How to Check Voicemail from Another Phone

It may seem a bit tricky, but there will be times when you don't have your phone with you and need to access your voicemail. Nowadays, most carriers have simple procedures that allow you to check your voicemail from another phone. Similarly, you can check voicemail on a landline by following the same straightforward steps. To listen to voicemail from another phone, you need to call your own number, press either the star or hash key (depending on the carrier), and then enter your PIN.

Call your own number. This step is simple—just use any phone and dial your mobile or landline number.

• Dial the full number. Make sure no one picks up the call while it's ringing.
• Don't forget to enter the area code before dialing the number.

Press the star or pound key. Depending on your mobile carrier, you will need to press one of these two keys. Usually, it’s the star key.

• When the voicemail starts, that’s when you need to press either the star (*) or pound (#) key.
• For carriers like AT&T, Sprint, U.S. Cellular, and T-Mobile in the US, press the star key (*).
• For Verizon, Bell Mobility, and Virgin Mobile users, press the pound key (#).
• If you’re using a different carrier, check their website or contact customer service to be sure.

Enter your PIN. You need your PIN or passcode to check voicemail. If you don’t have it, you can request it from your carrier.

• You will hear instructions to enter your PIN.
• Press the pound key after entering the PIN.
• Follow the prompts to listen to your voicemail. Usually, you will press a specific number (like 1) to listen. That’s all you need to do. Now you can hear your voicemail messages.

Reset Your PIN. You might have forgotten your PIN/passcode, or perhaps you never set up this security feature. This is a common issue.

• Most carriers provide detailed instructions for resetting your passcode. For example, to reset your passcode with T-Mobile, hold the "1" key, then press the star key, and press 5 to access the passcode section. Next, press 1 to change the passcode.
• You can change your Sprint passcode online by selecting the 'my preferences' tab and then choosing 'things I can manage online'.
• If you forget or haven't set a passcode, you can reset it by calling your carrier. Some websites may also allow you to do this online.

Identify the default PIN. Some carriers allow you to check the default PIN, which sometimes is simply a string of zeros.

• For phones like AT&T, the default PIN is your phone number (without the area code).
• The default PIN is usually a 4-digit number.

Stop Fake Voicemail Notifications. Sometimes, you may see a voicemail notification but find no messages when you check. This issue is simple to fix.

• This is a problem that users have reported across different carriers and phones.
• Many experts recommend calling your own phone and leaving a voicemail for yourself, then deleting it afterward.

Leave a Voicemail Without Waiting for the Phone to Ring. Occasionally, you might want to leave a voicemail without waiting for the phone to ring.

• There are several paid services that allow you to leave a voicemail without the recipient's phone ringing first.
• If your phone is broken, you can still check your voicemail by following the steps above, even if the phone doesn’t ring.

Stop Calls from Going Straight to Voicemail. If all your calls are being forwarded directly to voicemail, you may need to adjust settings on your phone.

• For iPhone, make sure the "Do Not Disturb" feature is turned off. Just go to the Settings and select Do Not Disturb.
• Check if your phone is in Airplane Mode. If so, turn off Airplane Mode.
• Ensure that call forwarding isn’t activated on your device, and verify that your phone is within a service area.

• Some carriers may still restrict this feature, but most will allow you to check your voicemail from another phone.
• Most carriers do not charge extra for checking voicemail from another phone, but there may be exceptions, so it’s important to check your plan details.
• You can face serious legal issues if you access someone else’s voicemail. You should only follow these instructions to listen to your own voicemail.