How to Disable Voicemail on Android

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Written by Nicole Levine, MFA

Last Updated: August 19, 2024 Fact Checked

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Contacting Your Carrier

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Enable Call Forwarding

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Filling Up Your Mailbox

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Video

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Q&A

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Tips

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Warnings

This wikiHow teaches you how to turn off your Android phone's voicemail inbox so nobody can leave you a message. Voicemail service is often controlled by mobile carriers. This means you'll probably need to contact your carrier's support team to disable voicemail. You can also try using Call Forwarding to forward your voice messages to a different phone number. If worse comes to worse, you can always fill up your voice mailbox by leaving 20-30 messages so nobody else can get through.

Method 1

Method 1 of 3:

Contacting Your Carrier

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It generally has an icon that resembles a phone receiver. Tap the phone icon on your Home screen to open the Phone app. Many carriers have a customer service code you can dial to contact customer service. Then you can request to have your voicemail disabled.^{[1]
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If your Phone app doesn't open to the dial pad, tap the dial pad tab to open it. It's the icon with 10 squares in the shape of a dial pad.

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3
Enter your carrier's customer support number. Using the dial pad, type your carrier's support code. You can get this from your carrier's website. The following list includes some of the most popular carrier's support codes:
- Verizon: (800) 922-0204.^{[2]
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- AT&T: 611.^{[3]
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- T-Mobile: 611.^{[4]
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- Telus: 611.
- Vodafone: 191.^{[5]
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- Docomo: 151 .^{[6]
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This is generally a green icon that resembles a phone receiver. Tap this icon.
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Follow any spoken instructions. Each carrier's customer service menu is different. You will generally be asked to select a language and then given a list of options. You may be asked to say what you are calling about or press a button that corresponds to the option you are calling about on the dial page. Select the option related to voicemail or your service plan.
- You may be asked for your voicemail PIN, an account password, and/or other credentials.
When the customer service representative or automated service confirms that your voicemail has been disabled, it's okay to hang up

Method 2

Method 2 of 3:

Enable Call Forwarding

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1
Open the Phone app. It generally has an icon that resembles a phone receiver. Tap the phone icon on your Home screen to open the Phone app.^{[7]
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- Enabling voicemail doesn't disable your voicemail. It just forwards the call to a different number. This is meant to be a short-term solution.
- Most carriers will disable your voicemail for you if you ask them to do so.^{[8]
  X
  Research source} Calling your carrier is the only reliable long-term way to turn off voicemail on your Android.
It's usually an icon with three dots in the upper-right corner of the Phone app. This displays the menu.
It's one of the options listed in the menu.
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Look for a call-forwarding option. Where this is located will be different depending on the model of your phone and your carrier. It may be under More Settings, Advanced, or Supplementary services.
- Not all phone carriers support Call Forwarding. If you can't find this option, it may be possible that it's not supported by your carrier.
This will usually say something like Call forwarding or Forwarding settings.^{[9]
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Tap a Call-Forwarding option. There are generally 4 Call Forwarding settings. They are usually something similar to the following:^{[10]
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- Always Forward: This option forwards all your calls to a different number.
- Forward when busy: This option forwards your calls when you are on another call.
- Forward when unanswered: This forwards your calls to a different number when the call goes unanswered. This is the best option to bypass your voicemail because calls will be forwarded to a different number instead of your voicemail.
- Forward when unreachable: This forwards calls when your phone is off or not able to receive service.
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Enter a phone number to forward the calls to. You can forward calls to any phone number of your choice.
- Use an inactive phone number, if you know one.
This enables voicemail and sends your phone calls to a different number.

Method 3

Method 3 of 3:

Filling Up Your Mailbox

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Before you begin, you'll want to turn on airplane mode (or turn the Android off) so calls are automatically routed to voicemail. Otherwise, you'll have to wait for the phone to finish ringing before you can leave a message. To put your phone in airplane mode, swipe down from the top of your phone screen and tap the icon that resembles an airplane.^{[11]
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You can use a landline, a friend's phone, or an online service like Google Voice to place the call.
You don't have to say much of anything, but make sure you take a few seconds before hanging up.
4
Hang up and repeat the process. You'll want to continue leaving yourself messages until you hear a message telling you the voice mailbox is full. The number of messages it takes to fill a mailbox varies by carrier.
- If you have Verizon, for example, you'll need to fill your mailbox with 20 messages to fill it. If you have Sprint, you'll need 30 messages.
- Most carriers, including Sprint, delete new messages if you haven't retrieved them in 30 days. This means you'll have to repeat this process once a month to keep your voicemail box full.

Community Q&A

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Question

Can you turn off your voicemail?

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This answer was written by one of our trained team of researchers who validated it for accuracy and comprehensiveness.

wikiHow Staff Editor

Staff Answer

Yes, you can turn off Android voicemail. You can turn it off using the No Voicemail app, a carrier code or through the Android settings. Each of these methods are detailed in the steps above.

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How do I remove voicemail icon from Samsung Galaxy?

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This answer was written by one of our trained team of researchers who validated it for accuracy and comprehensiveness.

wikiHow Staff Editor

Staff Answer

Try going to Settings, then Applications, then Phone. Once here, tap Clear Data and Clear Cache. Turn your phone off and let it be for 10 to 15 seconds. Then turn it back on and check your screen. The notification icon should have been removed.

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Question

How do I disconnect voicemail?

Community Answer

Call the place where you got your phone and ask them to disable it for you. When you want to turn it back on, call them again or look in your user guide for the process.

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Tips

On some Android phones, you may be able to disable voicemail by opening your phone's settings, tapping Call or Phone, tapping Voicemail, tapping your voicemail number, and deleting it.

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Warnings

Some carriers won't allow you to disable your voicemail due to contractual obligations. If this is your case, calling your carrier's customer service line to see if they will disable voicemail for you is your only option.

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