Why is my iPhone silencing calls?

I finally figured it out! Since the most recent update, it will automatically silence unknown numbers unless you go in to change it. Go to SETTINGS then PHONE then down to SILENCE UNKNOWN CALLERS and CALL BLOCKING AND IDENTIFICATION.

FIRST: Are the missed calls in Phone/Recents on the phone? If they are not the problem is in the network, because the calls aren’t getting to your phone. Contact your carrier: 

• check with your carrier that they don’t have a local outage, and that you didn’t have any settings that would have immediately invoked voicemail
• check up on them at Down Detector - outages

If they are in Recents here’s what to check:

• Check the MUTE switch on the left side of the phone, above the volume buttons. It should be towards the screen
• Check the volume setting. With the Home screen displayed, press the VOLUME UP button on the left side of the phone. It’s above the VOLUME DOWN button.
• Go to Settings/Do not Disturb. Turn it off if it is on. Also turn off Scheduled. With both off none of the other switches there matter.
• Go to Settings/Phone. There’s a switch for Silence Unknown Callers. If it is on any calls from numbers not in your contacts will go directly to voicemail.
• Also in Settings/Phone: Make sure Call Forwarding is off.
• Go to Settings/Sounds & Haptics. Make sure there is a sound assigned to Ringtone.
• Go to Settings/Screen Time/Communications Limits. Tap each of the 2 entries and make sure both are “Everyone"
• Restart your phone-->RESTART your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch - Apple Support

If this doesn't give you the answer, it may give you some clues. If your electricity goes off, would you check your neighbor's plumbing? Well, in this case, the answer for me was just as weird.

I first tried the "Silencing Unknown Calls." But that wasn't the problem.

For me, I noticed it was happening for all but one phone number, and only at home. Furthermore, it impacgted my hearing calendar alarms and hearing text messages.

Finally I remembered a weird setting, but NOT on my phone. It was the NOTIFICATIONS on my MAC! It required the right combination of settings for Facetime, and Notifications since Focus, when I used Airplay. (If that's not the case, please still read this--you will at least go to the right places to look). Check notification settings on all devices. This was a case of the Law of Unintended Consequences, requiring multiple factors.

I spent hours with Apple and my carrier. I don't blame anyone for not figuring this one out. The one phone that got through had a different ring tone. It wasn't the ring tone but I set it up as a favorite. I thought it had to do with Focus/DND. And that's when I realized it was because I was using AIRPLAY on my Mac. I then found each of the following and changed one at a time.

You can look at this and get an idea of what you may have to change.

In the Mac, go to System Preferences and check the following. I changed to the BOLD.

1. Notifications & Focus/Focus: Share across devices. (No)
2. Notifications & Focus/Focus, then select Options: Allow Calls from (Everyone/All Contacts, etc.)
3. Notifications & Focus/Notifications (at bottom): Allow Notifications When mirroring or sharing the display (Yes)
4. Notifications & Focus/Notifications/Calendar (left): Allow time sensitive alerts. Yes
5. Notifications & Focus/Notifications/Calendar (left): Play sound for notifications. Yes
6. Notifications & Focus/Notifications/Messages (left): Allow time sensitive alerts. Yes
7. Notifications & Focus/Notifications/Messages (left): Play sound for notifications. Yes

Repeat for other applications. Do not pass Go. Do not collect $200. Your miles may vary. Not valid in Alaska or Hawaii.

Check out notification settings on all your Apple Devices.

Silenced on Apple Watch- My solution to the same problem was that I had unknowingly silenced on my Apple Watch. Swiped up and saw the red bell. Turned it off and right away my contacts no longer saw the silenced notifications.

Hope this helps somebody.

That only matters if you have Do not Disturb turned on. If DND is off that setting is ignored.

The more important setting, that is easy to overlook, is Settings/Phone/Silence Unknown Callers

It's under PHONE --> "Silence Unknown Callers". Turn that off and your phone should allow all calls...

FIRST: Are the missed calls in Phone/Recents on the phone? If they are not the problem is in the network, because the calls aren’t getting to your phone. Contact your carrier: 

• check with your carrier that they don’t have a local outage, and that you didn’t have any settings that would have immediately invoked voicemail
• check up on them at Down Detector - outages

If they are in Recents here’s what to check:

• Check the MUTE switch on the left side of the phone, above the volume buttons. It should be towards the screen
• Check the volume setting. With the Home screen displayed, press the VOLUME UP button on the left side of the phone. It’s above the VOLUME DOWN button.
• Go to Settings/Do not Disturb. Turn it off if it is on. Also turn off Scheduled. With both off none of the other switches there matter.
• Go to Settings/Phone. There’s a switch for Silence Unknown Callers. If it is on any calls from numbers not in your contacts will go directly to voicemail.
• Also in Settings/Phone: Make sure Call Forwarding is off.
• Go to Settings/Sounds & Haptics. Make sure there is a sound assigned to Ringtone.
• Go to Settings/Screen Time/Communications Limits. Tap each of the 2 entries and make sure both are “Everyone"
• Restart your phone-->RESTART your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch - Apple Support

Your Do not Disturb is off, so all of the other settings on that page are ignored.

Did you REALLY go through EVERY step in this checklist? Post back the results of following each of the troubleshooting steps:

Go to Settings/Accessibility/Face ID & Attention and turn off Attention Aware. But that’s only if you have truly tried everything else suggested in this 10 page thread, INCLUDING this checklist:

FIRST: Are the missed calls in Phone/Recents on the phone? If they are not the problem is in the network, because the calls aren’t getting to your phone. Contact your carrier: 

• check with your carrier that they don’t have a local outage, and that you didn’t have any settings that would have immediately invoked voicemail
• check up on them at Down Detector - outages

If they are in Recents here’s what to check:

• Check the MUTE switch on the left side of the phone, above the volume buttons. It should be towards the screen
• Check the volume setting. With the Home screen displayed, press the VOLUME UP button on the left side of the phone. It’s above the VOLUME DOWN button.
• Go to Settings/Do not Disturb. Turn it off if it is on. Also turn off Scheduled. With both off none of the other switches there matter.
• Go to Settings/Phone. There’s a switch for Silence Unknown Callers. If it is on any calls from numbers not in your contacts will go directly to voicemail.
• Also in Settings/Phone: Make sure Call Forwarding is off.
• Go to Settings/Sounds & Haptics. Make sure there is a sound assigned to Ringtone.
• Go to Settings/Screen Time/Communications Limits. Tap each of the 2 entries and make sure both are “Everyone"
• Restart your phone-->RESTART your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch - Apple Supportyour 
• If all else fails, talk your carrier into replacing your SIM card (thanks to ASC user DShelbyD)

After exhausting everyone's cure I found one for myself.

My phone was silencing unknown callers even with Do Not Disturb off.

Go to Settings, scroll down to Phone and open it, scroll down to Silence Unknown Callers and turn it off.

I use Do Not Disturb when I'm sleeping so my contacts can call but all other calls go straight to voicemail.

With one of the new patches Silence Unknown Callers is on by default which is what my problem was.

wirker wrote:

After exhausting everyone's cure I found one for myself.

My phone was silencing unknown callers even with Do Not Disturb off.

got to Settings, scroll down to Phone and open it, scroll down to Silence Unknown Callers and turn it off.

I use D

Yes! As mentioned in this post on the first page of this thread: https://discussions.apple.com/thread/251664372?answerId=253559225022#253559225022

If Do not Disturb is OFF those settings are ignored. When DND is on you can choose to silence all the time or only when the phone is locked. IF DND is off no calls are silenced, unless there is another setting such as Silence Unknown Callers in Settings/Phone that is on.

Go to Settings/Accessibility/Face ID & Attention and turn off Attention Aware. But that’s only if you have truly tried everything else suggested in this 10 page thread, INCLUDING this checklist:

FIRST: Are the missed calls in Phone/Recents on the phone? If they are not the problem is in the network, because the calls aren’t getting to your phone. Contact your carrier: 

• check with your carrier that they don’t have a local outage, and that you didn’t have any settings that would have immediately invoked voicemail
• check up on them at Down Detector - outages

If they are in Recents here’s what to check:

• Check the MUTE switch on the left side of the phone, above the volume buttons. It should be towards the screen
• Check the volume setting. With the Home screen displayed, press the VOLUME UP button on the left side of the phone. It’s above the VOLUME DOWN button.
• Go to Settings/Do not Disturb. Turn it off if it is on. Also turn off Scheduled. With both off none of the other switches there matter.
• Go to Settings/Phone. There’s a switch for Silence Unknown Callers. If it is on any calls from numbers not in your contacts will go directly to voicemail.
• Also in Settings/Phone: Make sure Call Forwarding is off.
• Go to Settings/Sounds & Haptics. Make sure there is a sound assigned to Ringtone.
• Go to Settings/Screen Time/Communications Limits. Tap each of the 2 entries and make sure both are “Everyone"
• Restart your phone-->RESTART your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch - Apple Supportyour 
• If all else fails, talk your carrier into replacing your SIM card (thanks to ASC user DShelbyD)

Jopow wrote:

Nothing has helped. All suggestions have been tried and calls are still being silenced.

So you have gone through ALL of these troubleshooting steps carefully:

FIRST: Are the missed calls in Phone/Recents on the phone? If they are not the problem is in the network, because the calls aren’t getting to your phone. Contact your carrier: 

• check with your carrier that they don’t have a local outage, and that you didn’t have any settings that would have immediately invoked voicemail
• check up on them at Down Detector - outages

If they are in Recents here’s what to check:

• Check the MUTE switch on the left side of the phone, above the volume buttons. It should be towards the screen
• Check the volume setting. With the Home screen displayed, press the VOLUME UP button on the left side of the phone. It’s above the VOLUME DOWN button.
• Go to Settings/Do not Disturb. Turn it off if it is on. Also turn off Scheduled. With both off none of the other switches there matter.
• Go to Settings/Phone. There’s a switch for Silence Unknown Callers. If it is on any calls from numbers not in your contacts will go directly to voicemail.
• Also in Settings/Phone: Make sure Call Forwarding is off.
• Go to Settings/Sounds & Haptics. Make sure there is a sound assigned to Ringtone.
• Go to Settings/Screen Time/Communications Limits. Tap each of the 2 entries and make sure both are “Everyone"
• Restart your phone-->RESTART your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch - Apple Support
• If all else fails, talk your carrier into replacing your SIM card (thanks to ASC user DShelbyD)

You have really done EVERY ONE OF ABOVE CHECKS? Including talking to your carrier?

I had this same problem. I finally found the answer - under settings - scroll down and click on "Phone", then scroll down to "Silence Unknown Callers." Mine was set to "on" so I changed it to "off" I have mixed feelings about this, but I keep missing calls from contractors that I don't know, so I really don't have a choice.

I just figured this out.

Go to "Settings", scroll down to "Phone" and open that up. In the 4th widget box down is "Silence Unknown Callers". If you select that you can turn it on and off. If someone is not in your contacts, that is considered an "Unknown caller" and therefore silences the call.

Hope that helps.