How to Answer, Decline, and Silence Calls on Your iPhone

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Plus, we go over what the buttons on the call screen do

Co-authored by Hannah Dillon

Last Updated: December 17, 2024 Fact Checked

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Accepting a Call

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Declining a Call

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Silencing a Call

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Using Siri to Answer or Decline a Call

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Other Buttons on The Call Screen

This wikiHow teaches you how to decline or accept an incoming phone call on your iPhone and how to set up Siri to answer or decline calls with your voice.

How do you answer an iPhone?

To answer a call, tap the green Accept button, or swipe the bar on your screen if your phone is locked. To decline a call, tap the red Decline button, or double-tap the side button if your phone is locked.

Section 1 of 5:

Accepting a Call

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1
See who's calling. If a contact is calling you, you will see their name at the top of your screen. If you don't see a name, you will see your caller's full phone number.
- Some phones and carriers allow callers to hide their identity. In this case, you won't see your caller's name or phone number.

If the Screen is Locked

The bar will have an icon of a green phone on it, and the bar will say "slide to answer."

If the Screen is Unlocked

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Tap the green phone icon at the top of the screen. If your phone is unlocked, you'll see a banner at the top of your screen with an accept (green phone) and decline (red phone) button.
- Alternatively, you can tap on the banner, then tap the green phone button that says Accept.

Section 2 of 5:

Declining a Call

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1
See who's calling. If a contact is calling you, you will see their name at the top of your screen. If you don't see a name, you will see your caller's full phone number.
- Some phones and carriers allow callers to hide their identity. In this case, you won't see your caller's name or phone number.

If the Screen is Locked

1
Press the side button twice quickly. When your phone is locked, you won't see a decline button. If you want to decline the call when your device is locked, you must use the side button instead.
- Alternatively, you can also swipe up on the call banner, or tap the Voicemail button (if you have Live Voicemail turned on) to force the call to go to voicemail.

If the Screen is Unlocked

1
Tap the red phone icon at the top of the screen. If your phone is unlocked, you'll see a banner at the top of your screen with an accept (green phone) and decline (red phone) button.
- Alternatively, you can tap on the banner, then tap the red phone button that says Decline.
- You can also double-tap the side button, swipe up on the call banner, or tap the Voicemail button (if you have Live Voicemail turned on) to force the call to go to voicemail.

Section 3 of 5:

Silencing a Call

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Mute your ringer. You can stop your phone's ringer without declining the call. To do this, press any one of your volume buttons or the side button.
- Double tapping the side button will decline the call and send it to voicemail.^{[1]
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Section 4 of 5:

Using Siri to Answer or Decline a Call

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This app is in your dock by default and has a gray icon with gears on it.
This option has a magenta and cyan icon next to it, and it's between the Search and StandBy menu options.
This option is near the middle of the screen, between Call Hang Up and Announce Notifications.
You can have Siri announce calls always, when you're using headphones and when you're in the car, only when you're using headphones, or never.
Now, whenever Siri announces a call, you can say "yes" or "no" to accept or decline the call.^{[2]
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Section 5 of 5:

Other Buttons on The Call Screen

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Before You Answer

This will let you send a text message to your caller before you decline their call. You can select a quick response from a list of presets, or tap Custom to write a text message.
It will let you set a future reminder for yourself before you decline the call.

After You Answer

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The Speaker button. This will switch your call to Speaker mode. This button looks like a speaker icon with sound waves on the left side of the upper set of buttons. You can switch back to your earset by tapping the same button again.
- If your Call Audio Routing settings are set to Speaker, you will automatically answer calls on Speaker mode. Tap the Speaker button to switch to your earset.
This button looks like a camera icon in the middle of the upper set of buttons. This will start a FaceTime video call with your caller. They may accept or deny your FaceTime call.
This button looks like a microphone icon on the right side of the upper set of buttons. It will mute your microphone, and your caller will not hear you. Tapping on it again will unmute it.
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The Add button. This button looks like a + sign on the left side of the lower set of buttons. It will bring up your contacts and let you choose other contacts to add to a conference call.
- Tap the green bar at the top of your screen anytime to return to your call.
This button is red, with an icon of a phone. Tap this button to end your call.
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The Keypad button. This button looks like a keypad icon on the right side of the lower set of buttons. It will bring up your phone's keypad. This might be useful during a call with your bank, or when making a reservation at a restaurant.
- Tap Hide in the bottom-right corner of your screen to return to your call.