1. Restart iPhone
Begin the troubleshooting process by restarting your iPhone. Often this classic fix is enough to make your iPhone ring again. That’s because sometimes a minor issue or an app running in the background can cause the iPhone not to ring for incoming calls. This can be fixed by rebooting the phone. Follow these steps to do so:
2. Check the Ring/Silent Switch
All iPhones have a physical switch on the left side that helps to put the phone in silent mode. You might have accidentally switched to silent mode, resulting in no ring for incoming calls. To fix it, use these steps:
3. Increase Ringtone Volume
In addition to the switch, your iPhone can be set to the silent mode if the Ringer and Alerts volume is set to 0. You must check and increase the ring volume so that you hear the ringtone for incoming calls.
4. Check App Notifications
5. Turn off Focus Modes (or Do Not Disturb)
If any Focus profile like “Do Not Disturb”, Work, Driving, etc., is enabled on your iPhone, then you won’t hear a ringtone for incoming calls. You must disable the Focus mode or customize it to allow calls from selected users. Note: Focus modes are available on iPhones running iOS 15+. For iOS 14 and less, you will have to turn off “Do Not Disturb Mode“. To disable Focus mode, follow these steps: Pro Tip: If you own an Apple Watch, swipe up on it and make sure the bell, theater, and moon icons are not lit up. If enabled, these will silence sounds on your phone as well as the watch.
6. Check the Default Ringtone
If you are using a custom ringtone i.e., a ringtone that didn’t come pre-installed on your iPhone, then there could be an issue with the custom ringtone. You should try switching to one of the pre-installed ringtones on your iPhone.
7. Check Ringtone for Selected Contacts
If your iPhone isn’t ringing for incoming calls from only certain people, then the issue could be in their custom ringtone.
8. Turn off Airplane Mode
If you don’t even receive a missed call notification for the incoming calls, the chances are that you might have accidentally enabled Airplane mode on your iPhone. For the unaware, Airplane mode disables all cellular connectivity, thus your iPhone might not be ringing.
9. Check Connected Bluetooth Devices
Your iPhone might often be connected to a Bluetooth accessory such as a headphone, speaker, etc. This causes any sound from your iPhone to play on the connected Bluetooth device. If the connected Bluetooth device is lying far away, you won’t hear the ringtone. Either turn off the nearby Bluetooth devices or simply disable Bluetooth on your iPhone.
10. Check iPhone Isn’t Stuck in Headphone Mode
Older iPhones that supported a 3.5mm headphone jack could often get stuck in headphone mode. That is, the iPhone would think it’s connected to the headphone when it wasn’t. This resulted in no sound from iPhone’s speaker which could be causing the no ringtone issue. To fix it, insert the headphone cable into the 3.5mm jack once and then remove it. Hopefully, this should take out the iPhone from headphone mode. You can also try blowing air into the jack just in case dust particles or debris are affecting the normal working of headphones.
11. Check Blocked Numbers
If you aren’t getting calls from selected users only, check for them in the blocked list. You might have accidentally blocked the number.
12. Turn off Silence Unknown Callers
Another setting that could impact incoming calls on your iPhone is the Silence unknown callers. When enabled, your iPhone will not ring for numbers that aren’t saved in your contacts except for the unsaved numbers in your recent calls list. This feature could be to blame for the missed calls from your doctor’s office.
13. Turn off Call Forwarding
Next, take a look at call forwarding settings. If enabled, your iPhone won’t ring as the incoming calls are diverted to another number. You must turn it off to receive incoming calls on your iPhone.
14. Check Third-party Call Blockers
Are you using any third-party calling or call blocking apps? Check that they aren’t blocking calls from any number. Open the third-party app and check for blocked numbers in them. Alternatively, go to “Settings → Phone → Call blocking & identification.” Turn off all apps. Please note that this feature is available on selected iPhones only.
15. Update Software
Sometimes, the iPhone not ringing issue can be caused by a bug in the iOS software. To fix it, you must update the iOS to the latest version.
16. Other Potential Fixes
Some users in various forums have suggested fixes that generally should not have any effect on the ringtone but have actually helped them in resolving the iPhone not ringing for calls issue. You can give them a shot too.
Go to “Settings→ Phone→ Announce calls.” Select Never. Or, if you want the iPhone to announce the name of the caller, select Always.Enable Wi-Fi calling under the iPhone’s “Settings → Phone → Wi-Fi calling.”Go to “Settings → Sounds & haptics.” Turn off the toggle next to “Vibrate on ring”. Turn off calls on other devices by going to “Settings → Phone → Calls on other devices.”Go to “Settings → Phone → Incoming calls.” Select “Full screen” to display the incoming call on full screen.
17. Reset Network Settings
If nothing has worked so far and the problem persists, try resetting network settings on your iPhone. This will remove saved Wi-Fi networks, paired Bluetooth devices, and reset other network settings to their default values. Your personal data will not be affected.
18. Reset All Settings
If all else has failed, you should reset all settings on your phone. This will revert all settings on your iPhone to their default values. You will have to set all settings again according to your preference. Your personal files will not get deleted by resetting all settings. Go to “Settings → General → Transfer or Reset iPhone → Reset → Reset All Settings.”
Bonus: Text Message Sound Not Working on iPhone
If your iPhone rings for incoming calls but text message alerts do not work, you must check message settings. Hopefully these fixes will help you solve the ringtones not working on iPhone. Once your iPhone starts ringing for incoming calls, learn how to use your iPad to receive calls and how to record calls on your iPhone.
