Imagine having a pocket PC in your hands that can do so many things but won’t perform the essential task — making phone calls. Some displeased users reported a troubling problem: it seems that they can’t make outgoing calls on Android. If you are among them, learn how to fix this without too much hassle with the steps below.
Table of contents:
- Check the SIM card
- Disable Bluetooth and NFC
- Disable VoLTE
- Check with your provider
- Reset your device to factory settings
Why can’t I make calls on Android?
If you can’t make calls on your Android, you can usually fix this with these steps:
- Restart your device and ensure that the SIM card is not the problem. You can remove it and place it back again.
- Disable Bluetooth and NFC and give it another try.
- Disable VoLTE.
- Contact your provider.
- Keep your Android firmware up to date.
- Reset your device to factory settings.
1. Check the SIM card
The first thing you need to check is your SIM card. Both on the hardware and software sides. Make sure that you have a stable network coverage signal and that your SIM is properly placed.
The second thing to do is to navigate to Settings > Network & internet > Your SIM card and ensure that your SIM card is active and that it is allowed to make outgoing calls. You can also reset APN and, if that doesn’t help, navigate to Settings > System > Reset options and reset Network settings.
If you can confirm that there’s a stable signal and that your SIM is allowed to make calls, something else is causing the issue.
2. Disable Bluetooth and NFC
Since modern handsets are quite thin, there’s a shared narrow space with a lot of communication antennas. Chances are that there’s a conflict between them. So, the next action we can recommend as a workaround is to disable all other connections including Bluetooth and NFC. Also, try enabling Airplane mode for a minute or so and disabling it.
If you are still unable to make outgoing calls on your Android handset, try the next step.
3. Disable VoLTE
The VoLTE (Voice over LTE) technology allows better in-call quality by relying on LTE. If not available, it should automatically switch to a standard protocol. However, if it doesn’t switch, there’s a possibility that you won’t be able to make outgoing calls on your device.
So, navigate to Settings > Network & internet > Your SIM Card and disable VoLTE. After that, check for improvements.
4. Check with your provider
This goes without saying but you should also contact your service provider and report a possible issue. They can replace your SIM card or inform you about temporary network problems.
On the other hand, if they are positive that you can make calls but your device is still defiant to do so, check the final step listed below.
5. Reset your device to factory settings
If none of the previous steps helped you address the problem at hand, we can only recommend restoring your device to factory settings. We won’t go into much depth about why this problem tends to occur, but it has a lot to do with bug-ridden OEM updates and Vendor partition issues.
For example, Pixel 6 users have had a hard time with the Android 12 which completely broke calling due to network coverage issues. So, you can try and refresh the system, and the best and safest way (albeit a tedious one) is to format your device.
Here’s how to reset your device to factory settings:
- Back up your data to a cloud or a PC.
- Open Settings.
- Choose System or General management.
- Select the Reset or Reset options.
- Choose Factory Data Reset or Erase all data.
- Confirm when prompted.
And, with that solution, we can conclude this article. Thank you for reading and don’t forget to follow us on Facebook and Twitter for more articles like this.
Editor’s note: This article was originally published in December 2020. We made sure to revamp it for freshness and accuracy.
