How to turn off call screening on iPhone

To turn off call screening on iPhone, go to Settings, then Apps, then Phone, and set Screen Unknown Callers to Never. From then on, a call from a number you haven't saved rings like any other call.

That fixes most cases. If unknown calls still aren't ringing, or callers are still being questioned, a different switch is usually responsible, and the second half of this page goes by what you're seeing.

The steps

1. Open Settings.
2. Choose Apps, then Phone.
3. Scroll down until you reach Screen Unknown Callers.
4. Select Never.

Apple wrote these steps for iOS 26, and the iOS 27 version of its guide gives the same path with the same Never, Ask Reason for Calling and Silence options. On iOS 18, Apple's name for the nearest thing is Silence Unknown Callers, in the same Phone settings. If that's what you see, turn that one off.

To check that it worked, have someone call from a number that isn't in your Contacts. Your iPhone should ring straight away, with no question put to the caller first.

What you might be seeing, and what to change

Several iPhone settings produce the same symptom, an unknown call that doesn't ring the way you expect. Find yours in the table, then read the fix under it.

Callers are asked who they are before your iPhone rings

That's Ask Reason for Calling. The iPhone answers an unsaved number for you, the caller is asked why they're calling, and your phone rings once they've replied, with their answer on the screen. Siri does the talking, in your iPhone's default language. Choose Never to stop it. If you want strangers screened but one number to ring straight through, save that number in Contacts, because screening only ever applies to numbers that aren't saved.

Unknown calls go to voicemail without ringing

Silence does exactly this: calls from unsaved numbers are silenced, sent to voicemail and listed in Recents. Switch to Never, or to Ask Reason for Calling if you'd like a gate rather than a wall.

Other switches look the same from the outside, and the screening choice doesn't touch them. The spam filter under Call Filtering deals with calls your carrier flags as potential spam or fraud: they're silenced, go to voicemail and get filed in a Spam list. On Verizon, Silence Junk Callers is switched on automatically on an iPhone, sends suspected spam to voicemail and marks the call Maybe: Junk. What the carrier words mean is in our guides to Potential Spam calls and Spam Risk calls. FaceTime has its own Silence Unknown Callers switch too, and it only affects FaceTime calls.

Missed calls from unknown numbers land in a separate list

Call Filtering also has an Unknown Callers switch. With it on, missed calls and voicemails from unknown numbers move to an Unknown Callers list, which you open with the Filter button in the Phone app. Turn the switch off under Settings, Apps, Phone, Call Filtering, and those calls stop being moved.

A voicemail transcript appears while the caller talks

That's Live Voicemail, a separate feature from screening. It shows a real-time transcription as someone leaves a message, and you can pick up while they're still talking. Its switch is at Settings, Apps, Phone, Live Voicemail.

Nothing rings and nothing shows up

Check Focus before you check anything else. Do Not Disturb is a Focus that silences calls, alerts and notifications, and the other choices (Personal, Work, Sleep, Reduce Interruptions and Driving) can keep calls from reaching you too. Open Control Center and look at the Focus button. If one is on, tap it to turn it off. A Focus can also run on a schedule, so a Do Not Disturb that keeps coming back is probably set under Settings, Focus.

Screening switched itself off, or skipped a call

If you call emergency services, call screening turns off for 24 hours. And while you're roaming, calls aren't screened at all, whatever the setting says.

Calls ring on another phone, or never reach your iPhone

Check call forwarding, which is separate from screening. Our guide to turning off call forwarding has the steps. If you forwarded your cell to VettedCalls on purpose, leave that on: every call goes to us first, and the cell itself shouldn't ring.

Turning screening back on, or choosing a different setting

Go back to Screen Unknown Callers and pick Ask Reason for Calling or Silence. On a personal phone we'd pick Ask Reason for Calling, because Silence makes you dig through voicemail for anything that matters. Apple suggests saving the numbers that matter most, such as family, your child's school and your doctor's office, so those calls always show up.

Should a business phone keep it on?

It depends on who calls. On a personal phone, screening strangers costs you little. On a phone customers dial, every first-time customer is an unsaved number too, because Apple's test is whether the number is in your contacts. Silence sends that customer to voicemail. Ask Reason for Calling holds the call until they've said who they are and why, then rings you with the answer on screen. For a business line we'd choose Never or Ask Reason for Calling and leave Silence alone. Our iPhone call screening guide goes through each choice and where Apple's version stops for a business.

If you'd rather the question be asked in your business name, that's the job VettedCalls does. You keep your number and forward your cell to your VettedCalls number. We answer in your business name and ask the caller who they are and what they need. A caller we suspect, or one who says nothing, still gets the press 1 or 2 choice, so a real customer isn't cut off. Saved contacts skip screening and ring you around the clock. The call screening page lays out the whole sequence.