android Phones to Stop Ringing?

When your Android phone isn’t ringing, there are several possible causes. In the worst cases, the phone might be physically damaged or infected with malware. Most likely, however, you inadvertently silenced your phone, left it on Airplane or Do Not Disturb mode, enabled call forwarding, or there’s an issue with a third-party app.

How to Fix a Non-Ringing Android Phone

Follow these tips in order, testing your phone after each one to see if it rings again.

1. Check your volume settings. On most Android phones, there are several sliders for volume control, but you want to adjust the Ring volume slider. An easy way to do this is to press the volume up or down button, then tap the menu button that appears on that volume slider. From there, you'll see all the sound controls, including the one for the ringer.

If other sounds work, like music and alarms, switch to a different ringtone, maybe one that's easier for you to hear. If you’re using a third-party ringtone, try one of the built-in options.

Airplane Mode also turns off Wi-Fi and cellular data, so if you can't load any web pages nor send texts, emails, etc., then there's a good chance this is toggled on.

In the meantime, your phone might support another way to get your attention about incoming calls. Learn how to set up camera flash notifications to be alerted visually instead, or have calls ring on a different device.

When the phone is on Silent Mode, it vibrates instead of ringing when you receive a call. Go to Settings > Sound & Vibration and toggle the settings to switch vibration off.

Try switching to a default ringtone. If it works, there is likely an issue with the ringtone you downloaded.

If you cannot place any outgoing calls, the problem is likely a downed line, poor service, or an unpaid phone bill. If the phone doesn't ring when calling a specific number, the problem lies with the number you're trying to reach.

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