If your iPhone does not ring when an incoming call comes in or if you do not receive calls at all, it could be due to various settings such as do not disturb or airplane mode, silence unknown callers, and so on. Don’t worry, you won’t have to track down the setting that could be affecting your iPhone’s ringtones. We have covered all of the fixes that will help you in resolving the iPhone not ringing when an incoming call comes in issue.
Content
- 1. Restart iPhone
- 2. Check the Ring/Silent Switch
- 3. Increase Ringtone Volume
- 4. Check App Notifications
- 5. Turn off Focus Modes (or Do Not Disturb)
- 6. Check the Default Ringtone
- 7. Check Ringtone for Selected Contacts
- 8. Turn off Airplane Mode
- 9. Check Connected Bluetooth Devices
- 10. Check iPhone Isn’t Stuck in Headphone Mode
- 11. Check Blocked Numbers
- 12. Turn off Silence Unknown Callers
- 13. Turn off Call Forwarding
- 14. Check Third-party Call Blockers
- 15. Update Software
- 16. Other Potential Fixes
- 17. Reset Network Settings
- 18. Reset All Settings
- Bonus: Text Message Sound Not Working on iPhone
1. Restart iPhone
Begin the troubleshooting process by restarting your iPhone. Often this classic fix is enough to make your iPhone ring again. That’s because sometimes a minor issue or an app running in the background can cause the iPhone not to ring for incoming calls. This can be fixed by rebooting the phone.
Follow these steps to do so:
- Long press the Power button until you see the “Slide to power off” message.
- Swipe from left to right on the slider to turn off your iPhone.
- Once switched off, turn on the iPhone by holding the Power button again.
2. Check the Ring/Silent Switch
All iPhones have a physical switch on the left side that helps to put the phone in silent mode. You might have accidentally switched to silent mode, resulting in no ring for incoming calls.
To fix it, use these steps:
- Look for the switch on the left side of your iPhone right above the volume buttons. If you can’t find it, make sure to remove any protective cover from your iPhone. The switch might be hiding under it.
- Next, look at the position of the switch. If the switch is moved towards the screen (or the front of your phone), it means your iPhone is set to ring. To be on the safer side, move the switch back once and bring it to the original position again.
- If the switch is moved towards the back of the phone, your iPhone has been set to silent mode. You will also see a small orange stripe next to the switch when iPhone is on silent. Move/push the switch towards the screen to turn off the silent mode. Please keep in mind that you don’t have to press the switch. You need to move it up or down.
3. Increase Ringtone Volume
In addition to the switch, your iPhone can be set to the silent mode if the Ringer and Alerts volume is set to 0. You must check and increase the ring volume so that you hear the ringtone for incoming calls.
- Open iPhone Settings.
- Go to “Sounds & Haptics”.
- Now, drag the slider under the “Ringer and Alerts” to the right to increase the volume to an optimum level.
- Also, turn off the toggle next to “Change with buttons”. If this option is enabled, pressing the volume buttons on the right side of your device will change the volume of your ringtone. Disabling it prevents you from inadvertently changing the ringtone volume because the volume keys only change the media volume.
4. Check App Notifications
- Go to your iPhone’s “Settings → Phone → Notifications.”
- Make sure the toggle next to “Allow Notifications” is turned on. Also, check other options on this screen and enable them according to your preferences.
- In my testing, disabling “Allow notifications” for the Phone app didn’t turn off the ringtone, but to be on the safer side, you should keep it enabled.
5. Turn off Focus Modes (or Do Not Disturb)
If any Focus profile like “Do Not Disturb”, Work, Driving, etc., is enabled on your iPhone, then you won’t hear a ringtone for incoming calls. You must disable the Focus mode or customize it to allow calls from selected users.
Note: Focus modes are available on iPhones running iOS 15+. For iOS 14 and less, you will have to turn off “Do Not Disturb Mode“.
To disable Focus mode, follow these steps:
- Go to “Settings → Focus.”
- Tap on the profile that says On.
- Toggle off the option on the next screen.
Pro Tip: If you own an Apple Watch, swipe up on it and make sure the bell, theater, and moon icons are not lit up. If enabled, these will silence sounds on your phone as well as the watch.
6. Check the Default Ringtone
If you are using a custom ringtone i.e., a ringtone that didn’t come pre-installed on your iPhone, then there could be an issue with the custom ringtone. You should try switching to one of the pre-installed ringtones on your iPhone.
- In your iPhone Settings, go to “Sounds & Haptics”.
- Then tap Ringtone.
- Tap on the ringtone that says Default or use any pre-installed ringtone from the list under the horizontal black bar.
7. Check Ringtone for Selected Contacts
If your iPhone isn’t ringing for incoming calls from only certain people, then the issue could be in their custom ringtone.
- Launch the Contacts app and open the contact for which the ringtone isn’t working.
- Tap on Edit.
- Scroll down and tap on Ringtone. Change the ringtone to one of the pre-installed ones.
8. Turn off Airplane Mode
If you don’t even receive a missed call notification for the incoming calls, the chances are that you might have accidentally enabled Airplane mode on your iPhone. For the unaware, Airplane mode disables all cellular connectivity, thus your iPhone might not be ringing.
- To check and turn off Airplane mode, open iPhone Settings.
- Turn off the toggle next to Airplane mode at the top of the list.
9. Check Connected Bluetooth Devices
Your iPhone might often be connected to a Bluetooth accessory such as a headphone, speaker, etc. This causes any sound from your iPhone to play on the connected Bluetooth device. If the connected Bluetooth device is lying far away, you won’t hear the ringtone.
Either turn off the nearby Bluetooth devices or simply disable Bluetooth on your iPhone.
- For the latter, go to “Settings → Bluetooth”.
- Turn off the toggle next to Bluetooth.
10. Check iPhone Isn’t Stuck in Headphone Mode
Older iPhones that supported a 3.5mm headphone jack could often get stuck in headphone mode. That is, the iPhone would think it’s connected to the headphone when it wasn’t. This resulted in no sound from iPhone’s speaker which could be causing the no ringtone issue.
To fix it, insert the headphone cable into the 3.5mm jack once and then remove it. Hopefully, this should take out the iPhone from headphone mode. You can also try blowing air into the jack just in case dust particles or debris are affecting the normal working of headphones.
11. Check Blocked Numbers
If you aren’t getting calls from selected users only, check for them in the blocked list. You might have accidentally blocked the number.
- Open Settings on your iPhone.
- Tap on Phone.
- Go to “Blocked contacts”.
- You will see the number or the contacts that are blocked on your iPhone.
- To unblock someone, swipe left on it and tap on Unblock.
12. Turn off Silence Unknown Callers
Another setting that could impact incoming calls on your iPhone is the Silence unknown callers. When enabled, your iPhone will not ring for numbers that aren’t saved in your contacts except for the unsaved numbers in your recent calls list. This feature could be to blame for the missed calls from your doctor’s office.
- To turn Silence unknown callers off, go to “Settings → Phone -> Silence unknown callers”.
- Turn off the toggle next to “Silence unknown callers”.
13. Turn off Call Forwarding
Next, take a look at call forwarding settings. If enabled, your iPhone won’t ring as the incoming calls are diverted to another number. You must turn it off to receive incoming calls on your iPhone.
- Go to “Settings → Phone → Call Forwarding”.
- Wait for a few seconds. Turn off the toggle next to “Call forwarding”.
14. Check Third-party Call Blockers
Are you using any third-party calling or call blocking apps? Check that they aren’t blocking calls from any number. Open the third-party app and check for blocked numbers in them.
Alternatively, go to “Settings → Phone → Call blocking & identification.” Turn off all apps. Please note that this feature is available on selected iPhones only.
15. Update Software
Sometimes, the iPhone not ringing issue can be caused by a bug in the iOS software. To fix it, you must update the iOS to the latest version.
- Go to “Settings → General → Software update.”
- Let your iPhone check for an available update. If available, tap on “Download and install.”
16. Other Potential Fixes
Some users in various forums have suggested fixes that generally should not have any effect on the ringtone but have actually helped them in resolving the iPhone not ringing for calls issue. You can give them a shot too.
- Go to “Settings→ Phone→ Announce calls.” Select Never. Or, if you want the iPhone to announce the name of the caller, select Always.
- Enable Wi-Fi calling under the iPhone’s “Settings → Phone → Wi-Fi calling.”
- Go to “Settings → Sounds & haptics.” Turn off the toggle next to “Vibrate on ring”.
- Turn off calls on other devices by going to “Settings → Phone → Calls on other devices.”
- Go to “Settings → Phone → Incoming calls.” Select “Full screen” to display the incoming call on full screen.
17. Reset Network Settings
If nothing has worked so far and the problem persists, try resetting network settings on your iPhone. This will remove saved Wi-Fi networks, paired Bluetooth devices, and reset other network settings to their default values. Your personal data will not be affected.
- Go to your iPhone’s “Settings → General → Transfer or Reset iPhone”.
- Tap on “Reset → Reset Network Settings.”
18. Reset All Settings
If all else has failed, you should reset all settings on your phone. This will revert all settings on your iPhone to their default values. You will have to set all settings again according to your preference. Your personal files will not get deleted by resetting all settings.
Go to “Settings → General → Transfer or Reset iPhone → Reset → Reset All Settings.”
Bonus: Text Message Sound Not Working on iPhone
If your iPhone rings for incoming calls but text message alerts do not work, you must check message settings.
- Go to the iPhone’s “Settings → Messages → Notifications.”
- Enable the toggle next to “Allow notifications”. Scroll down and make sure all types of alerts are selected under the Alerts section.
- Also, tap on Sounds and check that it doesn’t say None. If it’s set to None, choose a different tone.
- Further, scroll down and tap on “Customize notifications”. Make sure the toggles next to “Unknown senders”, Transactions, and Promotions are all turned on.
- Also, launch the Apple Messages app and open the contact whose messages notifications you aren’t receiving.
- Tap on the contact’s name at the top and make sure the toggle next to “Hide Alerts” is off.
Hopefully these fixes will help you solve the ringtones not working on iPhone. Once your iPhone starts ringing for incoming calls, learn how to use your iPad to receive calls and how to record calls on your iPhone.
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