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iPhone User Guide

Answer or decline incoming calls on iPhone

You can answer, silence, or decline an incoming call. If you decline a call, it goes to voicemail. You can also respond to a call with a text.

Answer a call

Do one of the following:

Tip: You can have Siri announce incoming calls, which you can accept or decline using your voice.

Silence a call

Press the side button or either volume button when a call is coming in.

You can still answer a silenced call until it goes to voicemail.

Note: You can also automatically screen and silence calls from unknown numbers. See Screen or silence unknown numbers.

Decline a call and send it directly to voicemail

To decline an incoming call, do one of the following:

You can also tap the call banner for more options. Do any of the following:

  • Tap Voicemail to send the call to voicemail.

  • Tap Message, then choose a default reply or tap Custom.

    To create your own default replies, go to Settings 👁 Image
     > Apps > Phone > Respond with Text, tap any field below Respond With, then type your own reply.

Note: In some countries or regions, declined calls are disconnected without being sent to voicemail.

Ask a caller for more information without answering a call

When you receive a call, you can type a message asking the caller for more information before deciding whether to answer.

Tap Type to Reply, then type the message you want your iPhone to say to the caller. Their reply will appear on your screen as text.

iPhone can help you avoid unwanted calls by identifying callers, blocking certain people, screening unknown callers, or sending spam callers directly to voicemail. You can also filter out unknown callers so they don’t appear in your recent and missed calls. To learn more, see Screen and block calls.

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