there are several simple troubleshooting steps

you can take to get it working again.

Let's go over eight ways

to fix your iPhone's voicemail

when it isn't working properly.

This sounds obvious, but you should make sure

that your voicemail is set up properly on your iPhone.

Open the phone app. Press the voicemail tab.

If it hasn't yet been set up, press "Set Up Now."

Follow the instructions to create a voicemail password

and choose or record a greeting.

Let's set up a custom greeting.

Open the phone app.

Press the voicemail tab.

Press "Greeting."

On the greeting screen,

you should see a check mark for default or custom.

If it currently set to default, press "Custom."

To preview the greeting, press "Play."

Recording: Hello. You've reached Derek

from Make Media Studios.

I cannot come to the phone right now,

but if you can leave your name,

number, and a brief message,

I will get back to you as soon as I can.

Thank you and have a good day.

Narrator: To record a new greeting, press "Record,"

record your greeting,

and press "Stop" when you're done.

And, finally, press "Save."

Another reason why your voicemail may not be working

is that call forwarding is enabled

and your calls are being directed to another phone number

instead of going to your voicemail.

Open the settings app.

Press "Phone."

Then press "Call Forwarding."

On the call forwarding page,

check your forwarding status.

If call forwarding is enabled,

turn it off by swiping the button to the left.

If you do not see a call forwarding option

within your phone menu,

you may need to call your service provider,

as they will be able to control it on their end.

There might be a problem with your voicemail service

at your cellular carrier.

Here's an easy way to check.

Open the phone app.

Press "Keypad."

Hold 1

until the phone dials your voicemail.

If your phone cannot connect to your voicemail,

contact your cellular provider's customer support

to resolve the problem.

Sometimes resetting your cellular service can help.

Pull the control center down

from the top right of your screen.

Press airplane mode.

Wait two minutes,

then turn airplane mode back off.

Wait for the cellular radio to reconnect

and try your voicemail again.

Often a software glitch is easily solved

by just restarting the device

or the program that's misbehaving.

If you've gotten this far

and your voicemail still doesn't work,

either turn your iPhone off, wait a minute,

and turn it back on again,

or close the phone app

and then start the phone app a second time.

If the app was suffering a minor software problem,

it might work now.

Cellular carriers sometimes update their settings.

Usually these updates are installed automatically

and you don't need to think about it.

If an update didn't get installed, though,

it's possible it could be interfering with your voicemail.

You can update your carrier settings manually

through the settings app.

If your voicemail service appears to be normal

but it's still not working on your iPhone,

you can reset your phone's network settings.

This is a last resort

because it will reset all your network settings,

including your WiFi networks and their passwords.

If you want to try it though, do this.

Open the settings app.

Press "General,"

press "Transfer or Reset iPhone,"

press "Reset,"

then press "Reset Network Settings."