9 Ways to Remove the Voicemail Icon from Your Status Bar

What to do when your voicemail notification icon won't go away

Written by Darlene Antonelli, MA

Last Updated: November 13, 2024 Fact Checked

Is there a voicemail icon that won't go away? This wikiHow article teaches you how to remove the voicemail icon from your Android's notifications bar at the top of the screen.

Get Rid of a Voicemail Notification That Won’t Go Away

If your Android has a Voicemail app, you can clear its cache by selecting the Voicemail app from the list of apps in Settings, tapping CLEAR DATA, and tapping OK or DELETE when prompted. Call your carrier to report the problem.

1

Restart your phone.

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Turning your Android off and back on might do the trick. Press and hold your Android's Power button until a menu pops up, then tap the Restart option to prompt your Android to restart. This can help reset processes that are causing the voicemail notification to appear in the top-left corner of your Android's screen.^{[1]
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- Depending on your Android, you may have to tap Restart twice to restart it.

2

Clear your notifications.

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Doing this will reset every icon in the notifications bar. Unlock your Android and swipe down from the top of the screen to pull down the notifications shade, then tap the Clear option at the bottom.^{[2]
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- On some Androids, you'll need to swipe down from the top of the screen with two fingers.

3

Listen to your voicemail.

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Open your Android's voicemail inbox and listen to your messages. If clearing your Android notifications didn't clear the voicemail icon, you'll need to open your inbox to clear out any residual voicemail. You can do this in one of the following ways depending on your Android:
- Call your voicemail number as specified by your carrier.
- Tap the Voicemail app icon in your Android's App Drawer.
- Open the Phone app and tap the icon of a recording tape inside an envelope on the Keypad tab.

4

Remove voicemails from the inbox.

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Delete or save voicemails after listening to move them from the inbox. After each voicemail plays, press the "Delete" or "Save" number as specified by the voicemail inbox.^{[3]
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- If your Android has a Voicemail app or if you have Visual Voicemail set up, you should be able to delete a voicemail by long-pressing it and then tapping Delete or the trash can icon (or, in some cases, tapping ⋮, tapping Edit, tapping each voicemail, and tapping Delete).

5

Toggle voicemail notifications on and off.

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Check this setting for your current voicemail notifications. This could be why you're not seeing the notification when you get a voicemail, or it may be why you always see the notification.
- Open your voicemail app or tap the voicemail icon in your Phone's Keypad tab, then tap ⋮ > Settings > Notifications. From here, tap the toggle next to "Allow notifications" to turn them off or on.

6

Clear Call Settings data on Samsung.

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Get rid of possibly corrupted data causing the stuck voicemail icon. Clearing the data and cache from Call Settings will often get rid of a voicemail icon. Note that this will remove your data, including "Recent Calls". You will not lose your contacts.
- Go to Settings > Apps and tap the "Sort by" icon, which looks like a filter icon to the right of "Your apps".
- Toggle on Show system apps, then tap OK to close the window.
- Go to Call Settings > Storage.
- Tap both Clear cache and Clear data.

7

Clear Phone app data.

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Clearing Phone app data can fix unwanted glitches in the app. This means that if a glitch in the Phone app is responsible for causing the voicemail icon to remain stuck in the notifications bar, it will disappear as the corrupted data is deleted.
- Go to Settings > Apps > Phone > Storage. Tap both Clear cache and Clear data.

8

Clear the Voicemail app data.

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If your Android has a Voicemail app, you can clear its cache by selecting the Voicemail app from the list of apps in Settings, tapping CLEAR DATA, and tapping OK or DELETE when prompted.

9

Contact your carrier.

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Call your carrier to report the problem. If the voicemail icon still hasn't disappeared from your Android's notification bar, the problem is likely due to an error on your carrier's end. Calling your carrier, reporting the problem, and asking them to clear your voicemail should solve this issue.^{[4]
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- You'll need to know your account's login information for your carrier to address voicemail issues.
- If your carrier can't do anything about the voicemail icon, you may need to factory reset your Android to get rid of it. This will wipe your Android's hard drive, so back up any data you want to save before doing so.

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Question

What can I do if my phone says that my voicemail box is full when it isn't and nobody can leave me messages?

Community Answer

First of all, check under "Saved Messages" for messages you may not be aware you're hanging on to. If that's not the issue, deleting the voicemail pin might solve the problem.

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How do I remove voicemail? I cannot receive incoming calls - it goes straight to voicemail.

Community Answer

You may have accidentally turned on forwarding to voicemail. Open your phone app, click the 'more'/three dots icon in the top right corner (or the options/menu button on the lower left of the phone on older devices), click settings, click call forwarding, click voice call, click always forward, and disable.

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Question

How can I get the symbol to show when someone leaves a voicemail?

Community Answer

Turn on the voicemail notification. This will get you notifications on your home screen.

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Tips

In some cases, pressing the key that your Android's voicemail service tells you to press to hang up rather than hanging up with the "End Call" button will fix voicemail notification problems.

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Note that voicemail is a feature from your carrier, not specifically Android. Most fixes will involve contacting your carrier to see if you have voicemail enabled or Visual Voicemail instead of a traditional voicemail.

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If you don't have a separate Voicemail app, you most likely access your voicemail through the Phone app; look for the recording tape icon inside an envelope on the Keypad tab.

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