“iPhone won’t Make or Receive Calls but Can Text.”
iPhone users may find themselves in this situation after updating their mobile or not restarting their devices occasionally. Even wrong settings can cause such problems. Although the solutions are pretty simple and easy to perform.
To help you tackle this problem, we have divided this article into three parts –
- Part 1 – Understanding the problem
- Part 2 – Solutions
- Part 3 – Temporary Alternatives
Let’s begin…
Table of Contents
Part 1 – Understanding the Problem
Calls are made through carriers; sometimes, calls disconnect when the carrier doesn’t provide support. Many factors could be responsible for this error; even the problem could be with the recipient’s phone, or your Mobile plan has expired.
Here are some of the troubleshooting methods to fix the ‘iPhone won’t make or receive calls but can text’ problem.
Part 2 – iPhone won’t Make or Receive Calls but Can Text (7 Solutions)
1. Toggle Airplane Mode
First, try turning ON the Airplane mode for a few seconds, then turn it OFF. To do so, you can go to the control center and toggle ON your Airplane mode. Then, All you need to do is just Tap on the Airplane icon to toggle it OFF.
2. Reinsert SIM Card
If you have a physical SIM card, you can use a SIM ejector tool to remove SIM and re-insert it afterward. Check if the SIM is catching the signals after inserting. But if you have eSim, then follow these steps –
Go to Settings > Mobile Data >
Toggle OFF – Turn On This Line >
Wait for a while and toggle ON – Turn On This Line.
3. Restart Your Phone
Another troubleshooting method is to restart your iPhone. It will automatically restart the whole system, and if the problem where due to a bug crash in any app, it will give it a new start.
Restarting your iPhone is easy –
| iPhone 8 & Earlier (Home Buton iPhone) | Hold the power button until you see the ‘slide to power off’ Slide, and power it off. To turn it ON, hold the power button until you see Apple Logo. |
| iPhone X and Later (Face ID iPhone) | Press and hold the volume button and side button until you see ‘slide to power off’ Slide it, and to turn it ON, hold down the side button until you see the Apple logo icon on your iPhone. |
4. Reset Network Settings
iPhone calling issues can also occur due to wrong settings; to fix the issue, you can reset it to default settings. To do so, you need to reset network settings.
Steps –
- Go to Settings
- Then, Tap on General > And then scroll down to Transfer or Reset iPhone
- Tap on Reset > Reset Network Settings option here
5. Update Carrier Settings
To improve your phone call stability and provide better service, your carrier may give software updates. Many of us don’t check such updates, although they are useful. These updates might have fixed the call not making an issue, do check them out.
Steps –
- Go to Settings > General
- Tap on About
- If there is any carrier update, it will pop up-
6. Check Your Phone Signal
Another reason your iPhone won’t make or receive calls is your phone signal. If the signal is too weak, it can cause such errors. Try going to a high network area, or enable WiFi calling on your iPhone if you have a WiFi connection.
7. Check Your Mobile Plan
Check out your Mobile plan’s expiry date, there are high chances that your Mobile plan has expired. That’s why you aren’t able to make or receive calls. You can download your service provider’s mobile app or contact customer service to know the expiry date of your plan.
Related – iPhone Not Sending Pictures to Android – 5 Easy Fixes
Part 3 – Alternate Solutions
1. Contact Apple Support
The official solution to this problem is contacting Apple Support; they will further assist you with the problem. Sometimes, such problems occur due to manufacturing defects, which are covered under warranty.
If your city has an Apple service center, you can go there; if not, they will assist you on call. To contact Apple support, you can download their app –
2. Call Forwarding
If you can’t receive calls on your device and need to attend any urgent call, you can use call forwarding. It will automatically forward those calls to another number (a spare device or someone’s phone.)
Steps –
- Go to Settings and search Phone.
- Then, Tap on Call forwarding
- Toggle ON the call forwarding feature
- Tap on Forward to
- Enter the phone number you want your calls to be forwarded to.
3. Use Third-Party Apps
Another alternate solution is to use any third-party app to make and receive calls. You can use Google Meet, Skype, WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, etc. These apps make calls on the internet; if you are on WiFi, there isn’t any carrier problem.
4. Use Another Phone
The very obvious solution, use any spare phone or another phone to make calls, and to receive the calls at the spare number, you can use call forwarding.
On that note, I hope you find this article helpful; thanks for reading!
