How to Turn Off Voice Calling on iPhone

On an iPhone, "voice calling" can mean several separate features. It can mean placing calls by voice through Siri, Voice Dial or Voice Control. It can also mean Wi-Fi Calling, FaceTime Audio, voice calls inside messaging apps, or calls ringing on your other Apple devices. No single switch disables all of them, so find the feature that causes the problem and turn off only that one. Menu names below follow recent iOS releases. On some versions, Phone and FaceTime settings are under Settings > Apps instead of directly in Settings.

Before you start

Decide which behavior you want to stop, then go to the matching instructions:

• Calls started accidentally by voice or by holding a button: Siri, Voice Dial or Voice Control.
• Calls routed over Wi-Fi instead of the cellular network: Wi-Fi Calling.
• Internet audio calls between Apple devices: FaceTime.
• Voice calls inside a messaging or meeting app: that app's microphone access.
• Calls ringing on your iPad or Mac: Calls on Other Devices.

Siri, Voice Dial, Voice Control, FaceTime and app microphone permissions are settings on the iPhone itself, and you can change them without contacting anyone. Wi-Fi Calling and Voice over LTE are carrier services. Whether those options appear, and what they do, depends on your carrier and plan. Every change below can be undone by turning the same switch back on. Keep your passcode handy, because some screens ask for it.

Step-by-step instructions

Stop Siri from placing calls

• 1. Open Settings and tap Siri. Depending on the iOS version, this may be labeled Apple Intelligence & Siri or Siri & Search.
• 2. Set Listen for to Off so the phone stops responding to a spoken wake phrase. Older versions show this as a Listen for "Hey Siri" switch.
• 3. Turn off Press Side Button for Siri (Press Home for Siri on models with a Home button) if calls start when you hold the button.
• 4. Turn off Allow Siri When Locked to block voice-started calls from a locked phone.

If you want to keep Siri but stop pocket calls, turning off only Allow Siri When Locked is the narrowest change. Siri will still handle calling requests after you unlock the phone.

Turn off Voice Dial

Voice Dial lets you call contacts by voice when Siri is turned off. Go to Settings > Face ID & Passcode (Touch ID & Passcode on models with Touch ID), enter your passcode, and turn off Voice Dial. This switch only appears while Siri is disabled.

Turn off Voice Control

Voice Control is an accessibility feature that accepts spoken commands, including commands that place calls. Go to Settings > Accessibility > Voice Control and turn it off. If Voice Control is assigned to the Accessibility Shortcut, triple-clicking the side or Home button can turn it back on. Review the list in Settings > Accessibility > Accessibility Shortcut.

Turn off Wi-Fi Calling

Open Settings > Phone > Wi-Fi Calling and turn off Wi-Fi Calling on This iPhone. On newer iOS versions the Phone settings are under Settings > Apps > Phone, and some carriers show the option under Settings > Cellular instead. Once it is off, calls use only the cellular network, so you need cellular signal to make or receive them.

Turn off FaceTime Audio

Open Settings > FaceTime (Settings > Apps > FaceTime on newer versions) and turn off FaceTime. This stops both FaceTime video and FaceTime audio calls on this iPhone. If you only want to stop certain people from reaching you, block those contacts instead of turning FaceTime off.

Block voice calls in a specific app

Go to Settings > Privacy & Security > Microphone and turn off the switch next to the app. The app can then no longer use the microphone, so you cannot speak in its voice calls. The app may still show incoming call alerts. To silence those, check the app's own call settings or its entry in Settings > Notifications.

Stop calls from ringing on other devices

Go to Settings > Phone > Calls on Other Devices. Turn off Allow Calls on Other Devices, or turn off only the devices that should stop ringing.

Voice over LTE (carrier option)

Some carriers show a VoLTE or Voice & Data option under Settings > Cellular > Cellular Data Options (Mobile Data in some regions). This setting changes how calls are carried; it does not turn calling off. Where the carrier has shut down 2G and 3G service, switching to data-only LTE can leave the phone unable to make or receive calls. Change it only if your carrier tells you to.

Check the output

• Siri: lock the phone, then say the wake phrase or hold the side button. Siri should not respond, or should ask you to unlock first.
• Voice Dial: lock the phone and hold the side or Home button. No voice-dial prompt should appear.
• Wi-Fi Calling: open Control Center and look at the carrier name. While Wi-Fi Calling is in use, Wi-Fi usually appears next to it. After you turn the feature off, it should not.
• FaceTime: go back to the FaceTime settings and confirm the switch is still off.
• App microphone access: start a voice call in the app. It should say it cannot use the microphone or ask you to allow access in Settings.
• Other devices: start a call to your iPhone and confirm that your iPad or Mac no longer rings.

None of the device-level changes above affect ordinary calls dialed from the Phone app. If you changed a carrier setting such as VoLTE, place a short call to a number you know to confirm calling still works.

Common problems and next steps

• The Voice Dial switch is missing: it only appears while Siri is off. Turn Siri off first, then check Face ID & Passcode again.
• Calls still start from AirPods, Apple Watch or the car: these accessories call through Siri. Check the Siri settings on the iPhone, and on Apple Watch check the Watch's own Siri settings.
• The Wi-Fi Calling or VoLTE option is missing: your carrier or plan may not offer it or may not let you change it. Ask your carrier.
• You cannot make calls after changing LTE settings: switch Voice & Data or VoLTE back to its previous value.
• A setting is greyed out or turns back on: Screen Time restrictions or a device management profile may be locking it. Check Settings > Screen Time > Content & Privacy Restrictions, or ask the organization that manages the iPhone.
• You want fewer interruptions rather than no feature: use a Focus mode, or turn on Silence Unknown Callers in the Phone settings.