4 Ways to Quickly Send All Calls to Voicemail on iOS

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Easily set your iPhone or iPad to send calls to voicemail when you don’t want to talk

Written by Megaera Lorenz, PhD

Last Updated: October 27, 2024 Fact Checked

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Using Do Not Disturb Mode

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Using Airplane Mode

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Using Silence Unknown Callers

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Using Call Forwarding

This wikiHow teaches you how to automatically forward all incoming calls to voicemail on your iPhone. The fastest way to do this is to use airplane mode or Do Not Disturb mode, both of which are available in your iPhone's Control Center. Alternatively, you can opt to send all unknown callers to voicemail while continuing to receive calls from your contacts, or forward all incoming calls to a phone number set up exclusively for voicemail.

How do you send calls to voicemail on iPhone?

Set your phone to Do Not Disturb by hitting the crescent moon icon in your Control Center. Press and hold this button to customize how long you'd like your phone to be on Do Not Disturb. Alternatively, set your phone to airplane mode to send incoming calls to voicemail.

Method 1

Method 1 of 4:

Using Do Not Disturb Mode

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1
Open the Control Center. One of the quickest and most customizable ways to direct all calls to voicemail is to enable Do Not Disturb mode, which you can quickly toggle on and off from the Control Center.^{[1]
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Research source}
- If your iPhone has Face ID and no Home button, swipe down from the top-right edge of the Home screen.
- If your iPhone has a Home button at the bottom-center, swipe up from the bottom of the Home screen to open Control Center.
2
Tap the crescent moon icon. When you tap the icon, it will turn white and the moon will turn blue. This means that Do Not Disturb is active, and anyone who tries to call you will be routed to your voicemail. You will not know the call is coming through.
- While Do Not Disturb mode is active, a moon icon will remain on the top of your iPhone's screen near the clock.
- Any notifications you'd normally receive, including texts, will not be delivered until you turn off Do Not Disturb mode.
- Continue with this method to learn how to customize Do Not Disturb to behave in different ways.
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A Focus menu will expand.
You’ll see Do Not Disturb at the top of the Focus menu. Tap the ••• on the right side of the button to open more options.
You’ll see a list of quick schedule options when you expand the menu. Choose from For 1 hour, Until this evening, or Until I leave this location. If there’s an active event in your Calendar, you can also select Until the end of this event.
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Tap Settings to customize your Do Not Disturb settings. For more options, tap Settings at the bottom of the Do Not Disturb menu. You can also get here by opening the Settings app on your iPhone and going to Focus > Do Not Disturb. From here you can:
- Tap People to customize which contacts can still reach you while Do Not Disturb mode is activated.
  - You can also use this menu to allow calls through if someone tries to call you twice within three minutes. To allow this, toggle on Allow Repeated Calls.
- Tap Apps to allow certain apps to send notifications even with Do Not Disturb mode enabled.
- Set up a special Lock Screen or Home Screen to use when Do Not Disturb mode is on.
- Add a schedule so that Do Not Disturb mode will activate at specific times, in select locations, or when you’re using certain apps.
If anyone left you voicemail while you were in Do Not Disturb mode, you'll be alerted of your new messages and missed alerts in a few moments.

Method 2

Method 2 of 4:

Using Airplane Mode

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1
Open the Control Center. The fastest way to send all of your calls to voicemail is to enable airplane mode. While you're in airplane mode, your iPhone will not communicate with your cellular network, which means that any inbound phone calls will automatically hit your voicemail.^{[2]
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Research source} To open the Control Center:
- If your iPhone has Face ID and no Home button, swipe down from the top-right edge of the Home screen.
- If your iPhone has a Home button at the bottom-center, swipe up from the bottom of the Home screen to open Control Center.
2
Tap the airplane icon to toggle airplane mode on or off. When airplane mode is on, the airplane icon will turn orange and white. When it's off, it will be gray.
- Turning on airplane mode usually doesn't turn off Wi-Fi unless you turn it off manually. This means you'll still receive notification and iMessages as long as you're connected to Wi-Fi in airplane mode unless you toggle the Wi-Fi switch off.

Method 3

Method 3 of 4:

Using Silence Unknown Callers

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1
Open your iPhone's Settings app. If you just want to send unknown callers to voicemail but still receive inbound calls from everyone else, you can use this method to do so. Start by tapping the gear icon on your Home screen to open your Settings.
- You will still receive inbound calls from people in your contacts list, numbers you've called recently (even if you haven't saved them as contacts), and Siri suggestions.
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Tap Apps. If you’ve updated to iOS 18, the Phone settings are now in the Apps submenu. Scroll down to the bottom of the Settings menu and tap it.
- If you’re using iOS 17 or earlier, Phone is still in the main Settings menu, about halfway down.
It's the green phone receiver icon. You’ll find it in the P section of the Apps menu.
It's toward the bottom of the menu.
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Slide the "Silence Unknown Callers" switch to On
. As long as this switch is on, all inbound calls from unknown numbers will be routed to your voicemail instead of ringing through. You will see these calls on the Recent Calls list, but you won't hear them ring.
- Toggle this switch off at any time to disable this feature.

Method 4

Method 4 of 4:

Using Call Forwarding

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1
Find your voicemail number. If you want to immediately forward all inbound calls to your voicemail without using the typical methods, you may be able to do so by directing calls to a special voicemail number. This number varies by provider, so you'll need to check with them to find it.
- This is not going to be your own phone number, but a separate voicemail number.
It'll be on the Home screen or in your app list.
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Tap Apps. It’s at the bottom of the Settings menu.
- If you are using iOS 17 or earlier, the settings for your Phone app will be in the main Settings menu, about halfway down.
It’s in the P section of the Apps menu.
This will open your forwarding settings on a new page.
When this option is enabled, all the incoming calls will be forwarded to a number of your choosing.
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Enter your voicemail phone number. Type your voicemail box's phone number here. This will forward all your incoming calls to your voicemail. Tap the back button to return to the main menu to save your settings.
- Alternatively, you can enter a non-existent, unused phone number here. This won't redirect calls to your voicemail, but give the impression that your number has been disconnected and no longer in use.