How to Activate Voicemail On Your Android Smartphone: A Step-By-Step Guide

September 9, 2021
 min read

We recently covered how to turn off your voicemail service and how to set up your voicemail on iPhone, however in this blog we are going to show you how to set up voicemail for your Android. Using voicemail can be time consuming and inconvenient, however over a billion voicemails are left every single day around the world. There are times when you are simply busy or cannot answer the phone – this is when voicemail comes in handy.

Setting up voicemail on your Android is easy. Depending on where you live and which carrier you’re with the way you set up voicemail will be different. In this guide we will provide a general overview that will allow you to set up your voicemail service on your Android, no matter where you are.

Setting up your voicemail via your Phone app

Open your Android Phone App

Some phones will provide an option to activate voicemail via the Phone app. The specific type of voicemail settings you’ll have access to depend on the phone and service you are using. For carriers that support native visual voicemail, as is the case for most in the US, you can set up your voicemail directly from the phone app. If this is the case for you, your first step should be to open your Android Phone app. It's the phone icon that looks like a receiver and is usually found on the bottom of the Android’s Home screen. (Note: this will be a different colour and image depending on the type of Android phone you own, but the below image is one example.)

Set up Voicemail within the Phone App

From here you should press and hold the ‘1’ key on the keyboard. For users in Australia and New Zealand, this will likely initiate a call, in which case you will need to follow the prompts to continue setting up or editing your voicemail settings.

If holding the ‘1’ key doesn’t initiate a call then you’ll likely see a message that reads “No voicemail number is stored on the card”. If this message appears, there should also be an option to edit this in the ‘Voicemail’ option.

From there the first option available to select should be ‘Service’. Select this option by tapping it.

You will then be promoted to confirm your carrier. Select the option labelled ‘Your Carrier’ to continue.

You can now select the ‘Setup’ option below ‘Service’.

Once you select this, you should also be able to see an option for ‘Voicemail Number’ with the value '<Not set>'. Select ‘Voicemail Number’ and type in your mobile phone number to continue. Now select ‘Ok’ to confirm. You are now ready to set up your voicemail service.

Try tapping the back button until you see the keypad. Otherwise you will have to tap the Phone icon on the home screen to return to the phone app. Press and hold ‘1’ again on the keypad until your voicemail starts to dial.

Listen to and follow the prompts to complete the last steps of the process.

The instructions and process will vary depending on your carrier. However, you’ll usually be asked to set up a password, record a greeting, and have the option to adjust playback settings. Here you can also customise your voicemail greetings. It’s important you complete your voicemail setup by creating an effective customised greeting. If you don’t create a greeting, people may believe they’ve dialed the wrong number and you might be missing out on some important voicemails.

Once you are happy with your voicemail message you can now return to any page or app on your Android. Your voicemail is now set up, featuring a custom or default greeting, and may or may not be protected by a password. To check your voicemail in the future, all you have to do is press and hold ‘1’ or select the voicemail notification on screen.


If you are still having issues with setting up your voicemail on your Android, you'll likely need to contact your mobile carrier’s support team. Calling your service provider’s helpline will put you in touch with a representative. The contact information for your specific carrier will be available on their website. If you are unsure of who your service provider is, check your phone’s homepage or billing information. Set aside some time in your day if you do decide to call. Traffic can be high depending on the time of day and you may be kept on hold for a long period of time as you wait to get in contact with someone.

Time for an Alternative Voicemail System?

Although setting up voicemail for Android might be relatively straightforward, some phone providers and carriers charge extra for voicemail, and a voicemail service sometimes results in playing cat-and mouse with those trying to contact you. Traditional voicemail services can also consume large amounts of time, with every message having to be listened to in chronological order, and it taking minutes to hours to listen to caller details and the contents of each voicemail message.

Due to issues with traditional voicemail services, many people are now switching to visual voicemail. With a visual voicemail app like Vxt, your messages are transcribed and displayed in an email-like interface, allowing you to quickly read and prioritise them without spending hours or even minutes listening to every single message. You don't even need to dial a number to find out who left the call, how long the message lasted, or what the content of the message was. Also, instead of listening in chronological order, as is the case with regular voicemail, you can read visual voicemail in any order.

Visual voicemail apps like Vxt help users save time, while also providing other helpful features like voicemail-to-email transcription, smart voicemail greetings, Vxt Call, and in-app dictation. Vxt is currently available on both iOS and Android and unlike alternatives, Vxt also offers integrations through Vxt Web with other useful tools such as Slack, Salesforce, Pipedrive, and more. Vxt provides a free version of the app with certain limits but their paid subscriptions are competitively priced. For small business owners, salespeople, and others who get quite a lot of voicemail, Vxt saves loads of time and make it easier to keep up with important contacts. You can visit our set-up guide to see for yourself how easy it is to install and start using Vxt.

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