How to Turn on Ringer on iPhone: Easy Guide + Fixes

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Learn how to enable, adjust, and fix your iPhone's ringer volume
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If you have Silent Mode turned on, you can easily disable it with the physical switch on your iPhone or in your settings. If your iPhone isn't ringing when you get calls, you can easily troubleshoot it. Here's how to turn on the ringer on your iPhone 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, and newer.

Turning On Your iPhone's Ringer

  • To turn off Silent Mode, find the switch on the side of your iPhone, above the volume buttons. Flip the switch up so the orange isn't showing.
  • Change the ringer volume manually in Settings → Sound & Haptics. Drag the slider towards the right.
  • If your iPhone isn't ringing, make sure your volume is raised, Focus modes are turned off, and you don't have unknown callers silenced.
Section 1 of 3:

Using the Switch

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  1. Step 1 Locate the switch on the side of your phone.
    This is on the same side as your volume buttons.
    • When the Silent Mode is turned on, you'll see orange underneath the switch.[1]
  2. Step 2 Flip the switch up.
    You should see the Silent Mode Off notification on your iPhone.
    • When Silent Mode is turned off, the orange will disappear from underneath the switch.
    • On iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max models, open the Control Center and tap the alarm bell icon. When your ringer is on, there will be no slash through the icon.
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  3. Step 3 Press the top volume button.
    This will increase the volume.
    • If the ringer volume doesn't change with the buttons, see the next section to change it in your settings.
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Section 2 of 3:

Increasing the Ringer Volume

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  1. Step 1 Open the Settings app.
    This is the grey cog icon.
    • If the volume buttons don't increase your ringer volume, this feature may be disabled. Use this method to enable it.
  2. Step 2 Tap Sound & Haptics.
    You can find this underneath Notifications.
  3. Step 3 Toggle on icon "Change with Buttons".
    When this feature is enabled, you can use the volume buttons on the side of your iPhone to change the volume of alerts and ringtones.
    • To manually increase your volume, tap and drag the Ringtone and Alerts slider towards the right.
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Section 3 of 3:

Troubleshooting

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  1. Step 1 Make sure your volume is up.
    A too-quiet ringtone could result in many missed calls. If you have Change with Buttons enabled, press the top volume button to increase your volume.
    • Alternatively, open your Settings and tap Sound & Haptics. Drag the slider to the right to increase the volume of your ringtone.
    • If you often use your iPhone in a louder environment, some of the more mellow ringtones might not break through the noise. Tap Ringtone and try selecting a different sound.
    • If you're using a custom ringtone that you created or downloaded, there could be a problem with the file. Try switching to one of the built-in ringtones to see if that fixes the problem.
  2. Step 2 Turn off Focus modes.
    Do Not Disturb, Driving, Sleep, and other Focus modes turn off your ringer to help you stay on task. If any of these modes are enabled, you may miss any calls or texts you receive.
    • To disable a Focus mode on an iPhone with Face ID, swipe down from the top-right corner of the Home screen and tap the moon symbol on the Focus tile.[2]
    • To disable it on an iPhone that has a Home button, swipe up from the bottom of the Home screen, then tap the moon symbol on the Focus tile.
    • You can also ask Siri to turn off Focus mode.
  3. Step 3 Toggle off Airplane mode.
    Airplane mode prevents your iPhone from placing and receiving calls and texts.
    • On an iPhone that has Face ID, swipe down from the top-right corner of the Home screen and tap the airplane symbol.
    • If your iPhone has a Home button, swipe up from the bottom of the Home screen, then tap the airplane symbol.
  4. Step 4 Stop silencing unknown callers.
    If you're blocking spam calls, you might also be blocking other calls. The Silence Unknown Callers feature prevents your iPhone from ringing when any calls come through that aren't already in your contacts or recent calls list.[3]
    • If you're missing calls from non-contacts, open the Settings app and tap Phone. Tap Silence Unknown Callers and toggle the switch off.
  5. Step 5 Disconnect from other audio devices.
    If your iPhone is connected to another audio device, incoming calls won't ring through your iPhone's built-in speaker. This can cause problems if the AirPlay or Bluetooth speaker, stereo, TV, or other audio device is muted or it's not close to you when your phone rings.
    • Open the Control Center by swiping down from the top-right corner of the screen. If you have a Home button, swipe up from the bottom.
    • If you're connected to an AirPlay speaker, including your car's audio system, tap the AirPlay icon (a triangle with three circles), and then select iPhone.
    • If you're mirroring your iPhone to an AirPlay device, tap Screen Mirroring → Stop Mirroring.
    • To disconnect from a Bluetooth speaker or headphones, tap the Bluetooth icon. It looks like a sideways bowtie.
  6. Step 6 Turn off Call Audio Routing.
    This accessibility option automatically forwards incoming phone calls to another audio device. Even if you've manually disconnected from other audio devices, Call Audio Routing might be trying to ring your calls elsewhere.
    • To disable it, open your Settings app and go to Accessibility → Touch → Call Audio Routing and make sure either Automatic or Speaker is selected.[4]
  7. Step 7 Review your blocked caller list.
    If you're only missing calls from a particular person, you may have blocked them.
    • To check, open Settings and go to Phone → Blocked Contacts.[5]
    • If you see the person you're missing calls from on the list, tap Edit, tap the minus sign next to that person, and then tap Done.
  8. Step 8 Disable call forwarding.
    Call forwarding automatically sends your calls to another phone number.
    • To disable call forwarding so you can receive calls on your iPhone, open Settings and head to Phone → Call Forwarding to toggle off the switch.
  9. Step 9 Turn off Calls on Other Devices.
    Your calls could be ringing through to your Mac or another iPhone. While Calls on Other Devices shouldn't prevent your main iPhone from ringing, someone else in your home might be answering the call from your Mac or iPad before you can.
    • To disable this feature, open Settings and head to Cellular → Calls on Other Devices. Disable any devices on which you don't want to receive calls.
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References

  1. ↑ https://support.apple.com/guide/iphone/select-ringtones-and-vibrations-iph37c04838/ios
  2. ↑ https://support.apple.com/guide/iphone/turn-a-focus-on-or-off-iph5c3f5b77b/ios
  3. ↑ https://support.apple.com/en-us/111106
  4. ↑ https://support.apple.com/guide/iphone/auto-answer-calls-iph29145acf1/ios
  5. ↑ https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201229

About This Article

Rain Kengly
Written by:
Rain Kengly
wikiHow Technology Writer
This article was co-authored by wikiHow staff writer, Rain Kengly. Rain Kengly is a wikiHow Technology Writer. As a storytelling enthusiast with a penchant for technology, they hope to create long-lasting connections with readers from all around the globe. Rain graduated from San Francisco State University with a BA in Cinema. This article has been viewed 85,853 times.
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Co-authors: 3
Updated: May 2, 2024
Views: 85,853
Categories: IPhone
Article SummaryX

1. Check the Silent Mode switch.
2. Increase the volume and/or try another ringtone.
3. Disable focus modes like Do Not Disturb or Sleep.
4. Turn off airplane mode.
5. Disconnect from Bluetooth or AirPlay devices.
6. Turn off the feature that silences unknown callers.
7. Disable call audio routing and call forwarding.
8. Check your block list.
9. Remove spam blocking apps.
10. Turn off Calls on Other Devices.

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