iPhones offer a neat little Live Voicemail feature that lets callers leave a recorded message if you're unavailable. It's basically an answering machine that provides real-time transcription of the message being left by the caller. But depending on your iCloud storage and your carrier settings, voicemails can often lead to a lot of messages that fill up the storage.
If you're tired of getting voicemails and just want to see missed calls instead, there are multiple ways you can turn off or deactivate voicemail on iPhone, and this guide will help you understand how to do it.
Difference Between Apple's Live Voicemail and Carrier's Voicemail
Before we start, it is worth clearing up that Apple's Live Voicemail feature works differently from the carrier-provided voicemail.
Apple's Live Voicemail runs entirely on your iPhone. It is basically your answering machine that picks up the call in the background and provides a real-time transcription so you can decide if you want to pick up the call or not. These transcriptions are all saved on your device.
On the other hand, the carrier's voicemail works even if your iPhone is turned off. It catches all calls and saves them to the network's own servers. It's like a mailbox in the cloud that you can access anytime and from anywhere.
Being two different forms of voicemails, disabling one doesn't affect the other. If you want to turn off voicemail on your iPhone completely, you'll have to disable both the Live Voicemail feature on your iPhone and the carrier-provided voicemail.
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How to Deactivate Voicemail on iPhone
Live Voicemail was first released on supported iPhones running iOS 17 or later. However, Live Voicemail only became available in India with iOS 18. That means Apple phones running iOS 18 or later in India have the Live Voicemail feature enabled by default. You can turn it off in the settings app.
- Go to the Settings app on your iPhone and head over to Apps > Phone.
- Here, go to Live Voicemail and turn off the Live Voicemail toggle.
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How to Deactivate Carrier Voicemail on iPhone
There are a couple of ways to deactivate carrier voicemail on iPhone.
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Using Carrier-Specific MMI Codes to Disable Voicemail
Most carriers support special secret codes that disable voicemail routing on the iPhone. You can dial these codes to disable voicemail directly from the phone's dialler. Here's how you do it:
- Launch the Phone app on your iPhone and tap on the Keypad tab at the bottom.
- Using the on-screen number pad, enter #004# and then tap on the Call button.
If the above code doesn't work, use the following codes depending on your carrier:
- Airtel: ##002#
- Jio: *413
- Vi: ##002#
These codes are for Indian telecom operators only. To confirm if they have the desired effect, you should call yourself from a different number and see if voicemail is disabled or not.
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Contact Your Carrier Service to Turn Off Voicemail
If the steps explained above weren't successful, it's recommended that you contact your service provider's customer care directly and request them to disable the voicemail service for you. You can reach out to your carrier by dialling the corresponding number listed below:
- Airtel: 121 (Support page)
- Jio: 198 (Support page)
- VI: 199 (Support page)
After connecting with an agent, you can ask them to disable the voicemail service on their end. Some carriers also provide call-forwarding or voicemail controls in their apps that let you disable voicemail.
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Alternative: Forward Calls to another number
Another way to avoid getting voicemails on your iPhone is to forward incoming calls to another number. You can customise and reroute calls to other numbers in iOS Settings. Here's how:
- Launch the Settings app and head over to Apps > Phone.
- Now, select Call Forwarding under Calls.
- Here, turn on the Call Forwarding toggle at the top.
- Once enabled, tap on Forward To, which will only appear when Call Forwarding is enabled.
- Now, you can enter the number where you wish to receive calls instead and tap on the back arrow to confirm changes.
From now on, any call that comes to your iPhone will show up on your designated secondary number, and this way, no voicemails will be saved inside iOS.
Do take note that, depending on your call forwarding setting, this could redirect all calls to your secondary number.
Another thing to note is that iPhones' call-forwarding is different from your carrier's call forwarding. The carrier's call forwarding means your missed calls are forwarded to your voicemail. On the other hand, iPhones' call forwarding feature transfers your calls to a secondary number, not a voicemail. This makes it a good alternative to the regular voicemail feature.
What Happens When You Deactivate Voicemail on iPhone?
It's important to understand the consequences when you deactivate voicemail on your iPhone. Here's what happens when you do it:
- Unable to leave a message: Turning off voicemail on your iPhone means callers will not be able to leave a message, informing you why they called you.
- Repeated Calls: Since callers will not be able to record a message, telemarketers or cold callers might call you repeatedly.
- Empty Voicemail Inbox: After deactivating voicemail, your inbox will not receive any new recordings. Existing messages may or may not be deleted, depending on your carrier. So make sure to save important messages before you deactivate voicemail.
This can help with spam voicemails from telemarketers, but you may miss messages from family and friends.
That's it. By now, you might have successfully deactivated voicemail on your iPhone. Even with voicemail off, you'll still get incoming calls and see missed calls. You can always verify whether voicemail is active on your phone by contacting your number from another device or asking someone you know to ring you.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I deactivate voicemail on my iPhone permanently?
To deactivate voicemail on your iPhone permanently, disable the Live Voicemail feature from Settings > Apps > Phone. Also, disable your carrier's voicemail using your carrier-specific MMI code or calling the customer support number and asking them to deactivate voicemail/call-forwarding for you.
Can I turn off voicemail notifications but keep voicemail?
Yes, you can turn off voicemail notifications while still keeping voicemail. To do so, go to Settings > Notifications > Phone and disable Badges.
Will I lose my existing voicemail messages?
You will lose existing voicemail messages if you disable voicemail through your mobile carrier. However, if you disable only the Live Voicemail feature on the iPhone, your existing voicemail messages will be retained.
Why can't I find Live Voicemail in Settings?
Live Voicemail feature in settings is only available for iPhones that support iOS 18 and above for Indian users.
