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How to completely turn off cellular on iPhone?

I normally reside in the USA but am in Korea this week. To avoid high cellular charges from my domestic provider, I want to completely turn off all cellular services on my iPhone for a few days (I can easily live on wifi only for the next few days).


Per the image below, in Settings > Cellular, I have turned off everything that has an On / Off button. Also, when I swipe up form the Home screen, I have tapped the cellular icon to turn it off. So I think, but am not sure, that I have turned off all cellular.


But two things still puzzle me. First, my iPhone still auto-connects to a Korean cellular provider, which I see in the upper-most status bar on the home screen. And second., I have received (but not answered) two calls from Korean phone numbers. So if I have cellular fully turned off, how is it that a) my iPhone still connects to a cellular provider, and b) that I still receive phone calls?


Is there something else I need to do, short of removing the SIM card, to fully turn off all cellular services? Thx



iPhone 7 Plus, iOS 12

Posted on Jun 10, 2019 2:15 PM

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Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Posted on Jun 10, 2019 2:26 PM

The option in control center only turns off Cellular Data, it does not turn off all Cellular features.


If you need to turn off all cellular related features just put the iPhone in Airplane mode. That turns off all cellular features.


You can then manually and selectively turn on Wifi and Bluetooth if required from the Settings App.



2 replies
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Jun 10, 2019 2:26 PM in response to pomme4moi

The option in control center only turns off Cellular Data, it does not turn off all Cellular features.


If you need to turn off all cellular related features just put the iPhone in Airplane mode. That turns off all cellular features.


You can then manually and selectively turn on Wifi and Bluetooth if required from the Settings App.



How to completely turn off cellular on iPhone?

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