Why is my Google Voice not working?

Start in the Voice app: tap your profile picture, then Settings, then the Calls section.

1. Incoming calls. Every linked number and the app itself has its own toggle here. If the toggle for your phone is off, calls go straight to Voice voicemail without ringing anywhere. Turn it on.
2. Do Not Disturb. Voice has its own DND, separate from your phone's. If it's on, calls skip your phone entirely. Voice can also schedule it, so a DND you set once for a holiday may still be running.
3. Call screening. With screening on, Voice asks callers to say their name and you hear it before connecting. If you don't respond in time, it looks like a call you never got. Turn it off if you don't need it.
4. Making and receiving calls. This setting decides whether calls arrive through the app over Wi-Fi/data or through your carrier via the linked number. If you're in a spot with bad data, switch to Use carrier only and calls will ring your normal phone line instead.

Then check the phone: iPhone Focus modes and Android Do Not Disturb both silence Voice like any other app, and Android battery optimization can kill the app in the background so it never receives the call notification. On Android, open Settings, Apps, Voice, Battery, and set it to Unrestricted.

• Microphone permission. If you call from the browser, Chrome needs microphone access for voice.google.com. On the phone, check the app has microphone permission in system settings.
• Poor data. In-app calls are VoIP. On a weak connection you'll get one-way audio, robotic voices, or calls that drop after a few seconds. Switch to Use carrier only in the Calls settings and Voice will dial out through your linked line instead.
• International calls. Personal Voice needs prepaid calling credit for most international destinations. A call that ends instantly with no ring is usually zero balance.
• The linked number is gone. If you changed phones or carriers and the old linked number is no longer yours, Voice can't route through it. Remove the dead number and link the new one under Settings, then Linked numbers.

This is where Google Voice's design limits show up, and several of these can't be fixed — only worked around.

• Short codes. Google Voice cannot receive most short-code texts — the five- and six-digit numbers used for two-factor codes, bank alerts, and marketing. If your bank's verification code never arrives, that's why. Use a carrier number for those.
• Group MMS. Group texts with mixed carriers and picture messages are unreliable. Voice has improved, but if a group thread is broken, ask the group to start a fresh one.
• SMS forwarding is off. Texts arrive in the Voice app by default and are not forwarded to your carrier number unless you turn on Forward messages to linked numbers under Settings, Messages.
• Spam filtering. Google filters messages it considers spam into a separate folder. Check the Spam folder in the Voice app before assuming a text never came.
• Sending too many at once. Voice throttles bulk texting and can temporarily block sending if it thinks you're running a campaign. Wait a few hours and send at a normal pace.

• Your number was reclaimed. Google can take back a personal Voice number after an extended period with no outbound calls or texts. If the app is asking you to choose a number, that's what happened. Ported-in and Workspace numbers are exempt.
• Workspace license removed. If your Voice number came through Google Workspace and the admin removed the license or the account, the number stops working immediately. Ask the admin.
• Wrong account. The Voice app can hold multiple Google Accounts. If you're looking at an account that has no Voice number, everything appears broken. Tap your profile picture and check which account is active.
• Country. Personal Google Voice only works with a US account and number. Travelling is fine; a non-US account isn't.
• A Google outage. Rare, but real. Check the Google Workspace Status Dashboard before spending an hour on settings.

Work through these in order, testing after each one.

1. Open voice.google.com in a desktop browser and try the same action. If it works there, the problem is the phone app, not the account.
2. Sign out of the Voice app and back in.
3. On Android, clear the app's cache (Settings, Apps, Voice, Storage). On iPhone, delete and reinstall the app.
4. Remove and re-add your linked number under Settings, Linked numbers, and complete the verification call or text again.
5. Check for a pending port — see porting a number to Google Voice. A number mid-transfer behaves unpredictably on both sides.
6. If calls to your Voice number ring your phone but callers hear an error, the linked carrier line may have its own issue: test by calling the carrier number directly, and see why is my phone not ringing for the carrier-side checklist.

A Google Voice fault on a personal line is an inconvenience. On a business line it's invisible lost revenue — callers don't tell you they got voicemail three times and went elsewhere.

Two things reduce the exposure. First, set Use carrier only for incoming calls so your phone rings through the carrier network rather than depending on the app being alive in the background. Second, put something behind the number that answers when you can't. Forwarding your Voice number to an AI receptionist means a settings glitch on your handset never reaches a customer — the call is answered, booked, and summarized regardless. Our guide to Google Voice for business covers where Voice fits and where it doesn't.