Trouble with phone calls or Wi-Fi calls
If you can’t make or receive calls, have dropped calls, or if your audio quality isn’t good, try the steps below to fix the problem. To turn on Wi-Fi calls, learn how to make calls over Wi-Fi.
After each step below, try to call a friend or have a friend call you to check if the issue is fixed.
Keep in mind that dropped calls may happen every once in a while because of interference from buildings, weather, or other factors.
Perform general troubleshooting
- If you recently activated Google Fi service, or switched to a new device, make sure that the Google Fi app has been activated.
- On your phone, open the Google Fi app 👁 Image
. - To get to the home page, follow the on-screen instructions.
- When you're done, make a test call to check if it works.
- On your phone, open the Google Fi app 👁 Image
Make sure you are using the Phone app 👁 Phone
that came on your phone or the Phone app by Google to make calls. Other apps for dialing aren’t supported.
- Open the Google Fi app 👁 Image
. - Under the “Support” tab, tap Connectivity issues 👁 and then
Phone Call issues.- An automatic diagnostic check runs on your phone.
- If the issue is still unresolved.
- Upload the diagnostic report.
- Contact our support team for further assistance.
- Open your phone's Settings app 👁 Settings
. - Tap Network & Internet.
- Turn on Airplane mode.
- Turn off Airplane mode.
Make sure Airplane mode is off when you’re done. Calling won’t work if Airplane mode is on.
- Restarting your phone gives it a fresh start and is sometimes all you need to fix your issue. To restart your phone:
- Press and hold the Power button until the menu pops up.
- To turn off, tap Power off.
- Press and hold the Power button until your device starts.
- Updates to the Google Fi app can provide feature and security improvements that may fix your issue.
- To check if there’s an update for the Google Fi app:
- On your phone, open the Google Play Store app 👁 Play Store
. - At the top right, tap your Profile picture or Initial.
- Tap Manage apps & device 👁 and then
Updates available. - If Google Fi is listed, tap Update.
- On your phone, open the Google Play Store app 👁 Play Store
- System updates often include fixes and improvements that could resolve your issue. To check for and install updates:
- Open your phone's Settings app 👁 Settings
. - Tap System 👁 and then
System update 👁 and then
System Updates. - Tap Check for update.
- If an update is available: Tap Install.
- To finish the process, you may need to restart your phone.
- If your system is already up to date: The screen will confirm this.
- If an update is available: Tap Install.
- Open your phone's Settings app 👁 Settings
Check which network causes problems
Important: Before troubleshooting, identify whether the problem lies with the Google Fi cellular network or a connected Wi-Fi network.
- Test cellular calls:
- Turn off Wi-Fi.
- To check if the issue persists on the cellular network, place a test call.
- Test Wi-Fi calls:
- Turn on Airplane mode.
- Connect to a Wi-Fi network.
- To make sure the call is routed over Wi-Fi, make a test call.
- Check if the issue is still present.
Troubleshoot Cellular Call failure
If the signal icon on your phone has No bars 👁 Image
or only One bar 👁 Image
, be aware that your call quality may be affected.
- If signal strength is poor and we have coverage in your location:
- Try to find another spot nearby with a better signal.
- If you’re inside a building or underground, move outside. Buildings can block signals.
- If that doesn’t work, continue to the next steps.
- If we don’t have coverage in your location: Connect to Wi-Fi so you can use Wi-Fi calling.
Calls in the US
If you have issues with outgoing calls, use the full 10- or 11-digit number:
- (area code) + (local number)
- 1+ (area code) + (local number)
Call other countries from the US
If you call an international number from the US:
- Canada and US Virgin Islands: Dial 1+ (area code) + (local number).
- To all other countries:
- Tap and hold 0 until "+" displays on the screen.
- Dial (country code) (area code) + (local number).
- For example, if you call a number in the UK, dial +44 (area code) + (local number).
Make calls outside the US
If you’re outside the US and call international numbers or the US:
- To call a number in the country you’re visiting: Dial (country code) (area code) + (local number).
- To call another country:
- Tap and hold 0 until a "+" displays on the screen.
- Dial (country code) (area code) + (local number).
- For example, if you call a number in the UK from Japan, dial +44 (area code) + (local number).
- If this number format doesn’t work, you can also use the exit code of the country you’re visiting. Use (exit code) (destination country code) (area code) + (local number).
- To call a number in the US: Dial +1 (area code) + (local number).
- No need to dial 011 and the country code.
If you use a VPN:
- Turn it off.
- Check if you still have an issue.
If you use the Google One VPN:
- On your device, open the Google One app 👁 Google One
. - At the top, tap Benefits.
- Under the “VPN benefit,” tap View details 👁 and then
View settings 👁 and then
Allow apps to bypass VPN. - Select the app you want to bypass.
- Tap Add 👁 Add
.- To remove an app from the bypass list, tap Remove 👁 Image
.
- To remove an app from the bypass list, tap Remove 👁 Image
- At the top, tap Save.
- If you don’t tap “Save” to restart the VPN by Google One, your changes won’t save. If the VPN is disabled, the changes apply the next time the VPN is enabled.
- If this is a sudden unexpected change at a specific location where you previously had no issues, and calls to all numbers are affected, there may be an outage.
- Test if phone calls work at another location, somewhere more than 5 miles away to connect to another tower.
- If call quality issues persist for both parties, possible causes include:
- Poor coverage
- A localized site outage
- An account billing problem
- Verify these possibilities through the Fi app or fi.google.com.
Troubleshoot Wi-Fi Call failure
Important: Wi-Fi calling works on devices designed for Fi and most compatible with Fi phones.
With “Airplane mode" on, open a browser and go to a few websites or search on Google.com.
- If the Wi-Fi network isn’t working: Troubleshoot the Wi-Fi network first.
- For Pixel and other Android users, learn how to fix Wi-Fi connection problems.
- If the internet on the Wi-Fi network is working:
- Connect to a different Wi-Fi network.
- To check if the issue is still present, place a test call.
- If the issue only happens on one Wi-Fi network: Reach out to your internet service provider to troubleshoot the issue further.
Check specific number call issues
- If you don’t get any inbound calls, check if you have Call forwarding enabled.
- If you don't get phone calls from specific numbers, check if the following settings are blocked:
- Family settings: Can block numbers that aren’t saved to your contacts.
- Blocked numbers: Allow you to block specific phone numbers.
- Filtering spam calls: Block numbers suspected to be spam.
- If the issue is specific to a certain phone number, and others have issues with those numbers, the issue may be with the other party.
- If others can call the number successfully, check that the number format is the same.
Call quality issues
- While not on a call, test your device’s speaker with a video or music playback to check for any hardware malfunctions.
- If the issue is only with the other party who hears you, make a voice memo and play it back to check if any audio issues are present.
- When indoors, Wi-Fi performance is generally better than the carrier network due to potential interference. If available, connect to Wi-Fi and enable Wi-Fi calling.
- For more information, learn how to make calls over Wi-Fi.
- If these steps don’t help, contact our support team.
- Be sure to note key details like if the issue only happens with specific phone numbers, or at specific locations.
- Be ready to provide the specific call examples that had issues so that we can investigate those in more detail.
