Call Forwarding: How to Set It Up and Turn It Off

Call forwarding is a phone feature that sends incoming calls to a different number before your own phone rings. Call forwarding is switched on from the line that receives the calls first, never from the phone you want the calls sent to.

That detail is where most attempts fail: to make office calls ring your cell phone, set forwarding on the office line.

What is call forwarding, and what does it actually change?

Call forwarding redirects an incoming call to a second number that you choose. The caller dials your usual number, hears normal ringing, and the call is routed onward without them knowing.

Two things do not change when call forwarding is on. Your original number stays yours, and calls you make yourself are unaffected, so you still dial out as usual. Forwarding governs incoming calls only.

Carriers offer several kinds of call forwarding:

• Unconditional, also called immediate: every incoming call goes straight to the other number and your phone never rings.
• Forward when busy: calls move to the second number only while you are already on another call.
• Forward on no answer: your phone rings first, then the call moves after a set number of rings.
• Forward when unreachable: calls go onward when the phone is off or out of coverage.

The last three are grouped as conditional call forwarding, meaning the call is redirected only when a stated condition is met.

What to prepare before you turn call forwarding on

• The destination number in full, area code included. Forwarding will not accept a saved contact name; it needs the number typed out.
• Access to the phone or account for the line being forwarded, since that is where the change is made.
• Your account sign-in, if you plan to set forwarding online rather than from the keypad.
• Confirmation that forwarding is included on the plan. On some prepaid and business plans it must be added to the line before any code works.
• A second phone to test with. Calling from the forwarded phone itself proves nothing.

How to turn on call forwarding from the phone keypad

1. Pick up the phone whose calls you want forwarded and open the dialer keypad.
2. Enter your carrier's activation code for the type of forwarding you want. It is a short sequence beginning with the star key on most networks, the pound key on some.
3. Without pausing or pressing call, enter the destination number straight after the code, area code included.
4. Press call or send.
5. Wait for confirmation: a short tone, a recorded message, or a call that connects briefly and ends by itself.
6. Test it. Call the forwarded line from a different phone and check that the destination rings.

Do not skip the test. A code can be accepted and still fail to route calls if the feature is not active on the plan, and nothing on screen says so.

How to turn on call forwarding in an account or in phone settings

Keypad codes are not the only route. Most carriers expose call forwarding in the online account for the line, and most mobile phones keep it inside the phone app's own settings rather than the main system settings.

1. Sign in to the carrier account that owns the line, or open the phone app's settings on the handset.
2. Open the page for the specific line. On accounts with several lines, forwarding is a per-line setting, not an account-wide one.
3. Find call forwarding among the calling features. It may sit under call settings or supplementary services.
4. Choose the kind of forwarding you want, immediate or conditional, and enter the destination number.
5. Save, then wait a minute before testing: changes made online take time to reach the network.
6. Call the line from another phone to confirm.

What is a call forwarding code, and why is mine different?

A call forwarding code is the short keypad sequence that switches forwarding on or off without opening any menu. Each kind of forwarding has its own code, and each has a matching cancellation code.

The codes are not universal. They differ between carriers, between landline and mobile service, and sometimes between older and newer plans on the same carrier. A code copied from a general help page may belong to a different network, which is why it seems to do nothing.

The reliable sources are the calling features section of your own carrier account, the service guide for your plan, and the carrier's support line. An error tone or recorded rejection usually means the feature is not enabled on the line, not that you mistyped.

How to turn call forwarding off

1. From the forwarded line, dial the cancellation code for the type you switched on. Cancelling immediate forwarding does not cancel conditional forwarding, or the reverse.
2. Wait for the confirmation tone.
3. If you set forwarding through an account or app, switch it off in the same place: keypad codes and account settings are not always aware of each other.
4. Call the line from another phone and confirm that your own handset rings again.

If several forwarding types were active, repeat for each separately.

Why are my calls still not forwarding?

• Forwarding was set on the wrong phone. It must be set on the line that receives the calls.
• The destination number was entered without the area code, or with dashes the keypad treated as part of it.
• The feature is not on the plan. Prepaid, some business, and some voice-over-internet lines need it added first.
• Only conditional forwarding was set, so calls forward when missed but ring normally otherwise. That looks like failure but is working as configured.
• The destination cannot receive the calls: blocked, out of service, or itself forwarded elsewhere, creating a loop the network refuses.
• Voicemail is picking up before the forwarding condition is met, so the call never reaches the second number.

How to check whether call forwarding is already on

Unexplained missed calls are often forwarding left on from earlier. Check the calling features section of the carrier account for that line, or the phone app settings on the handset, where an active destination number is shown next to each forwarding type. Many carriers also publish a status code that reports the current forwarding state.

When to contact the carrier about call forwarding

Contact your carrier when the code is rejected outright, when forwarding cannot be switched off, when calls forward to a number you did not set, or when the feature is missing from the account. Have the account holder name, the line in question, and the destination number ready, and say which type of forwarding you were setting.