Can’t make or receive calls on your Android smartphone? Several reasons could cause this issue, but fortunately, our simple solutions will help you get back to chatting in no time.

What to Do When Phone Calls Don’t Work

These troubleshooting solutions address issues from the simplest to the most complex. Start at the beginning and proceed through the steps until you find what works. Your solution might be simpler than you think!

1. Verify that you’re on the network. Although rare, dead spots do exist. You might encounter them anywhere, including city centers with tall, crowded buildings or in rural areas far from a tower.

   Reception issues can also arise near another country’s border if your phone thinks it’s roaming.

2. Turn off Airplane Mode if it’s enabled. When on, mobile networks are disabled, and incoming calls go to voicemail. It’s easy to activate accidentally, but just as simple to turn off.

   Even if Airplane Mode is already off, try switching it on for 5-10 seconds and then turning it back off. This can sometimes resolve call and mobile data issues.

3. Turn on mobile data. When your phone connects to a network, your carrier’s name should appear at the top of the screen. If not, “not connected” or “roaming” might be shown. These messages may appear if you’ve turned off mobile data and forgotten to turn it back on.

4. Clear the cache of the phone app.  Clearing the data cache can improve app performance and resolve potential issues like login problems and unresponsiveness.

   It’s safe (won’t delete any data) and may resolve call issues.

5. Restart your phone.  A simple restart can often resolve crashing apps and unresponsiveness, including call issues.

6. Reset network settings. Some users have resolved this issue in under a minute by resetting all network settings.

   On some Androids, this option is called Reset mobile network settings. Find it in the Settings app, under System > Reset options or General management > Reset.

7. Reboot in safe mode. To make the call. Safe mode can help when your phone is slow or unresponsive. However, this might not be a permanent solution, so continue through this list if problems persist.

8. Check for malware. Malware can sometimes infect Android phones. Take steps to remove malicious apps from your device.

9. Update the Android OS. If a bug is causing call issues, an update might resolve it.

10. Perform a factory reset. A full reset can fix issues a restart can’t, but ensure you’ve backed up important data first.

11. Contact your carrier. If the previous steps don’t work, check a few things.

    For instance, is your bill paid? Auto-pay can fail due to bank problems or glitches, and your carrier might alert you via snail mail. 

    If there’s no payment issue, technical support can identify other problems or inform you about network outages.

12. Contact the manufacturer. If nothing else works, there could be hardware damage. Determine if it’s worth repairing or how to get a replacement. Visit a local store for technical troubleshooting if possible.

Reasons This Is Happening

Various issues could be the cause: you might not have a signal, perhaps you forgot to pay your bill, or Airplane Mode might have been activated accidentally, etc.

Since the causes are nearly endless, quickly walk through our solutions to find what fixes your issue. We’ve listed the easiest fixes first!