I’m unable to make phone calls on my iPhone, and I can’t figure out why. The phone has service, and all other features seem to work fine. I’ve tried restarting, but no luck. Any suggestions or fixes would really help, as I rely on my phone for work calls.
Have you tried turning Airplane mode on and off? Sometimes the phone just needs a little slap upside the head to remember it’s a phone and not just a social media machine. Also, check your Do Not Disturb settings—maybe you accidentally silenced all calls without realizing it. Another sneaky culprit could be Carrier Settings. Go to Settings > General > About and see if there’s an update there.
If none of this works, make sure your call forwarding or blocking isn’t causing the issue. Go to Settings > Phone and see if anything looks off. Worst case, it could be a hardware issue, like the SIM card being wonky—pop it out, give it the old blow off the dust treatment, and put it back in. Or maybe your cellular plan is acting up—might not hurt to contact your provider and double-check if everything’s golden on their end.
Oh, and let’s not ignore the obvious: have you tried dialing a number manually instead of relying on contacts? Weird tech glitch possibilities abound. If everything fails, reset network settings (Settings > General > Reset > Reset Network Settings)—but careful, this wipes saved WiFi passwords too, so be ready for that inconvenience.
Check if there’s an issue with the iOS version you’re running. Sometimes, outdated software can mess with calling functionality. Go to Settings > General > Software Update and see if there’s anything to install. Another thing, reset your SIM card completely by removing it, but instead of just dusting it off like @shizuka mentioned, test it in another phone if possible. That can rule out if it’s the card itself or the iPhone causing the drama.
Oh, and here’s a curveball—are you sure it’s not just a specific number or group of numbers you’re unable to call? Maybe they blocked you (awkward) or, less awkwardly, their carrier has issues. But if all calls are failing, it could be a backlog on your carrier registration. You could try the less-talked-about method of toggling your network band. Go to Settings > Cellular > Cellular Data Options, then disable LTE or switch between different options.
Also, double-check that you’re not stuck in Wi-Fi Calling purgatory. If the Wi-Fi signal is spotty, calls might not go through properly—disable Wi-Fi Calling in the Phone settings and see if that changes anything. Don’t rule out hardware damage like the mic or speaker either, even if it seems unrelated. Some people overlook that their phone casing or screen protector might be blocking key hardware ports. Remove anything extra and try again.
Lastly, do a full backup and factory reset. Annoying, yes, but a clean slate usually fixes hidden bugs that all the settings-tweaking in the world won’t solve. It’s tedious, but sometimes phones are moody little things that need a full refresh. Don’t forget to restore your essential data afterward.
Here’s another angle that might help uncover the issue. Have you checked the restrictions or parental control settings (now called Screen Time)? If someone (or even you, by accident) toggled restrictions for communication, your ability to make calls might be impacted. Dive into Settings > Screen Time > Content & Privacy Restrictions and review the Communication Limits section to ensure nothing’s blocking your calls.
Now, taking the troubleshooting up a notch—let’s talk about your network itself. Sometimes, roaming settings can mess everything up, even if you’re not abroad. Go to Settings > Cellular > Cellular Data Options and ensure Data Roaming is aligned with your situation. Also, are you using a third-party app for calling? Apps like WhatsApp or Skype might bypass your regular dialer but leave your core calling feature untouched. Try uninstalling such apps momentarily to rule them out.
Another strategy you might not hear often is toggling your carrier manually. Go to Settings > Cellular > Network Selection and disable “Automatic.” Once manual mode kicks in, select your carrier afresh. That sometimes resets odd connectivity blips.
Also, hate to bring up the elephant in the room, but let’s rule out physical damage on a deeper level. If your phone took a bad spill recently, internal components like the baseband chip (handles cellular connections) might be compromised. It can show service but fail at calls. It’s uncommon, but not unheard of. A quick visit to a Genius Bar or trusted repair shop could verify this.
I’d personally avoid jumping straight to a factory reset, as suggested by @shizuka, unless you’ve exhausted every other option—even the obscure ones like resetting time zone settings (yeah, random, but surprisingly effective in some cases). One final wildcard: toggle location services off temporarily (Settings > Privacy & Security > Location Services) and see if that shifts things. Some carrier features tie into location, and a stuck GPS module might be creating invisible friction.
In terms of pros versus cons of these steps, exploring software tweaks and carrier settings doesn’t cost anything but time, which is great. However, diving into hardware diagnostics or experimenting with SIM swaps might require tools or outside help. Taking advice collectively from @viajantedoceu and @shizuka is helpful, but your next route depends on whether the issue leans software or hardware.