How to Get Rid Of Voice Mail

Voicemail made sense when text messages cost money. Now it’s just the digital equivalent of someone leaving you homework. You’ve got WhatsApp, iMessage, Slack, and twelve other ways for people to reach you instantly. If someone can’t text you, that’s their problem to solve.

Getting rid of voicemail isn’t always straightforward (carriers like having it enabled because it keeps calls on their network), but it’s doable. Here’s how.

1. Call Your Carrier Directly

The most reliable method is calling your carrier’s customer service and asking them to disable voicemail completely. Most US carriers use 611 as their support line. Call it, wait through the menu, and tell the representative you want voicemail permanently turned off. Not just the notification. Not just visual voicemail. The whole thing.

Some carriers will push back and suggest you just ignore it. Stand firm. They can disable it on their end, and once they do, callers will just hear ringing until they give up or you answer.

Works for: All carriers, all phones. Takes 5-15 minutes depending on hold times.

2. Disable Call Forwarding (Android)

On some Android phones, voicemail works through call forwarding. Your carrier automatically forwards unanswered calls to a voicemail server. If you can disable that forwarding, voicemail stops working.

Open your phone’s dialer and enter one of these codes:

• ##002# (disables all call forwarding)
• ##67# (disables forwarding when busy)
• ##61# (disables forwarding when unanswered)
• ##62# (disables forwarding when unreachable)

Dial the code. If it works, you’ll see a confirmation message. If it doesn’t work, your carrier has locked down those settings and you’ll need to use method 1.

You can also try navigating to Settings > Calls > Call Forwarding (exact path varies by manufacturer) and manually disabling all forwarding rules. Samsung phones usually have this under Phone app > Menu > Settings > More Settings > Call Forwarding.

Works for: Most Android phones. Doesn’t work on iPhones because Apple doesn’t expose call forwarding controls for voicemail.

3. Fill Your Mailbox to Capacity

If your carrier refuses to disable voicemail, you can render it useless by filling it to maximum capacity. Once it’s full, callers get a message saying they can’t leave a voicemail. Mission accomplished.

Turn on Airplane Mode so calls go straight to voicemail. Call your own number from another phone (use a friend’s phone, Google Voice, or a landline). Leave a message. Hang up. Repeat 20-30 times, depending on your carrier’s limit. Verizon caps at 20 messages. Sprint and T-Mobile usually allow 30.

The downside: most carriers auto-delete old voicemails after 30 days, so you’ll need to refill the box monthly. Set a calendar reminder or you’ll wake up one day to seventeen voicemails from your dentist.

Works for: Everyone. But it’s annoying maintenance.

4. Use Carrier-Specific Deactivation Codes

Some carriers have direct deactivation codes you can dial. These aren’t widely advertised, but they exist:

• Verizon: Dial *73 and press send. This should deactivate call forwarding to voicemail.
• AT&T: No direct code. You have to call 611.
• T-Mobile: Dial ##004# to reset all conditional call forwarding, or call 611 for full deactivation.
• Google Fi: Open the Fi app > Account > Phone Settings > Voicemail > Disable.

These codes are hit-or-miss. Carriers change them, lock them down, or remove them entirely. But they’re worth trying before you call customer service.

5. iPhone: Disable Visual Voicemail (Doesn’t Fully Disable)

On iPhone, you can’t fully disable voicemail from the device, but you can turn off visual voicemail notifications so you’re not constantly reminded it exists.

Go to Settings > Phone > Dial Assist and toggle off anything related to voicemail notifications. Or go to Settings > Notifications > Phone and disable voicemail badges.

This doesn’t stop voicemail from recording. It just stops your phone from nagging you about it. For full deactivation, you’ll still need to call your carrier.

Works for: iPhone users who want ignorance instead of elimination.

6. Third-Party Apps (Bypasses for Calls)

If you can’t disable voicemail but want to avoid it entirely, forward all calls to a Google Voice number and disable voicemail there. Google Voice lets you turn off voicemail transcription and notifications, and you can set it to just reject all voicemail attempts.

Set up conditional call forwarding on your phone to route unanswered calls to your Google Voice number. Then configure Google Voice to not accept voicemails. Callers will hear nothing, or they’ll hear a busy signal, depending on your settings.

This is overkill, but if your carrier is being difficult and you really hate voicemail, it works.

7. Set Up a Custom Voicemail Greeting Telling People Not to Use It

If you can’t disable voicemail technically, disable it socially. Record a greeting that says: "I don’t check voicemail. Text me instead." Or be blunt: "This mailbox is not monitored. If this is important, send a text."

Most people will get the hint. The ones who don’t? That’s natural selection at work.

To change your greeting, call your voicemail (usually by holding down 1 on your phone’s keypad) and follow the prompts to record a new message. Keep it under 10 seconds. Nobody’s going to listen to your dissertation on why voicemail is obsolete.

Works for: Anyone who can’t technically disable voicemail but can at least train their contacts to stop using it.