How to fix iPhone not ringing after iOS 18 update

Is your iPhone not ringing after iOS 18 update? This article explains how you can troubleshoot this issue.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• If your iPhone won’t ring after iOS 18 update, it may be a volume or settings issue that can be easily resolved.
• You can fix an iPhone that’s not ringing on iOS 18 by increasing the volume and turning off Focus mode.
• You should also make sure your iPhone is not in silent mode.
• If all else fails, you should try resetting the iPhone — just make sure to back it up first.

These days, missing an important phone can be devastating.

It becomes even more frustrating when you know you had your iPhone with you — but for some reason, your phone isn’t ringing for incoming calls.

Fortunately, there are a variety of solutions to fix iPhone ringer issues on iOS 18.

Why is my iPhone not ringing on iOS 18?

If your iPhone isn’t ringing on iOS 18, there are several possible culprits:

• The speaker is damaged.
• Silent mode is turned on.
• Focus mode is turned on.
• You blocked the phone number.
• You silenced all unknown callers.
• There’s a problem with a ringtone.
• Your iPhone is stuck in headphone mode.

How to fix iPhone not ringing on iOS 18

If your iPhone is not ringing after iOS 18 update, try these 15 fixes — from turning off Focus mode to resetting your device.

1. Turn off Focus mode

The first thing you should always do if your iPhone isn’t ringing is to check the Focus feature. Focus is an iPhone feature that lets you block all notifications except from specific people or apps. If your iPhone is in Focus mode, incoming calls will go straight to voicemail without ringing. Here’s how to make sure Focus mode is turned off:

1. Swipe down from the top right corner of your screen to open the Control Center.
2. Look at the rectangle next to your brightness controls — if it says Do Not Disturb, Driving, Sleep, or something similar, it’s turned on. Tap this button to disable your Do Not Disturb or Focus mode.

2. Check that your iPhone isn’t stuck in Bluetooth or headphones mode

Your iPhone can occasionally get stuck in headphone mode, making your device believe headphones are plugged in even when they’re not, and muting the speakers.

To get your iPhone out of headphone mode, simply unplug or disconnect your headphones.

3. Check to see if CarPlay is on

Your iPhone won’t ring when it’s connected to CarPlay – the ring will be sent to your car’s speakers instead. If you want the phone to ring, disconnect CarPlay by following the steps below:

1. Open the Settings app and tap General.
2. Tap CarPlay.
3. Tap your car, then disconnect it.

If you are using wired CarPlay, simply unplug the phone from the car’s USB port.

4. Make sure your phone isn’t connected to a Bluetooth device

Another way your iPhone might ring but still not get your attention: The audio might be playing through a connected audio device, like headphones, earbuds, or a portable speaker.

You might end up hearing nothing depending on the level of ringer volume and where these accessories are located when you get a phone call.

You can ensure there are no connected Bluetooth devices, or simply toggle Bluetooth off and then turn it back on again. Any devices will disconnect and the ringtone should play through the iPhone’s speaker. Here’s how:

1. Swipe down from the top right of the screen to bring up the Control Center.
2. Tap the **Bluetooth **icon in the top left.
3. Wait about five seconds.
4. Turn Bluetooth back on again (or, if you prefer, simply leave it off).

5. Update iOS

iOS updates routinely contain fixes to iPhone bugs and glitches. Try updating your iPhone to the latest version of iOS 18 and see if this solves your issue.

6. Turn off Silent Mode

As a general rule, Silent Mode disables all ringtones and notification alerts, so while in this setting, your phone won’t notify you about phone calls or text messages.

It’s entirely possible that you have entered Silent mode by accident and that’s why you’re iPhone isn’t ringing.

Here’s how to turn off Silent mode on your iPhone.

1. Locate the Ring/Silent switch on the side of your phone.
2. Flip the Ring/Silent switch upward to turn off Silent mode. Youll know silent mode is turned off when you no longer see the band of orange at the top of the switch.

On iPhone 15 Pro, iPhone 15 Pro Max, iPhone 16, iPhone 16 Plus, iPhone 16 Pro, and iPhone 16 Pro Max, you can turn off Silent mode by going to Settings > Sounds & Haptics, then turning off Silent mode.

7. Turn off calling on other devices

In some instances, setting up your Mac, iPad or another iPhone to receive phone calls can interfere with your iPhone’s ability to ring when a call comes in. To see if this is the bug that has bitten you, disable calls on other devices. Here’s how:

1. Open your iPhone’s Settings app and scroll down to tap Apps. Tap Phone.
2. In the Calls section, tap Calls on other devices.
3. Toggle off the switch next to Allow Calls on Other Devices.

8. Turn off call forwarding

Your iPhone includes a simple call forwarding feature that lets you redirect all incoming calls to a different number.

When you set up call forwarding, your iPhone won’t ring and all of its calls will go to another phone. If you set up call forwarding temporarily, it’s easy to turn off so your iPhone gets calls again.

Here’s how to turn the feature off.

1. Open your iPhone’s Settings app and scroll down to tap Apps. Scroll down again and tap Phone.
2. In the Calls section, tap Call Forwarding.
3. Tap the toggle switch next to Call Forwarding to turn it off.

9. Disable "Silence Unknown Callers" setting

The iPhone has a feature called "Silence Unknown Callers." When this is turned on, your phone won’t ring for calls from numbers you haven’t saved.

You’ll still hear rings for numbers you have saved in your Contacts list, numbers you’ve called or texted before, and "Siri Suggestions" — usually phone numbers that you’ve seen in an email or text message recently.

If your iPhone isn’t ringing when numbers you haven’t saved call, Silence Unknown Callers may be turned on. Here’s how to turn it off.

1. Open your iPhone’s Settings app and scroll down to tap Apps. Scroll down again and tap Phone.
2. Near the bottom of this page, tap Silence Unknown Callers.
3. Tap the toggle switch next to Silence Unknown Callers to turn it off.

10. Make sure the number isn’t blocked

The reason your iPhone isn’t ringing on iOS 18 could simply be that you blocked the number. Here’s how to check if you blocked the contact and unblock it:

1. Open your iPhone’s Settings app and scroll down to tap Apps. Scroll down again and tap Phone.
2. Near the bottom of this page, tap Blocked Contacts.
3. Find the number you wish to unblock and swipe right on it.
4. Tap unblock.

11. Check custom ringtones

If the iPhone won’t ring for a specific caller and that person isn’t blocked, then check to see if a custom ringtone you assigned to them isn’t working.

You can change a contact’s ringtone through the Phone app. Here’s how:

1. Open the Phone app and tap the Contacts tab at the bottom.
2. Select the contact whose ringtone you want to change, then tap Edit in the top right corner of the contact’s page.
3. Tap Ringtone, then select a non-custom ringtone from the list of available options.

Now do a test call to see if your iPhone still won’t ring.

12. Check your iPhone’s volume

If you are still having this problem, make sure the ringer volume is set high enough for you to hear — otherwise, your iPhone might ring and you simply won’t even know. Here’s how to increase the ringer volume on your iPhone:

1. Open your iPhone’s Settings app and tap ”Sounds & Haptics.”
2. In the Ringtone and Alerts section, drag the slider to the desired volume level.
3. Turn off Change with Buttons to lock the ringer and alert volumes.

13. Restart your iPhone

If your iPhone is still not ringing, you should try restarting your iPhone. This resets your phone’s memory and clears temporary caches, which can solve temporary glitches with ringtone and alerts.

To restart an iPhone XR or later:

1. Hold down the side button and volume up button or volume down button.
2. When the **power slider **appears on your screen, drag it to the right to turn your phone off.
3. When the iPhone completely shuts off, hold down the side button to turn it back on.

To restart an iPhone SE (2nd generation) or later:

1. Hold down the side button.
2. When the power slider appears on your screen, drag it to the right to turn your phone off.
3. When the iPhone completely shuts off, hold down the side button to turn it back on.

If the problem persists, try the tips below.

14. Restore Your iPhone to Factory Default Settings

Restoring your iPhone to factory default settings should be the last thing you do to fix an iPhone not ringing issue because when you restore your iPhone, you’re deleting everything installed or changed on it since it was first purchased. In the process, it should also fix any ringer issues. Just make sure you have a recent backup before you reset your iPhone.

15. Get your iPhone serviced

If none of those troubleshooting steps solved the problem, you should contact Apple customer support for further help. It’s possible that you have a hardware problem — for example, the iPhone speaker might be damaged. This isn’t something you can fix on your own, so enlist the help of Apple.